Is There Something in the South Carolina Water? I Hate That I Have to Ask…

Can anyone explain to me why the Hagia Sophia — the former basilica built by the Emperor Justinian, now a mosque in Istanbul — is a campaign issue in South Carolina’s Senate race? Anyone? Anyone? No? My inner historian is scratching his head and biting his lower lip in abject confusion. Constantinople fell to theContinue reading “Is There Something in the South Carolina Water? I Hate That I Have to Ask…”

Gallipoli, an Historical Blunder

This afternoon I listened to a BBC World Service podcast, part of their “War that Changed the World” series on World War I, about the Australian experience at Gallipoli. Gallipoli, for those who don’t know a great deal about World War I, was Britain’s attempt to open a second front by capturing the Dardanelles, theContinue reading “Gallipoli, an Historical Blunder”