August 11, 2015
It is commonly believed that the first corporations were English and Dutch trading corporations from the 1600s. But Germain Sicard, in an overlooked 1952 thesis, argued that the first corporations… READ MORE
July 30, 2015
Pierre Birnbaum— On June 21st, 1936, following the June 7th signing of the Matignon Agreements, the Popular Front government voted in the forty-hour workweek. They were led by Léon Blum,… READ MORE
July 20, 2015
Bill Vaughn— In “Hawthorn Blossom,” the Brothers Grimm rewriting of the folk story Sleeping Beauty, a queen is informed by a frog that the royal couple finally will have a… READ MORE
July 13, 2015
Robin Prior— I want to highlight the dangers to Western civilization if Britain had succumbed to Nazi Germany in 1940. But to do this, first I’ll make the point, illustrated… READ MORE
June 29, 2015
Jonathan Rose— More than most politicians, Winston Churchill was an insatiable reader. He loved to schmooze with authors, and what he read profoundly shaped his political worldview. He never actually… READ MORE
June 18, 2015
Rory Muir— The Duke of Wellington felt far from triumphant after defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, famously remarking that “I don’t know what it is to lose a battle, but certainly… READ MORE
February 23, 2015
Kevin Madigan— Tradition holds that on February 23, 1455, the Gutenberg Bible, the first complete book published in the West, was published in Mainz, Germany. The Bible Gutenberg produced was… READ MORE
February 8, 2015
Stephen Alford— On Wednesday 8 February 1587, Bull the public executioner cleaved the head from the body of Mary Queen of Scots in the hall of Fotheringhay Castle. It was… READ MORE
January 7, 2015
Sharon Bertsch McGrayne— The Imitation Game is a good yarn about Alan Turing and cracking the German naval Enigma code during World War II. But that’s what it is: a… READ MORE
December 3, 2014
In the harsh winter of 1944-45, the month-long battle for Bastogne, a town with a peacetime population of 4,000 and seven roads, claimed 23,000 American and 25,000 German lives. To… READ MORE
Space Day Reading List 2024