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Article Topic: World History

Republic of Pirates – Now in Romanian

    I spent many, many weeks of my early 20s exploring Romania in the late Ceausescu and early post-totalitarian years, a fascinating country that I never got enough of…. Read more »

Explaining the “pirate king” Henry Avery on Discovery’s Expedition Unknown

This past fall I met up with Josh Gates, host and producer of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown, at London’s oldest pub, The Prospect of Whitby to talk about the legendary… Read more »

Was there any historic truth to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films?

Dan Lefebrve has a popular podcast — Based on a True Story — in which he asks an expert how well a given Hollywood film matched up to historical reality…. Read more »

Reviewing David Hackett Fisher’s Albion’s Seed sequel in Washington Monthly

More than thirty years ago, Brandeis historian David Hackett Fischer resuscitated the effort to develop a historical narrative of the United States with a book called Albion’s Seed, a sweeping… Read more »

Discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with regional experts, Mar. 8

In a single week, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has shattered the post Cold War order, cast Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his country into Iran-like isolation, set nuclear power… Read more »

Talking pirates on Spotify’s hit podcast Real Pirates

Bristol, England-based podcast producers Noiser recently reached out to interview me for an extended series they’re doing for Spotify on the golden age pirates whose story I reassembled in my… Read more »

Reviewing Alex von Tunzelmann’s “Fallen Idols” in the Washington Post

In Sunday’s Washington Post I reviewed Alex von Tunzelmann’s new book, Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues that Made History. It’s extremely topical, providing historical and comparative context for thinking about the evaluation and potential… Read more »

9/11 Started Here, in Portland, Maine

The leader of the 9/11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta, spent his last night and the morning of September 11th on the outskirts of Portland, Maine, amid the mundane commercial sprawl of… Read more »

Talking Blackbeard on Noiser’s “Short History Of…” podcast

Noiser, the UK-baed podcast producer, has launched a new history series, “Short History Of…” and, appropriately enough for company headquartered in Bristol, included an episode on Blackbeard for their inaugural… Read more »

Republic of Pirates, now in Lithuanian

Have you been waiting for a Lithuanian edition of The Republic of Pirates? Of course you have. We all have. And now the waiting is over. Leidykla Briedis, the Vilnius… Read more »