The Arsenal has a motley past. Despite its forbidding battlements, it wasn’t designed to withstand a siege - only to store gunpowder and cannonballs so that they could be hauled…
Second in a series: the first, with the introduction and the years 1801-1806, is here. 1807 Major events: Peninsular War (1807-1814) began as the French invaded Portugal, which offended Napoleon…
Prowling through my database of art recommendations past, present, and future, I noticed that quite a few of the artworks come from the first 15 years of the nineteenth century.…
The British fleet arrives General George Washington to John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress: New York July the 3d 1776 Sir Since I had the honor of addressing you and…
New York is the greatest city in the world: no argument from me about that. But greatness has to start somewhere ... Here's the Dutch settlement at the southern end of…
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,…