151 years ago, a journey to Africa began that would garner international fame. In March, Henry Morton Stanley set out from Zanzibar to find a missing British explorer. The intrepid Stanley would always be remembered for this … Read the article
What would possess anyone to produce another book about Abraham Lincoln? Our 16th president is already more written about than any other individual who ever walked the earth, with the sole exception of Jesus (a special case, … Read the article
As the 1800 presidential election neared, Americans braced themselves. The Federalists, who dominated the presidency and both chambers of Congress, had become convinced that the Republicans, who functioned as the emerging opposition party, … Read the article
As the waves rocked the Planter, Robert Smalls proudly presented the guns to the dashing young John Frederick Nickels, the captain of the Onward, who had come very close to destroying their ship a few minutes … Read the article
The canon of literature on dogs is vast and deep. I’d be willing to bet that there are thousands upon thousands of titles devoted to stories about dogs—history, fiction, memoirs, advice and “how to” books, and volumes … Read the article
Tomlinson Hill is the stunning story of two families—one white, one black—who trace their roots to a slave plantation that bears their name.
My grandfather used to tell me that our family had owned slaves before the Civil … Read the article
“All campaigns have a turning point—a moment or a day (or sometimes longer) where the tide turned inevitable in the direction of one side over another. In some instances those campaign turners were perceived almost immediately during … Read the article
17 September: THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM (also known as Sharpsburg). It must be pointed out that the exact timing of events at Antietam are, to some extent only approximate. There were a vast number of watches … Read the article
John Brown was born with the nineteenth century and didn’t launch his attack on Virginia until he was nearly sixty. But almost from birth, he was marked in ways that would set him on the road to … Read the article
In Spring 1861, both sides worked feverishly to train and equip the new armies, but the start of major hostilities would fall to the North. Confederate leaders believed that the onus was on the Union to … Read the article