Historians like to create lists. Which presidents were best? Which were worst? So on, and so forth. My brother called. He mentioned that a television station was showing Dave, that wonderful film about a man called upon to impersonate the president when he suffered a stroke, and his transformation from the tool of the imperiousContinue reading “On Rating the Fictional Presidents”
Category Archives: History
On the Restoration of the Knights Templar
A successor order to the Knights Templar has filed suit in Spain against Pope Benedict XVI to restore the name and assets of the disgraced military and religious order. The Knights Templar were one of the monastic military orders to emerge from the Crusades in the eleventh century. With the end of the Crusades, theContinue reading “On the Restoration of the Knights Templar”
On Tartan Day
Three weeks ago we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day — the one day a year when everyone is Irish. 😉 Today we celebrate Tartan Day — a day where we look back upon the great things that the Scots have done for civilization. If that means hitting the back nine of a golf course, then rockContinue reading “On Tartan Day”
On Tudor Costume Dramas
Late last week I was laid low by the flu, a ferocious illness that took my internal gyroscopes and hid them somewhere. I spent the two solid days in bed, and as such I decided I would watch some DVDs that I’d left neglected — The Tudors, the Showtime series based on Henry VIII’s earlyContinue reading “On Tudor Costume Dramas”
On Reading Naval History
Laid low as I am by this foul sickness, I’ve occupied my bed-ridden time by watching Tudor costume dramas (The Tudors and Elizabeth: The Golden Age; expect a post on both in the next day or three) and reading naval history. Specifically, the Age of Fighting Sail. So, roughly 1600 to 1850. I’m not sureContinue reading “On Reading Naval History”
On the Founding Fathers
Sunday’s Washington Post ran an interesting editorial by historian Joseph Ellis, author of numerous books on the Founding Fathers, with the headline, “What Would George Do?” The question Ellis asks — how would the Founding Fathers, like Washington and Jefferson, react to the problems facing the nation today, like Iraq, the media, and so forth?Continue reading “On the Founding Fathers”
On Veteran’s Day
In Flanders, eighty-nine years ago today, the guns fell silent, and one of the great follies of our times came to an end — In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the gunsContinue reading “On Veteran’s Day”
On Guy Fawkes Day
It occurs to me, as I sit here drinking my morning coffee, that today is the Fifth of November. Guy Fawkes Day. The Gunpowder Plot isn’t something that Americans think of often, if ever. It’s a footnote in history books. I took a class in college on Stuart England, and Guy Fawkes got maybe aContinue reading “On Guy Fawkes Day”
On Greek Philosophers Online
This is a rather amusing article: What if the Greek philosophers were into social networking like Facebook? Glaucon and Cephalus rant about Donna Noble and Martha Jones, while Polemarchus tries to figure out how to beat a speeding ticket. And in the middle? Socrates is hopelessly lost. I vowed recently that I would never readContinue reading “On Greek Philosophers Online”
On the Six Wives of Henry VIII
So, I saw this quiz over at Nea‘s–Which wife of Henry VIII would you be? Well, never let it be said I don’t do odd quizzes to pass the time! I just read the questions and reversed the gender roles. 🙂 Congratulations! You are Catarina of Aragon. Catarina was Henry’s first wife and was probablyContinue reading “On the Six Wives of Henry VIII”