For some time now an unfilmed script about George Washington has been floating around online. It’s credited to David Franzoni, presumably the same person by that name who wrote Gladiator and Amistad. You can read it for yourself here. I just ran across it again while doing some online browsing. As much as I’d love to see [...]
Archive for November, 2008
Is Washington filmable?
Posted in American Revolution, History and Memory, tagged George Washington on November 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A handy overview of America’s military beginnings
Posted in American Revolution, Historiography, tagged Continental Army, James Kirby Martin, Mark Edward Lender on November 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I recently picked up a copy of a book that’s worth recommending: A Respectable Army: The Military Origins Of The Republic, 1763-1789, by James Kirby Martin and Mark Edward Lender. This book is part of Harlan Davidson’s American History Series edited by John Hope Franklin and A.S. Eisenstadt, which offers concise guides to important periods and [...]
May I recommend some virtual touring?
Posted in American Revolution, History on the Web, Museums and Historic Sites on November 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’d like to recommend an interesting site that I just added to my blogroll. It’s not a new blog, but I only became aware of it today. Buddventures is a chronicle of one history buff’s visits to sites around the country. There are plenty of photos, along with lots of information on the places highlighted. Best [...]
Hacking merrily away at history budgets
Posted in Historic Preservation, Museums and Historic Sites on November 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Politicians and bureaucrats are generally happy to give cultural institutions the short end of the stick in times of economic distress, so right now historic sites and museums across the country are taking hits. Check out this news story describing the situation in states like Arizona and Illinois. In addition to providing a rather wide-ranging overview of the situation, it also [...]
Everybody’s talking about Civil War art
Posted in American Revolution, Civil War, History and Memory, History on the Web, tagged Civil War art, Don Troiani, historical art, Mort Kunstler on November 13, 2008 | 4 Comments »
For the past few days, history bloggers have been buzzing about Civil War art, specifically the paintings of artists like Mort Kunstler and Don Troiani. I thought I might as well weigh in.
The Tipsy Historian opened up with a Veterans Day salvo, arguing that modern-day Civil War art sanitizes the brutal reality of combat and distorts our view [...]
Civil War tourism at its finest
Posted in Civil War on November 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Planning to do some heritage touring in the Shenandoah Valley? Looking for that one-of-a-kind stop to make your itinerary complete? Consider Dinosaur Kingdom in Natural Bridge, VA. Here’s a description from RoadsideAmerica.com:
As the tour begins, visitors are asked to imagine themselves in 1863. A family of Virginia paleontologists has accidentally dug a mine shaft into [...]
Lincoln speech headed for the auction block
Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, tagged Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln speech, Sotheby's on November 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Looking for a unique Valentine’s Day gift for next year? A recent news item might be of interest. On Feb. 12, 2009 Christie’s will auction a handwritten manuscript of a speech Lincoln delivered on the occasion of his re-election.
For those of us who aren’t obscenely wealthy, the speech is available in Basler’s Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln and is [...]
Michael Crichton, 1942-2008
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Michael Crichton on November 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
“I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.” — Crichton, State of Fear
Someday we’re going to find that modern mankind’s most pressing problem has been our failure to appreciate the limits of human understanding. When that happens, we’ll appreciate Michael Crichton for what he was: the indispensable writer of the last half-century.
(The image is from this news story.)
Can’t see the forest for the–um, Forrest
Posted in Civil War, History and Memory, tagged Nathan Bedford Forrest High School on November 4, 2008 | 3 Comments »
The debate over whether to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, FL (discussed in this post) is over, at least for now. Yesterday the Duval County School Board voted to leave things be. Here’s a news story with the gritty details.
From the above-mentioned news item: “The board listened to passionate [...]
