Napoleon on the Art of War

Today I wandered down a research rabbit hole, as I so often do. I would argue that this is not because I am easily distracted but because I am easily focused. I get on the trail of a factoid or an idea and don’t let go. Even would it would make sense to do so.*…

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From the Archives: Word with a Past – Silhouette

I’m poking around in the long eighteenth century these days and stumbling across lots of surprising tidbits. Take silhouettes. I had long known that charming likenesses cut from black cardstock became a popular and affordable alternative to oil portraits in the mid-eighteenth century. To the extent that I thought about the word at all, I…

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From Heroine to Harridan

As I’ve worked on the subject of women warriors over the last year, a few things have surprised me. One of the surprises was the important role played by women in sieges. Historically, women who fought to defend their city walls were the most common type of women warrior, outnumbering many times over the combined…

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