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Cliopatria



  • Farewell to Cliopatria

    by Cliopatria

    And so, after 8 1/4 years and over 1,100,000 visits, we bid farewell to Cliopatria. Before going, she wishes to thank her hosts at History News Network, Rick Shenkman and David Walsh, for their hospitality.


  • Things Noted Here & There

    by Cliopatria

    Kelly Hignett hosts History Carnival CVII at The View East on Thursday 1 March. Send nominations of the best in February's history blogging to thevieweast*at*gmail*dot*com or use the form. David Silby hosts Military History Carnival XXX here at Cliopatria on Thursday 1 March. Use the form to submit nominations of the best in military history blogging since 1 December 2011.


  • Still More Noted Things

    by Cliopatria

    Paula Findlen, "Galileo's Credo," Nation, 14 February, reviews John L. Heilbron's Galileo and David Wootton's Galileo: Watcher of the Skies.

    Brian Vickers, "Ben Jonson, Britain's first literary celebrity?" TLS, 15 February, reviews Ian Donaldson's Ben Jonson: A Life.

    John Barrell reviews Faramerz Dabhoiwala's The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution for the Guardian, 10 February.

    David A. Bell reviews Piers Paul Read's The Dreyfus Affair: The Story of the Most Infamous Miscarriage of Justice in French History for the Guardian, 16 February.


  • More Noted Things

    by Cliopatria

    James Romm, "The Greeks' Daring Experiment," WSJ, 11 February, reviews Christian Meier's A Culture of Freedom: Ancient Greece and the Origins of Europe.

    Mike Dash, "The Monster of Glamis," Past Imperfect, 10 February, looks at the history of the castle's mystery.

    Jeffrey Wasserstram, "The Battle for China's Soul," WSJ, 11 February, reviews Stephen Platt's Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War.


  • A historian’s place in (current) politics

    by Cliopatria

    After the grinding pessimism of my previous post, I think it rather behoves me to also look at the question, what can we do, and specifically for this audience, what's the role of the historian in this? I'm much less certain I have any answers here, but I have some thoughts so I thought I would put them up to be shot at.

    I suspect, myself, that the morally correct response for the committed democrat in a situation like this is to quit his or her job, whatever it may be, start and then manage and fund-raise for a new party eschewing the principles they'd actually like to see mattering in politics. It wouldn't work, probably, but it would be ethical, and I honestly think that's what I should do. But I really really don't want to, I want to pay someone else to run the country for me so I can get on with my research, which is what I'm actually passionate about. So hopefully there is a rôle for a historian in this, right?


  • More Modern Notes

    by Cliopatria

    William H. McNeill, "The Doges of War," WSJ, 4 February, reviews Roger Crowley's City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas. Marina Warner, "Monsters, magic and miracles," TLS, 8 February, reviews Wes Williams's Monsters and Their Meanings in Early Modern Culture: Mighty magic.