Israel’s Everywoman at War
Helen Mirren’s Golda Meir offers a profile of greatness in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Michael Oren
· 16 min read
History
A collection of 345 posts
Our Lost Classical Learning
The Western canon was not an unchanging set of texts, but an ongoing conversation that lasted thousands of years—enabling each generation to build on the intellectual heritage of the past.
Brian Kaller
· 7 min read
Rise of the Goths
In the inaugural instalment of ‘The So-Called Dark Ages,’ podcaster Herbert Bushman introduces readers to the Gothic civilization that would eventually help bring down the Roman Empire.
Herbert Bushman
· 18 min read
‘New France’ Stumbles Out of the Gate
In the tenth instalment of an ongoing Quillette series on the history of Canada, historian Greg Koabel describes the early—and tragically unsuccessful—French efforts to create a permanent colony
Greg Koabel
· 20 min read
Are We Teaching That Slavery Is Beneficial?
That slaves were able to develop beneficial skills while in bondage is a tribute to the human ability to wrest value and create meaning even under conditions of almost unfathomable duress.
James B. LaGrand
· 4 min read
Not a Genocide
Terrible things happened at many of Canada’s Residential Schools. But describing these institutions as instruments of mass murder is inaccurate.
Ian Gentles
· 34 min read
Eight Hundred Years of Russian Despotism: An Interview with Orlando Figes
In a new book, the historian traces modern Russian aggression to an apocalyptic mythology rooted deep in the nation’s past.
Jonathan Kay
· 10 min read
Celebrating the Legacy of Canada’s First Prime Minister
Far from being an ‘architect of genocide,’ John A. Macdonald championed policies that were humane by 19th-century standards
Greg Piasetzki
· 11 min read
The Reverse Opium War
Beijing looks the other way, and the deadly medicine sails West just as its natural ancestor once sailed East.
Aaron Sarin
· 14 min read
Up the St. Lawrence
In the fifth instalment of an ongoing Quillette series on the history of Canada, Greg Koabel describes Jacques Cartier’s first encounters with the Mi’kmaq and Iroquois.
Greg Koabel
· 23 min read
John Cabot’s New Found Land
In the fourth instalment of an ongoing Quillette series, historian Greg Koabel describes how the quest for cod and a possible passage to China sparked England’s first transatlantic ventures
Greg Koabel
· 33 min read
A Mixture of Pride and Shame
The left’s refusal to frame the British Empire as anything but a force for pure evil makes for effective culture-war politics. But it also makes for bad history.
Nigel Biggar
· 11 min read
Disquiet on the Western Front
Edward Berger’s award-winning film is a deeply flawed adaptation that replaces the book’s complexity and humanity with hyperbolic surrealism and misanthropy.
Alan S. Rome
· 14 min read
Chernobyl Revisited
Much of the tragedy resides in our collective response to the meltdown.
Lea Booth
· 8 min read
Canada’s Norse Interregnum
In the second instalment of an ongoing Quillette series, historian Greg Koabel describes how Leif Erikson ended up in Newfoundland
Greg Koabel
· 26 min read