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Hodges' Scout: Interview with Len Travers

Johns Hopkins University Press has recently published Len Traver's new book Hodges' Scout: A Lost Patrol of the French and Indian War. Travers' book examines a group of colonial scouts who were ambushed on a patrol in upstate New York by French and Native American soldiers during the French and Indian War. Travers uses this massacre to explore the lives of the colonists who fought, died and even survived this massacre. Read more...

Did Theodore Roosevelt really save Football?

The headline at the top of the right hand column in The Chicago Sunday Tribune on November 26, 1905 screamed, "Football Year's Death Harvest - Record Shows That Nineteen Players Have Been Killed; One Hundred Thirty-seven Hurt - Two Are Slain Saturday." [1] Contemporary numbers differ on the exact number of football fatalities suffered on the playing field in 1905, but young men were dying playing football. Read more...

The Conspiracy of Free Trade: Interview with Marc-William Palen

Marc-William Palen's new book The "Conspiracy" of Free Trade: The Anglo-American Struggle over Empire and Economic Globalisation, 1846-1896 is relevant not only to historians of imperialism, capitalism, and economics, but to the 2016 American presidential primary election. Once again, free trade has become a central campaign issue during a presidential election. Read more...

The Hays Code, Gangsters, and Prohibition: How did 1934 change Hollywood?

1934 was a pivotal year for the United States. Americans were enduring the fifth year of the Great Depression and the rural population was in an extreme state of suffering that had begun prior to the stock market crash in October 1929. Urban citizens fared little better, yet those who had a nickel to spare spent it at the moves. Read more...

What were the goals of the Axis powers and the Soviet Union during World War Two?

The strategic goals of each of the major powers of the Second World War changed substantially over the course of the conflict. These aims were heavily affected by events on the battlefield or shifting political realities. Still, many of the initial goals of the war were driven directly by angst over the Treaty of Versailles and efforts to dramatically reshape the world map. Read more...

How did Navigation Develop in the Ancient World?

Navigation played a critical role not just in trade but also in warfare and the spreading of ideas, diseases, migrations, and even technologies that accelerated cultural change. Navigation increasingly made movement by sea easier over time; however, much of this knowledge that facilitated movement was accumulated knowledge that took many centuries or even millennia to develop. Read more...

How did Winston Churchill become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in World War Two?

Winston Churchill led a remarkable life, but perhaps the most remarkable element in his life was how he became prime minister in 1940. Just a few years earlier he was widely seen as politically isolated and was widely ridiculed for his views. Yet in 1940, he was appointed his nation’s Prime Minister at its darkest hours and became the leader of the fight against Nazi Germany. Read more...

What Was the Significance of the Southwest in the Outcome of the Civil War

In 1862, General Sibley of the Confederate States of America (CSA) Army marched his brigade from Texas, along the Rio Grande, and was destined for California. Colonel Carleton, commander of the Union's California Column, led his troops eastward from Fort Yuma with the mission of preventing the Sibley Brigade from reaching California. The leaders in Washington, D.C. and Richmond both understood the importance of possessing New Mexico and Arizona territories as they were the gateway to the ports of California. Read more...

Why did the United States and Soviet Union Reach Detente During the Cold War?

Detente was a period lasting approximately from 1972 to 1981 in which there was a thaw in relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was punctuated by major and surprising events, including the end of American involvement in the Vietnam War, a large economic downturn in the West, and the opening of relations with China. Read more...

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