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This is the first post in a series discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled societies (the sort with cities and writing). And when … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part I: Households →
As is traditional here, I am taking advantage of the Fourth of July this week to write something about the United States, this time a brief discussion of the nature of civil-military relations in the United States. Civil-military relations (typically shortened to ‘civ-mil’ or sometimes CMR) is, simply put, the relationship between the broader civil … Continue reading Collections: The American Civil-Military Relationship →
Fireside this week! Originally, I was thinking I’d talk about the ‘future of classics’ question in this space, but I think that deserves a full post (in connection with this week’s book recommendation and the next fireside’s book recommendation), so instead this week I want to talk a little about foreign policy realism, what it … Continue reading Fireside Friday, June 27, 2025 (On the Limits of Realism) →
This week at long last we come to the clash of men and horses as we finish our three-part (I, II, III) look at the iconic opening battle scene from the film Gladiator (2000). Last time, we brought the sequence up through the infantry advance, observing that the tactics of the Roman arrow barrage and … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part III →
This week we’re continuing our three-part (I) look at one of film’s most famous Roman battle sequences, the iconic opening battle from Gladiator (2000). I had planned this to be in two parts, but even though this sequence is relatively short, it provides an awful lot to talk about. As noted last week, this iconic … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part II →
More in history
This is the first post in a series discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled societies (the sort with cities and writing). And when … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part I: Households →
Few monarchs have captured the imagination of a nation as much as King Henry V (r. 1413-22). The inspiration behind hundreds of books, plays, and movies, the nine-year reign of this English monarch is deemed as one of the most successful not just of any English king, but of any monarch in history. Read […]
We’ve been to East London in the 1960s with Tony Hall before, heading down the pub and to the shops. Now we get to see the streets in panoramic pictures taken by his Horizont (Горизонт) camera. Made between 1967 and 1973 by Russia’s Krasnogorsky Mekhanichesky Zavod (KMZ), the 35mm camera had a rotating lens that … Continue reading "1960s London Through A Russian Horizont Panoramic Camera" The post 1960s London Through A Russian Horizont Panoramic Camera appeared first on Flashbak.
Medieval battles were brutal, blood-soaked grind. Clever tactics and strong leadership often mattered, yet true upsets happened only when the weaker side found an edge. Whether better weapons, better tactics, knowledge of the terrain, or an unbreakable esprit de corps. The battles below illustrate moments when determined underdogs defied the odds and claimed stunning […]
