Essays

Miscellaneous Essays

A broader collection spanning religion, constitutional history, war, memory, sports, and social change.

The Abrahamic Faiths

Tracing Christianity, Islam, and Judaism back to Abraham, and the shared roots that persist beneath their widening divergences.

Why the Battle of Bunker Hill, more than Lexington and Concord, was the point of no return that committed America and Britain to war.

Kathryn Jay's More Than Just a Game on how sports since World War II reshaped American race relations, economy, and culture.

How the Theravada and Mahayana traditions let Buddhism serve diverse populations across Southeast Asia, China, and Japan.

How Charles Francis Adams' ancestry shaped his 1896 account of the Battle of Bunker Hill at the outset of the Revolutionary War.

Flenley, Bahn, and Diamond on the collapse of Easter Island, and what its limited resources warn about our own fragile environment.

An overview of American federalism, balancing state, local, and central authority, born from the failures of the Articles of Confederation.

Jon Bridgman's The End of the Holocaust, which shifts focus from the camps' atrocities to the often-overlooked moment of liberation.

Reading Jacob the Liar, where a ghetto rumor of advancing Russian troops becomes a fragile, sustaining source of hope.

Olga Lengyel's Five Chimneys as a memoir that lends a voice to the voiceless and stands as testament to those lost in the camps.

A review of Stephen Pelletiere's account of the motivations behind the US invasion of Iraq, and the gaps in his sourcing.

How the Olympic Games endured for over 2,700 years, from ancient Greek contests to a modern global festival of athletics.

How the 1968 Olympics became a stage for Civil Rights protest as Cold War and Vietnam tensions overshadowed the competitions.

How athletics, religion, and a shared culture among the Greek city-states gave rise to the Olympic Games of antiquity.

Weighing the Patriot Act after 9/11, balancing the demands of counterterrorism against concerns over civil liberties and oversight.

On the Patriot Act after 9/11, the debate over citizens' rights versus law enforcement, and the case for consistent independent oversight.

How airpower and the idea of total war shaped psychological warfare, and why shifting enemies forced the USAF to rethink its approach.

Reassessing Ion Antonescu's legacy and the grim truth behind Romania's wartime ransoming of its Jewish population.

James Kitfield's Prodigal Soldiers on how lessons from Vietnam reshaped US military doctrine and leadership before the 1991 Gulf War.