Tag Archives: History

If we don’t learn from it, we are doomed to repeat it

Milestones of History – 4

Twilight of Princes

“Kings are absolute lords and have full authority over the people”, wrote Louis XIV…. His opinion was shared by Peter the Great and Frederick the Great, different though their concepts of autocracy were. Catherine the Great, who continued Peter’s work in modernizing and westernizing Russia, insisted…that while all men were equal before the law, the sovereign was absolute: “The extent of the empire necessitates absolute power in the ruler. Any other form of government would bring it down in ruins.”

But although they strode across the years with such vitality, setting their mark for good and ill upon the history of their times, those absolute monarchs provide but one fitting title for their era – Twilight of Princes. For the Age of Absolutism was also the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Scientific Revolution – an age in which Newton’s discoveries were more important than the conquests of Frederick the Great, and Diderot’s Encyclopédie was more influential than the triumphs of Louis XIV.

– Christopher Hibbert, editor
(from the introduction)

1601: A Play for All Seasons – Ivor Brown

William Shakespeare’s reworking of a familiar folk legend gives the stage its most famous tragedy

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Milestones of History – 3

The Expanding World of Man

Although European events dominate the first half of Volume III, the theme of the whole – as the title makes plain – is The Expanding World of Man. Accordingly, milestones in the history of Russia, China, the Americas, and India have been included. And despite Sir Edward Creasy’s assertion…..that all milestones of history are necessarily military or naval actions, no more than seven of the sixteen essays in this book are primarily concerned with warfare….

Dynasties fall, boundaries change, enterprise supplants the chivalric ideal, and written languages take shape in this era. There is a new urgency about man’s quest for fulfillment as he attempts to explore the unknown, exploit his environment, understand the purpose of life and come to terms with reality – and in so doing, “expand” the world of man.

– Neville Williams, editor
(from the introduction)

1215: Agreement at Runnymede – J.C. Holt

England’s King John signs the Magna Carta, and unwittingly speeds the decline of “divine right” monarchs.

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Milestones of History – Volume 2

The Fires of Faith

The fires of faith, the bright lights of destruction, the explosion of fanaticism, the everlasting wars and feuds that filled this era – was there even one year when their reigned a peace comparable to the pax romana that Augustus had envisaged or the pax mongolica that the great Mongolian khans created at the height of their power? All the undoubted devastation should not make us forget that the fires of faith brought life as well as destruction.

– Frederich Heer, editor
(from the introduction)

312: In This Sign Thou Shalt Conquer – Robert Browning

Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge ensures the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire

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Milestones of History – Volume 1

Ancient Empires

The great German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886) defined the historian’s task as being that of describing the past “as it really happened” (wie es eigentlich gewesen). His definition will doubtless always stand as the ideal of scientifically objective history, and as a warning against the writing of history as propaganda or apologia for some nationalist, political, or religious end. But it has come to be realized that this represents an ideal that can never be wholly achieved…. History inevitably implies selection and interpretation of the facts considered to be relevant. Both activities ultimately depend on human minds, which are conditioned by many factors such as education, religion, and nationality, quite apart from personal interests and consciously conceived aims.

– S.G.F. Brandon, editor
(from the Introduction)

3000 BC: The Gift of the Nile – Leonard Cottrell

The lands of the Delta and the lands of the cataracts are united to form the first political state Continue reading →

Milestones of History

Back in my youth, the family wanted us kids to be well educated. Part of this was accomplished by getting a couple of those sets of books covering certain topics for the average intelligent reader. Yes, we did have an encyclopedia (Collier’s) as well as a general “encyclopedia” for children (The Book of Knowledge (1952 edition)). The one I most vividly remembered was a six volume set from Newsweek called Milestones of History.

Published in 1970, the set contained a neat one hundred essays in total – from “The Gift of the Nile” (the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt) to “Man on the Moon (duh) written by prominent historians of the time. Lavishly illustrated, the milestones covered not just military and political matters, but scientific and cultural milestones as well. Connecting essays between the main chapters filled in the time between the “milestones”. A diligent selection and editing process allowed for the occasional combination of milestones. For example, to discuss the Protestant Reformation, they didn’t just write about Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses – they instead chose his publication of a German New Testament, which allowed them to include the development and spread of printing as well.

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BOOK REVIEW: Trespassers at the Golden Gate

Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco
Gary Krist
Crown Publishing Group
Copyright 2025 by the author

It should have been fairly straightforward. She shot him in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses, and was immediately taken into custody. Laura D. Fair killed lawyer and aspiring politician A.P. Crittenden in a fit of jealousy. That much was obvious. But as the trial dragged on, it quickly became clear that Crittenden was a two-timing bastard who had strung Fair along for years, promising her that he’d divorce his wife, and marry her. The bum deserved what he got, but what would be an appropriate punishment for Fair?

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On the Ides of March

(Don’t you hate when you rush to get a post written because the topic is time-sensitive, and then in your rush you actually forget to hit “Publish”?)

