Writing
Even Woodrow Wilson? The "Purge Moment" Runs Amok
Over the summer of 2015, the argument over displaying the Confederate flag in public grounds galvanized public opinion. Many conservative Southern Republicans agreed that such displays contradict our basic principles…
Read MoreNazi Fatigue
I need a break from Nazis, Nazism, SS officers, concentration camps, swastikas, and the crazy guy with the toothbrush mustache. Yeah, this guy. They’re all powerful symbols, with…
Read MoreDanger: Constitutional Convention Ahead?
I’ve got a piece today in the Baltimore Sun, warning of the dangers of a second constitutional convention, which a shocking number of state legislatures are proposing willy-nilly. They need to stop…
Read MoreBooks and (Semi) Mass Media
Having published my book on James Madison last month (Madison’s Gift), I share one trait with most authors of a recently-released book: A wistful desire that great chunks of the…
Read MoreOne Perilous Joy of the Season
I vividly recall the Christmas morning. My father opened the book I had carefully picked out for him. I hadn’t read it, but I thought it would be perfect for…
Read MoreWhy F. Scott?
This morning brings the inaugural installment of a monthly piece I’ll be writing for the Washington Independent Review of Books. The subjects will be what I’m reading, writing, or thinking about.…
Read MoreFive Books on Impeachment
The conservative-inspired “Impeach Obama” campaign will wax and wane over the next two political years, a weird residue of the benighted effort to impeach President Bill Clinton fifteen years ago.…
Read MoreWWI: Who was the enemy?
As the World War I centennial continues to gear up, and as I slouch to the end of my novel on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, I have stumbled…
Read MoreWorld War I: Fragging Officers and PTSD?
The sequel to my historical novel, The Lincoln Deception, is set at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Accordingly, I’ve been doing some considerable reading about World War I and the peace…
Read MoreNine Breeds of Historical Fiction
[This piece first appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books] Historical fiction is flourishing, and its advantages are many. For readers, it combines the familiar with the unknown, as novelists…
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