The Adventures of Shylock Holmes

I recently finished listening to Mike Duncan’s excellent “History of Rome” podcast series. It left me with a confusing swirl of thoughts tha...

[Meta disclaimer: When I look back at some of the posts I've written that I think I got wrong, they're often in the category of what...

As with many things in life, it's hard to notice the things that aren't there, but should be. I remember my own personal experience ...

Apologies, my dear readers (if any of you still exist) for my extended absence. A combination of moving house, work being busy, and life in ...

We live in a period where Whig history is the only history that most people know. The west conquered the evils of Nazism and racism, and is...

At the risk of cementing my place as a curmudgeon, the National Conventions of the US political parties always struck me as thoroughly bizar...

Out of the many oddities of the democratic process in the west, two points stand out. First, the average citizen has very little idea abou...

I recently saw the musical 'Hamilton', which was an enjoyable depiction of American nostalgia for its own myths. That much isn't...

The attitude of non-Mormons to Mormonism usually tells you quite a lot about what else they value. And the critiques are well-rehearsed. ...

Gary Brecher once pointed out, in a podcast I think, that American exceptionalism dominates the American mindset. As he noted, this actually...

I love National Portrait Galleries (plural). I had previously written about the British version here - it's a wonderful example of the ...