Science & the Salem Witch Trials
From Jacques Barzun: ….What remains to be told is often regarded as the one unfortunate blot on the Pilgrim Fathers’ … Continue Reading Science & the Salem Witch Trials
The Printing Revolution Begins
from Jacques Barzun: Anything that can be said about the good letters implies the book, the printed book. To be … Continue Reading The Printing Revolution Begins
The Reformation in a Nutshell
from Jacques Barzun’s Dawn to Decadence, 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life: In his Judgments on History, … Continue Reading The Reformation in a Nutshell
The Greatest (Scholarly) Adventure of All Time
The military importance of Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, during the closing years of the 1790s, pales in comparison to what … Continue Reading The Greatest (Scholarly) Adventure of All Time
Vermeer in Bosnia
If anyone asks you about the Why of art, especially in the face of atrocity or just its apparent impracticality—for … Continue Reading Vermeer in Bosnia
An Ancient Pilgrimage to Delphi
….While Tarquin was carrying out these undertakings a frightful portent appeared; a snake gliding out of a wooden column created … Continue Reading An Ancient Pilgrimage to Delphi
The Flaming Head at the Beginning of Ancient Rome
from Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, Book 1 ch. 39, on the astounding events during the childhood of Servius Tullius: At that … Continue Reading The Flaming Head at the Beginning of Ancient Rome
Happy Black Friday
For those who are out stampeding each other for flat-screen TVs, and for those forced to work so others can … Continue Reading Happy Black Friday
William H. McNeill – History as Myth
A few years ago, the great historian William H. McNeill died. I still have surprisingly endearing memories of reading his … Continue Reading William H. McNeill – History as Myth
Blindness, War & History
(this essay was originally published in the Fall, 2014 issue of the Concho River Review. Since it is no longer … Continue Reading Blindness, War & History
Week of the Bomb: Friday
What to make of any of these voices? This week’s posts—the words not of those protesting the bomb after, but … Continue Reading Week of the Bomb: Friday
Week of the Bomb: Thursday
Finally, voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When The New Yorker dedicated its entire August 31, 1946 issue to John Hersey’s … Continue Reading Week of the Bomb: Thursday
Week of the Bomb: Wednesday
Many of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project had families in Europe, or were refugees from Europe themselves, … Continue Reading Week of the Bomb: Wednesday
Week of the Bomb: Tuesday
Impossible decisions remain impossible, even after they’ve been made. Following on yesterday’s post, here are the voices of those scientists … Continue Reading Week of the Bomb: Tuesday
Week of the Bomb: Monday
With the anniversary of the Trinity Test just passed, and the anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this week, I realize the … Continue Reading Week of the Bomb: Monday
Walt Whitman’s Letter to Parents Whose Son Died in the Civil War
Washington August 10 1863 Mr and Mrs Haskell, Dear friends, I thought it would be soothing to you to have … Continue Reading Walt Whitman’s Letter to Parents Whose Son Died in the Civil War
The Past is Not Dead: There is Only Continuity
from Peter Ackroyd, at the end of his first volume of the history of England: Other forms of continuity are … Continue Reading The Past is Not Dead: There is Only Continuity
The Popular Press in 1918 was Garbage Too
From Oswald Spengler’s Decline of the West, published just over a century ago. Our bad relationship with information and disinformation … Continue Reading The Popular Press in 1918 was Garbage Too
History is An Accident
from Peter Ackroyd, at the end of his first volume on the history of England: When we look over the … Continue Reading History is An Accident
A Housewife in the 1960s
One of the saddest interviews from Studs Terkel’s Working (talk about Human Pages!) comes from a Chicago housewife named Therese … Continue Reading A Housewife in the 1960s
Angela Merici & the Education of Women & Girls in the early 1500s
from Thomas Cahill: They were a group of well-born Lombardian ladies, led by Angela Merici, who came together to educate … Continue Reading Angela Merici & the Education of Women & Girls in the early 1500s
A Gallery of Greeks & Romans
Here are a few dozen faces I always go back to, from the collection of Greek & Roman sculpture I … Continue Reading A Gallery of Greeks & Romans
Jews & Muslims on Pilgrimage Together in the 1300s
From Mark Cohen’s Under Crescent & Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages: An aspect of Jewish-gentile sociability under Islam … Continue Reading Jews & Muslims on Pilgrimage Together in the 1300s
What the Earliest Forms of Literacy Looked Like
from David Carr’s book on literacy and the creation of literature in the ancient world: … many ancient texts were … Continue Reading What the Earliest Forms of Literacy Looked Like
Voices from 1900-1914
Below are a few dozen voices from the early twentieth century, culled from Philipp Blom’s The Vertigo Years: Europe, 1900-1914. … Continue Reading Voices from 1900-1914
Martin Luther Reinvents the German Language
When, in 1522, Martin Luther agreed to a staged kidnapping that would keep him safe from Catholic and other authorities, … Continue Reading Martin Luther Reinvents the German Language
Primo Levi’s Hardest Thoughts on the Holocaust
From Primo Levi’s 1986 book, The Drowned and the Saved, remembering the concentration camps: On Levi’s own—and others’—guilt at having … Continue Reading Primo Levi’s Hardest Thoughts on the Holocaust
Who are These Faces & What are Their Stories?
