You can find a complete listing of all the articles on this site here. They are listed in reverse chronological order, and are all clickable links. Twenty-five articles are displayed per page, with the publication date included. To find older articles, click on the page numbers at the bottom.
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Reach Out And Help Someone Else During The Holiday Season
During this holiday season, try to reach out to someone who needs a hand and try to show some kindness. Too often, we all get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget other people also need help.
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John Lewis Burckhardt’s Pioneering Explorations And Travels In Arabia
Before Sir Richard Burton, there was John Lewis Burckhardt. Like many of the great names featured in these pages, he is little known today; but he sacrificed his life in the cause of discovery, and acquired a knowledge of the Arabic language and Islamic customs that has been surpassed by very few–if any–Westerners. Had he…
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The Need To Escape (Podcast)
The theme of this podcast is the subject of escape, and how it is connected with travel and discovery. We explore this theme through the prism of two recent movies: “The Last Days” (2013) and “The Way Back” (2010).
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The Incredible Life And Explorations Of John Ledyard
Of all the explorers and travelers I have written about, few are as fascinating and as little-known today as the American adventurer John Ledyard. He lived from 1751 to 1789, during the seminal years of American history; and his travels across the globe (especially in Russia and Siberia) mark him out as a man who…
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Separate Your Opponent From His Source Of Strength
When we are dealing with an opponent of substantial power, we should try to cut him off from his source of strength. If he can be made incapable of drawing on his strengths, he will be weakened; and so weakened, isolated; and if isolated, destroyed. Everything has a source of strength, whether we are talking…
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The Presence Of Death (Podcast)
We explore the theme of the presence of death through two movies: “Biutiful” (2010) and “Amour” (2012). We also discuss Polydore Vergil’s comments on the burial customs of various peoples, as I outlined in my article of December 6 here at Fortress of the Mind.
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The “Voyager” Program: Mankind’s Most Distant And Awesome Explorations
We have in these pages chronicled the feats of great explorers of previous eras. Yet our own era has witnessed what is perhaps the greatest, most awe-inspiring feat of exploration in the history of the man on earth: the Voyager program that made its way through the outer solar system. This was to be an…
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On Meetings And Separations: The Wisdom Of Two Scholars Of Al-Andalus
We have paid a price for the media age. Yes, it is true that we have access to huge volumes of information (or mindless trash, depending on your perspective); but the average person is now so deluged with tsunamis of inanity that it is a full-time responsibility just to sift out what is of value…
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Polydore Vergil’s Comments On Death And Burial Customs
The charm of old books often lies in their inaccuracies, errors, and absurdities. It is not a requirement of entertainment that everything must be factual. It is a pleasant thing to be reminded every now and then of our humanity; and nothing is more human than error. Only by seeing how far knowledge has advanced…
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When To Wait, And When To Strike
There are times in a leader’s experience when it will be prudent to watch and await developments. Sometimes more is to be gained by figuratively taking off one’s pack, sitting down on the side of the road, and monitoring the flow of events, than by leaping into the fray. On the other hand, there are…
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Dixon Denham: Pioneering British Explorer Of Central Africa
We have previously described in these pages the exploits of Heinrich Barth, one of the titans of African exploration. Before him was Dixon Denham, a British explorer whose name is also hardly known today. He covered some of the same ground as did Barth, but he had a different style; where Barth was a scientist…
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Edward King: Sacrificing Fortune And Life For Scholarship
Of some scholars, or patrons of the arts, it can be said that they sacrificed everything for their work. Of others, this cannot be said. Edward King, Viscount of Kingsborough, belongs to the former category. His name is almost entirely unknown today, but he occupies a significant place in the pantheon of heroes who helped…
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Six Points About Balancing Passion And Practicality In Educational Choices (Podcast)
A reader has some questions about giving his son advice on educational and career choices. He is torn between emphasizing what is “practical” and what he feels “passionate” about. Which one is more important? And if given the option, which one should be emphasized? I offer six points that might help him in coming to…
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Portents And Divination: Themis, Iris, And The Goddesses Of Fate
The belief in portents and auguries was common before the modern era. We moderns, comfortably ensconced in our towers of science and “rationalism,” are likely to view with extreme skepticism the notion that future events can be foretold. Such a view would appear to some as a superstitious relic from a less enlightened era. Or…
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Rise Of The Ironclads: A Revolution In Naval Warfare
One of the most famous naval engagements in American history was the duel fought at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862 between the ironclad warships USS Monitor and CSS Merrimack (more precisely named the CSS Virginia). I have recently been learning much more about the details of the battle, in Richard Snow’s wonderfully entertaining…
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A Portuguese Translation Of My Essay “The Engrossed”
I was informed today that an excellent Portuguese translation of my essay The Engrossed appeared on the site Nuvem de Giz. I very much appreciate the efforts of translator Sr. Daniel Castro, and am grateful that he found the essay to have been worthy of his efforts. The translation can be found here.
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A Phone Call With Stalin
Stalin biographer Steven Kotkin relates this ominous anecdote in the second volume of his monumental three-volume study of the Soviet dictator’s life and times. It shows–perhaps more clearly than any other anecdote–just how a man’s fate can hinge on a few critical moments in his life.
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Movie Roundup (11/15/2017)
In this podcast we discuss three movies: “Good People” (2014), “Smoke and Mirrors” (El Hombre de las Mil Caras)(2016), and the truly unsettling “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (2017).
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Great Deeds Of Valor From The Fourth Crusade
Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1160–1212?) is known as one of the first important names in French historiography. Unlike his predecessors, he was not a dry chronicler; he was a historian who participated directly in the events he described, and was reasonably objective by the standards of his day. His book, The Conquest of Constantinople, is a…
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The Remarkable Memoirs Of Madame Roland
When a writer composes his or her memoirs while in prison awaiting execution, we owe it to ourselves to consider what they have to say. It may be a cliché that the prospect of death focuses the memory and concentration, but it is a cliché that is powerfully true. In Chapter 5 of Thirty-Seven, I…
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Movie Roundup (11/4/2017)
In this podcast we provide short reviews of five movies I’ve seen recently: Hell or High Water (2016) Life (2017) Son of a Gun (2014) Black Snow (Nieve Negra) (2017) Michael Clayton (2007)
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The Fragility Of Historical Knowledge: The Case Of Lorenzo Boturini In Mexico
In the modern era we like to think of knowledge as something indelibly fixed and permanent. We take it for granted that it will always be here, like the Great Pyramid, and are apt to overlook the bitter struggles that our ancestors may have endured to acquire such knowledge. Information has not always been as…
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Paulus Catena: The Psychology Of An Accuser And The Anatomy Of A Witch-Hunt
Witch-hunts and persecutions thrive in environments where certain conditions are met. There must be some driving motivation, such as greed, envy, ideology, or hate; there must be willing accomplices who spread accusations and create new ones; and there must exist some tolerance of the persecution, whether from the leadership at the top or from the…
Original copy of Cicero’s De Officiis (On Duties) published in Holland in 1642. From the collection of Fortress of the Mind.
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