Twentieth Century
What Makes a Mosque, Part Five: America’s Oldest Mosque
If you listen to the news, you’d think that Islamic immigrants to the United States are something new. They’re not. Beginning in the 1880s and ending only when the United States closed the door on non-European immigrants in 1924, Muslims from Ottoman-controlled Syria joined the rush to emigrate to America. Like their European counterparts, most…
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The Russian Revolution, Part 2
Save Save When we last left Russia, Tsar Nicholas had been forced into accepted a limited monarchy in 1905 and was not playing nicely with the new parliament. Never a good idea if you want to stave off civil unrest.* In the years between 1905 and 1917, things went from bad to worse for Russia.…
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The Russian Revolution, Part 1
The hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution isn’t causing a stir yet in the places where history buffs hang out on line. Or at least not that I’ve seen.* It doesn’t have the cachet/glamour/melancholy/nostalgia accorded to the beginning of the First World War or the sinking of the Titanic. Unlike the Battle of Waterloo, there…
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