A popular 10th grade world history book by Elizabeth Ellis.Image Source. Earlier this week Al West wrote two short posts about world history and world history books that I found interesting. World history books? Mr. West does not like them: “Usually, they’re lacking in archaeological nous, have little or no accurate prehistoric content (a big […]
British have invaded nine out of ten countries – so look out Luxembourg Jasper Copping. The Telegraph. 2 November 2012. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe. The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the […]
A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. TOP BILLING “How To Lose a War: A Primer“Mark Safranski. Zenpundit.com. 28 July 2013. Since Pakistan is now attempting to get its victory over the United States in Afghanistan formally ratified, now seemed to be a good time to reflect on the performance of American […]
Which is worse – the tyrant who lives afar or the tyrant who lives next door? Tyranny from local powers is often worse than the tyranny of more distant despots. Yet local tyrannies, as oppressive as they may be, face limits to their power that larger tyrannies need not fear. Man will wield power. Its form may change with time and place, […]
In my review of Michael Lotus and James Bennett’s America 3.0 I stated that French anthropologist Emmanuel Todd (whose work is cited extensively in said work) “is the most under-rated “big idea” thinker in the field of world history.” Craig Willy’s most recent blog post explains why: “Emmanuel Todd’s L’invention de l’Europe: A critical summary“Craig Willy. […]
Early last month Peter Turchin published a couple of posts on whether or not the “Great Divergence” (sometimes called the ‘Rise of the West’ or ‘the European Miracle’) can be approached scientifically. Both posts were excellent, and as is usual at Professor Turchin’s place, the comment thread that followed the posts was of exceptional quality. […]
I usually label posts about Iran with the tag ‘Persia.’ This week it occurred to me that this label is a tad inaccurate. Iran is a lot less Persian than you may think.Here is the CIA World Factbook’s [1] break down of the Iranian population by ethnic identity: Persian 61%Azeri 16%Kurd 10%Lur 6%Baloch 2%Arab 2%Turkmen […]
“ADAMS and JEFFERSON, I have said, are no more. As human beings, indeed, they are no more. They are no more, as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of independence; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head of the government; nor more, as we have recently seen them, aged and venerable objects of admiration […]
It is unusual for me to read a book aimed at popular conservative audiences. I am something of a disaffected conservative. Crony capitalism and government overreach have proved to be bipartisan endeavors, and I have long lost faith that the Republican party can ever be more than an organ of America’s governing elite. [1] Outside […]
Occasionally I come across attempts to explain the broad course of Chinese history in reference to China’s geography. These arguments tend to focus on the unified empires of Chinese history. Always contrasting Chinese history with the European experience, they suggest that China’s political unity and Europe’s perpetual disunity are reflections of the unbroken terrain of […]
