The Enlightenment of the long 18th century was an era of awesome intellectual and cultural transformation. My Enlightenment Vision flowchart [pdf] is pitched at a high level of abstraction, showing schematically how the philosophical revolution of the 17th century led to the 18th-century revolutions in science, technology, politics, and economics — which in turn led […]
The Enlightenment Vision — Flowchart Read More »
Penis trees, anus trumpets, horseplay, and more. And then you go to Hell. Source: Got Medieval.
Those bawdy medievals Read More »
Hale is a powerful writer — his opening two-paragraph description of a trireme’s pulsing, relentless approach will make the blood surge in your own veins.
John Hale on Themistocles and the Athenian navy Read More »
In chronological order: 1893 New Zealand1902 Australia1906 Finland1913 Norway1915 Denmark1917 Canada1918 Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia1919 Netherlands1920 United States1921 Sweden1928 Britain, Ireland All other countries in the world: Granted later or not yet granted. Interesting: Six of the fifteen are British or former British colonies, and the other nine are northern European. Source. Related: This clip on the Enlightenment of the 1700s, which transformed the Western world’s
The first 15 countries to grant women the vote Read More »
Did the death of one man in Mongolia affect the entire course of European history since the 1200s? Here’s the context: In 1227, Genghis Khan’s son Ogedai became head of the Mongolian empire, which at that time included much of northern China, southeastern Russia, and Persia. Ogedai sent one of his generals, Tsubodai (or Subotai),
The Mongols and modern European history Read More »
In The Road to Serfdom, Hayek noticed the many students who went to Europe (especially to France and Germany) to study in the 1920s and 30s: “Many a university teacher during the 1930’s has seen English and American students return from the Continent uncertain whether they were communists or Nazis and certain only that they
What students learn at university: Hayek’s observation Read More »
A strong observation from Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges’s The Ancient City: “It is a general fact, and almost without exception in the history of Greece and of Italy, that the tyrants sprang from the popular party, and had the aristocracy as enemies. ‘The mission of the tyrant,’ says Aristotle, ‘is to protect the people
How Populists become Tyrants — classic examples Read More »
[Reposting from July, 2012, and with this update on the controversy over Hochschild’s book: Gilley critiques and Hochschild responds.] One of the most outrageous evils of the 19th and early 20th centuries was Leopold II of Belgium’s rape of the Congo. The story is well told by Adam Hochschild in King Leopold’s Ghost. King Leopold
*King Leopold’s Ghost* — slavery in the Congo Read More »