The Lives of Beowulf
August 3, 2018
Stephen Mitchell— It’s something of a miracle that any of our ancient literary masterpieces survived the downfall or shift of civilizations, since they all might easily have been lost. Of… READ MORE
Category: History
Color Codes
August 1, 2018
David Scott Kastan— Up until the eighteenth century, Asian people appeared white to European eyes. Sometime early in 1515, a Portuguese merchant named Tomé Pires sent a detailed account of… READ MORE
How Do You Talk to a Russian Gangster?
July 27, 2018
Mark Galeotti— He was quite the most charming contract killer with whom one could imagine having a drink. But nonetheless, for all his cheerful Chechen twinkle, and the ritualised North… READ MORE
Surviving English Colonialism
July 25, 2018
Jenny Hale Pulsipher— By the end of the seventeenth century, the Native people of what we now call New England were overwhelmed by a rapidly growing, land-hungry English colonial population… READ MORE
No Wakanda for Us
July 23, 2018
Ruma Chopra— Maroons were tiny communities of escaped slaves who held an in-between status in many New World slave societies, somewhere between freedom and captivity. They avoided the brutality of… READ MORE
American and Israeli Jews Tell Different Truths About the Holocaust
July 20, 2018
Hannah Pollin-Galay— “The End of the Jewish People is Here.” This is not a headline from the 1940’s but from June 2018. It appeared as one of many articles reporting… READ MORE
Knowing How to Win at Acre
July 18, 2018
John D. Hosler— The oracle at Delphi advised, “Know Thyself,” and the rock band Rage Against the Machine screamed, “Know Your Enemy.” Which is more important for winning a war? Or… READ MORE
The Return of Isolationism
July 10, 2018
Stephen D. King— Our ideas and institutions shift with alarming regularity. Spanish conquistadors of the early sixteenth century—bounty-hunters hell bent on extracting silver from the New World, regardless of the… READ MORE
On Borders
July 5, 2018
Joshua Keating— “If you don’t have Borders, you don’t have a Country!” President Trump tweeted this statement most recently on June 19 at the height of the backlash against his… READ MORE
The Turning Point that Could Have Been Avoided
July 3, 2018
Guy Laron— With the moving of the American embassy to the Jerusalem last month, the American-Israeli alliance has never looked stronger. However, even close allies can experience crises. Such was… READ MORE
From 9/11 to 9/11: The Widening of the Atlantic