Archive for May 2013
Review: The Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42
I’ve written on this blog before about the first British invasion of Afghanistan, and the disasters that followed. In fact, I’ve written about it more than once. It’s a story that never fails to fascinate me, but when I received William Dalyrmple’s The Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42 to review I…
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Road Trip Through History: The Vandalia Statehouse State Historical Site
The first thing you need to remember about the old state capitol building in Vandalia, Illinois, is that it is NOT called the Old Capitol.* The Old Capitol, which is not as old as the state capitol building in Vandalia, is in Springfield. What can I say? Stuff doesn’t always make sense. Vandalia became the…
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Speaking of book storage…
For the last five years I’ve visited New York City in April to attend the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual meeting. Every year I’ve made a pilgrimage to Fortitude and Patience, the stone lions that stand outside the public library on 5th Avenue. This year I finally went inside–as part of an ASJA…
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