After finally defeating its only serious geopolitical rival, the Republic slowly turned into an oligarchy. The wealthy acquired the positions of power, and used their power to get even wealthier. The government became lazy and corrupt; occasional attempts at reform all failed due largely to institutional inertia. The “wealth gap” widened, but as long as the lower classes had their most basic needs met, rebellions and protests were minimal and easily dealt with.

Then a crisis happened (due in no small part to the Republic’s own policies) that struck at the very heart of the Republic. The oligarchs took over, and gave some of their own extraordinary powers to deal with the emergency.

After the emergency passed, one of those oligarchs schemed to take control of the government. The leaders of the Republic were too weak and ineffectual to resist – until that oligarch threatened their prerogatives and started talking about making himself king.

“As with all matters of ancient history, who are we to say who was wrong and who was right in all of that? All we can say for sure is that a man who was really, really full of himself, who believed that the law did not apply to him, and who thought of himself as a king got his ass murdered. Thankfully, history never repeats itself so none of this has any relevance to the present and none of us should give the ideas contained herein any additional thought.” – Craig Calcaterra

Epilogue: The power vacuum created by the assassination sparked a civil war; when that was over and the dust settled, the Republic had turned into an Empire anyway…

 

 

Book Review: Book and Dagger

Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
Elyse Graham
Ecco Books
Copyright 2024 by the author

You could, if you want, blame Secretary of State Henry Stimson. In 1929, he’s alleged to have stuck his nose in the air and said “Gentlemen don’t read each other’s mail”, and then shut down most of the United States’ foreign intelligence apparatus. So we were caught flat-footed when the Japanese attacked twelve years later.

Now it was up to William Donovan, the newly appointed head of the OSS, to put together his agency from scratch. The “Research and Development” side would be easy – just get a bunch of technical people to design and build all the secret devices of spycraft. But for the “Research and Analysis” department, which would collect and study the mountains of data needed by the US Military, you needed people with highly specialized training.

So that’s why a Yale English professor found himself at a “secure location”, learning how to silently kill someone with a knife, and how to deal with being interrogated by the enemy. Oh, by the way, you’d only need to hold up under capture and interrogation for 48 hours. Not because by that time they’d be done with you, or that you could expect to be rescued by then, but because that’s how long it should take for your contacts to forget they ever knew you and “vanish”….

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Book Review: Pax

Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age
Tom Holland
Basic Books
Copyright 2023 by the author

We’ve long been fascinated with the Roman Empire. It’s not just that their language of Latin is one of the grandparents of English, or that a good deal of our shared culture and society can be traced back to Roman origins. There’s something about the Empire that has led it to keep reappearing in popular culture, from the epic costume dramas of the 1950s to the TV shows of more recent times. Could it be we’re obsessed with the details of Roman life – the food, drink, and clothing? Or perhaps it’s the more abstract things – the philosophy, the “ethos”, the “mindset” of what a Proper Roman Citizen aspired to?

Oh, come off it, it’s the palace intrigue, corruption, and depravity of the ruling class. It’s the rise to power of Julius Caesar and his assassination, the depravity of Caligula and Nero, and the slow, sputtering decline of the Empire that attract us.

With this third work (the previous, Rubicon and Dynasty, covered Julius Caesar and Augustus through Nero), Holland continues his chronicling of the Empire. This volume takes us from the reign of Nero through the death of Hadrian – the final ascent to the peak of the Imperial power. It’s an interesting journey; there’s the “Year of the Four Emperors”, revolts in Judea, and fighting on the frontiers from Scotland to the Danube to Persia.

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BOOK REVIEW: Stranded in the Sky

Stranded in the Sky:
The Untold Story of Pan Am Luxury Airliners Trapped on the Day of Infamy
Philip Jett
Turner Publishing Company
Copyright 2023 by the author

In the late 1930s, the epitome of luxury travel was aboard one of Pan American’s “clippers”. These huge seaplanes crossed the oceans while passengers enjoyed all the accommodations and amenities one would expect from a four star hotel. Within the space and weight requirements, of course. A single round trip ticket across the Pacific might cost you the equivalent of $40,000 today. So only celebrities, government officials, wealthy businessmen, and the occasional Pan American employee would benefit. It was still much faster than travel by sea. The airline maintained their own network of dedicated hotels on islands across the oceans to allow for refueling, maintenance, and overnight R&R for flights longer than the planes’ abilities.

“Overnight to Hawaii” – 1940 Pan American Clipper promotional film:

In the early hours of December 6/7, 1941, the Hong Kong Clipper was in Kowloon Harbor in it’s namesake territory, waiting to begin its regular shuttle flight to Manila. The Pacific Clipper had already departed Honolulu, heading for Auckland, New Zealand, via stops in Canton Island (in what is now Kiribati), Fiji, and New Calendonia. The Anzac Clipper was ready to leave San Francisco for its journey to Singapore, stopping at Honolulu, Midway Atoll, Wake Island, Guam, and Manila. The Philippine Clipper was already along that route, heading for Wake Island…. Continue reading →