At an antique store a few years ago, I spent $10 on an envelope of old photos. I love to … Continue Reading Who are These Faces & What are Their Stories?
Burned as a Witch in Ireland in 1895
From Frazer’s Golden Bough: In March 1895 a peasant named Michael Cleary, residing at Ballyvadlea, a remote and lonely district … Continue Reading Burned as a Witch in Ireland in 1895
Sleepwalking into World War One
From Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914: Do we really need to make the case … Continue Reading Sleepwalking into World War One
“It is so hard to die”: An Account of Depression from 1809
One of the most heartbreaking stories I know relates the last day in the life of Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis … Continue Reading “It is so hard to die”: An Account of Depression from 1809
Vermeer in Bosnia
If anyone asks you about the Why of art, especially in the face of atrocity or just its apparent impracticality—for … Continue Reading Vermeer in Bosnia
Oswald Probably Did It
It took 9/11 to show me the real damage conspiracy theories can do. Since then, the gleeful and gullible ability … Continue Reading Oswald Probably Did It
Neanderthal Compassion, Neanderthal Burials
from the book Becoming Human: Innovation in Prehistoric Material and Spiritual Culture: Caring for severely disabled members of the community … Continue Reading Neanderthal Compassion, Neanderthal Burials
Did Neanderthals Have Language?
from Richard Klein and Blake Edgar’s The Dawn of Human Culture: The Neanderthals are fascinating because they were so … Continue Reading Did Neanderthals Have Language?
Eleanor Roosevelt Finds Herself
From Geoffrey Ward’s biography of the Roosevelts comes this moving account of Eleanor Roosevelt’s Dickensian childhood, complete with neglectful mother … Continue Reading Eleanor Roosevelt Finds Herself
The Invention of Harmony
from two essays on the origins of the aesthetic impulse in Becoming Human: Innovation in Prehistoric Material and Spiritual Culture: … Continue Reading The Invention of Harmony
(Brain) Size Matters
from Richard Klein’s The Dawn of Human Culture: More research is required to demonstrate that the brain enlarged abruptly … Continue Reading (Brain) Size Matters
Notre Dame & the Liberation of Paris in 1944
A moment from Matthew Cobb’s Eleven Days in August, on the liberation of Paris in 1944: [the voice of … Continue Reading Notre Dame & the Liberation of Paris in 1944
“One day the Gestapo hanged a child”: God on Trial at Auschwitz
The oldest book about religion on my shelves is Karen Armstrong’s A History of God. The note inside still says … Continue Reading “One day the Gestapo hanged a child”: God on Trial at Auschwitz
A Twelfth Century Love Letter: Heloise Remembers Abelard
An amazing passage from a letter of Heloise to Abelard, those twelfth-century lovers who ended up in a nunnery and … Continue Reading A Twelfth Century Love Letter: Heloise Remembers Abelard
George Orwell in the Coal Mines
As an addition to my last post, here is George Orwell’s complete description of going down into the coal mines … Continue Reading George Orwell in the Coal Mines
George Orwell & Empathy
As usual, George Orwell says it better than anybody. Here he is in his 1937 book The Road to Wigan … Continue Reading George Orwell & Empathy
Happy Black Friday
For those who are out stampeding each other for flat-screen TVs, and for those forced to work so others can … Continue Reading Happy Black Friday
Don Henley’s Mesopotamian Connection: “The Boys of Sumer”
I’ve tried submitting this to many prestigious journals of Ancient Near Eastern history, but no one seems to believe that … Continue Reading Don Henley’s Mesopotamian Connection: “The Boys of Sumer”
Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
Walt Whitman, early 1863, looking on the Civil War dead: A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim … Continue Reading Walt Whitman, “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim”
Happy Black Friday
For those who are out stampeding each other for flat-screen TVs, and for those forced to work so others can … Continue Reading Happy Black Friday
