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I'm immersed in Robert Harris's Dictator, the third in his trilogy on Cicero. Spoiler: people die, by the thousands. The Roman Republic did not go gentle into that good night. But Harris,…
"Never forget that if you don't hit a newspaper reader between the eyes with your first sentence, there is no need of writing a second one," said Arthur Brisbane to his reporters…
Over drinks with James Bond, Domino describes her first hero: the sailor whose face appears on Player's Cigarettes. The story she made up about him fills 3 or 4 pages in Thunderball, Ian Fleming's…
The Scots gave us "Hogmanay" (their name for the celebration of New Year's Eve) and Robert Burns, whose version of a Scottish folk song, "Auld Lang Syne," is popular from…
Because many people dream of coming to New York, and because I'm never sorry to come back home: a list of favorite references on New York City's history and sights.…
The title of this post comes from "Silver Ships," whose author, Mildred Plew Meigs, lived 1892-1944. Since the copyright status isn't clear, I won't paste the poem here: instead, I'm sending…
"The Sea Gypsy" - Richard Hovey (1864-1900) I am fevered with the sunset, I am fretful with the bay, For the wander-thirst is on me And my soul is in…
This view of Scranton, Pennsylvania, shows the new roundhouse of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. The painting was commissioned by the president of the railroad ca. 1856. I love the way the train…
A favorite quote on reading, from Francis Bacon (1561-1626): Crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men use them: for they teach not their own use: but…
Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire is brilliant, gripping, and startlingly vivid view of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance that uses Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe as a a hook.…
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