Ask a historian

Ask a historian

by | Oct 22, 2019 | Magazine Article

Ask a historian. Over the past year or so, this phrase has become my standard answer to questions raised about our so-called “unprecedented times.”  Can you believe this or that bit of audacity by our president?  What would happen if we went to war in the Middle...
On Essays

On Essays

by | Jul 18, 2017 | Magazine Article

Let us consider the humble essay. The word essay seems overly academic, archaic even, invoking in some of us memories of grade-school scribbles about the Oregon Trail or honeybees. But it is a useful way of describing a broad spectrum of the best contemporary writing...