Blogs about History

Does China have a plan to save its wobbly economy? Last week in Foreign Policy I argued that it does—but not the sort of plan most Western economists are comfortable with. Western analysts blame slowing …

Proof that politicians have been saying “Do as I say, not as I do” for at least 100 years: A rather amusing and somewhat unusual incident occurred during Mr [future New Zealand Prime Minister William] …

An 1851 San Francisco paper described a city of immigrants… I found a lovely line in an 1851 San Francisco newspaper that celebrates the diversity of Gold Rush San Francisco—a boom town whose residents included …

I can understand why some readers and academic reviewers might fear an overabundance of presentism in Resistance from the Right. Too many books—even academic ones—covering politics and political history have Read more The post The …

Berlin is cold and dark, there’s snow on the ground and the supermarkets are full of Lebkuchen and testy shoppers, so … it must be time for Secret Satan! Here we go with our annual …

One of the most famous anecdotes in all of ancient history holds that, when the Roman general and politician Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon stream, which marked the boundary of Italy, in January 49 BCE …

Thanks to the diligent and hard work of Clonehenge, we have a really good understanding of Stonehenge replicas and pastiches from across the world. There are a surprisingly large number of these, over 100 (!!), …

. Map of Paris in 1889. In the early 20th century, as the city underwent rapid expansion, the decision was made to demolish the outdated fortifications that encircled the city. / Paris, with its grand …

Fast-forward to the turn of the century and automobile manufacturing was increasing steadily. Couple that with wealthy Americans’ increasing appetite for travel across the States and US travelers were in need of a new breed …

In Japan, riding a steam train through outer space is a melancholy symbol of the human journey. Like the gentle drift of the sakura petal, the whistle of a train means a transition in life. …

Recently I have been very fortunate to be given access to a superb collection of Old Walton photographs .More than one hundred new images of Walton have now been added to my Old Walton Archive …

By Richard McKenna / May 6, 2024 Of all the visionary artists to emerge from the illustration boom of the ’60s and ’70s, Bob Fowke must be one of the most unfairly neglected. I first …

Back in the early 1970s, a German research group called "The Society for Rational Psychology" challenged 184 people (all regular TV watchers) to go without TV for a year.. with financial incentives to encourage them …

I’ve been writing these posts since 2015, and, especially in recent years, I keep asking the same question: what is time anyway? This year is no different. Or, it is different because there are new …