Foner, who was critical of Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose when their plagiarism charges were in the news, says he is agnostic on the Bellesiles case: "I haven't made up my mind. The problem is that I'm not in a position to know--I'm not an expert in the use of probate inventories."This is either disingenuous or grossly uninformed on the part of Foner, as Bellesiles work has been publicly reviewed, months ago, by the woman who is probably the country's foremost expert on probate inventories. Her utter disgust was evident even in her scholarly review published in a distinguished journal.
And someone in Foner's position has no excuse for being grossly uninformed.