Turkey
There Was and There Was Not
As I’ve mentioned in the past, historical subjects sometimes track me down, screaming “learn more about me, dagnabbit!” Over the last few years, the Armenian genocide *–and the controversies surrounding the existence of that genocide in modern Turkey–has been tracking me down in an on-again off-again way. I first became aware of the genocide,…
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Who made the map of the modern Middle East?
The simple answer is: Great Britain. You want the long version? In The Makers of the Modern Middle East historians T.G. Fraser, Andrew Mango, and Robert McNamara tell the story of how today’s Middle East was created from the remains of the Ottoman Empire during the peace negotiations at the end of the First World…
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Walking Hallowed Ground
In response to my recent post on the American Civil War, blog reader Karen Eliot talked about her experiences visiting Gettysburg. Her comments left me thinking about what makes battlefield visits such a powerful experience. I’ve certainly walked my share of Civil War battlefields: Gettysburg, Antietam, Pea Ridge, and my hometown battlefield of Wilson’s Creek.…
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