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.*…

Read More

From the Archives: The Birth of the Boy Scouts

In the summer of 1899, no one would have pegged Colonel Robert Baden-Powell as a potential military hero.  He had spent the first twenty years of his army career in small colonial wars in Afghanistan and Africa, involved more often in map-making and scouting than in battle.   When he wasn’t spying, he spent his time…

Read More

Tiny Bubbles…..

Right now I’m thinking about widows–not for personal reasons but in reference to The Book. I’ve been looking at the concept of the widow’s walk to power: think Corazon Aquino or Sirivamo Bandaraniake, who campaigned as the “weeping widow” to become the world’s first female prime minister in 1960 after the assassination of her husband.…

Read More