I hadn’t realized the coincidence until now, but June 26 is the anniversary of two extremely important Cold War events involving the German city of Berlin. In 1963, United States president John F. Kennedy told the people of West Berlin “Ich bin ein Berliner.” In English, he said, “I am also a citizen of Berlin.” […]
Month: June 2020
Colombo, Caboto, and the Importance of Names
It might be safe to write that every American ever born knows the name Christopher Columbus. When I used to teach American History to college students, the combination of Columbus and 1492 was one of two things I assumed every student knew about history. (The other? The name of the current president. Which, come to […]
Freikorps: What They Are, Why They Matter
The German word Freikorps has been on my mind often lately. It’s a word with which most readers will not be familiar. The English translation, “Free Corps,” is obvious, perhaps, but the purpose of the group less so. The Freikorps appeared in Germany in 1918, in the wake of its defeat in World War 1. […]
Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner Murdered
June 21, 1964 witnessed one of the most chilling events of the Civil Rights Movement, the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner. James Chaney and Michael Schwerner were members of the civil rights group CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, and Andrew Goodman was a summer volunteer to help with their programs. On June 21, […]
Review of The Impossible Girl, by Lydia Kang
Lydia Kang’s novel The Impossible Girl came out in 2018. What drew me to the book was its unusual main character, Cora Lee. The book takes place in 1850 New York City, and Cora is a resurrectionist. That is, she steals dead bodies from cemeteries and sells them to medical schools for dissection. She specializes, […]
Review of Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code
Dan Brown’s The da Vinci Code is, strictly speaking, not a historical fiction novel. Nor is it new, I realize. However, I decided to read and review it anyway for my followers who haven’t had a chance to read the book. It’s a book that draws on a great deal of Christian history to produce […]