Category: history
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John Brown and Abolitionists
The Talking of History podcast from October 16th, 2005 about John Brown (linked from the 2005 archive page) provides background information about the life of John Brown, his work supporting the underground railroad, and the era of “bloody Kansas” preceding the start of the US Civil War. David Reynolds, author of the recent book “John…
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Knights Templar
Got lucky yesterday, but shows like these are EXACTLY the reason I want to have a DVR/mythTV box in our home at some point in the not-too-distant future. I was enthralled to watch two History Channel programs last night relating to themes and movies I have watched recently, including Kingdom of Heaven and National Treasure.…
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Lincoln’s Greatest Speech
I am really enjoying the Talking History podcast, a show produced by the Organization of American Historians. Last night and early this morning I listened to the podcast “The Best of Talking History: Program #5: Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural” (direct mp3 link.) The podcast is 29 minutes long. The resources in the US…
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History of Digital Storytelling
Want to watch and listen to some amazingly compelling digital stories? Check out the videos on “A History of Digital Storytelling Through Story” from the Center for Digital Storytelling. Wow. The center’s motto is LISTEN DEEPLY. TELL STORIES. Watching only one or two of the videos on their “history” page will convince you of their…
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Envisioning the Crusades
Over the recent holidays I watched the movie “Kingdom of Heaven,” an epic film from 2005 by Director Ridley Scott. This evening we watched the bonus features in DVD 2 of the film. With a cast including Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, and Orlando Bloom, the film could hardly fail to be…
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Genocide Unearthed
The January 2006 National Geographic article “Genocide Unearthed” is both sobering and eye-opening. From the Armenian genocide of 1915 through the slaughter of Bosnians and ongoing genocide in the Sudan, an appalling 50 million people were “systematically murdered” in the 20th Century. Unfortunately the graph “Century of Death” on page 30 of the print magazine…
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Bringing the American Revolution to life
On our current holiday vacation, our family has been immensely enjoying the book “1776” by David McCullough on audio CD. I have studied the American Revolution in the past, of course, but had not heard most of the stories McCullough recounts about soldiers, citizens, and leaders on both sides of the battle lines in Boston,…
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Ararat, Armenian Genocide, and Student Research
Several weeks ago I watched the fairly complex and engaging film “Ararat.” If you see it on DVD, I recommend you also watch the director’s commentary to learn a great deal more about the film and its point of view. The movie is not really about Mount Ararat, but about the Armenian genocide which took…
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Saddam Hussein and Lawless World
Yahoo news has published an enlightening profile of Saddam Hussein that includes many facts I did not know about him and Iraqi history. Whatever your position about the current US war in Iraq, I think any observer would have to admit that Saddam was and is quite a bad guy. At least anyone who believes…
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Ken Burns’ Civil War
Last night I watched the first part of Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary series produced for PBS. Wow. I agree with the historian in the film who says it is impossible to understand the history and the culture of the United States without a deep understanding of the US Civil War. It defined us in…