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More from Trying to Understand the World

Before The Past Was New.

Why should we bother trying to understand?

a week ago 7 votes
Quand ça s’arrêtera en Ukraine, qui éteindra les lumières?

Another of my essays in French.

a week ago 10 votes
What We Talk About, When We Talk About Talks.

The End may be further away than you think.

2 weeks ago 12 votes
Stories We Tell Each Other.

Because contingency frightens us.

3 weeks ago 16 votes

More in history

My favourite etymologies: clue

A word for worms, string, romance, and advice

16 hours ago 3 votes
Who Were the Aboriginal Leaders of the Frontier Wars? 4 Key Figures

Most of what we know about the people involved in the Australian Frontier Wars, and the massacres that unfolded, comes from the journals of those who were involved in them; that is, European settlers, pastoralists, and government officials. They also come (especially with regard to the massacres) from Aboriginal oral histories, which continue to […]

19 hours ago 2 votes
The Great Madman Theory of History vindicated

Has Nigel Farage just ended his chance of victory?

6 hours ago 1 votes
What Is the First Epistle of Peter About?

There is no doubt that the audience the First Epistle of Peter (1 Peter) had in mind was suffering persecution. Whether it was from Nero before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE or during the reign of Domitian a decade or so afterward, the readers can find wisdom and encouragement in the pages […]

9 hours ago 1 votes
A complete history of Mogadishu (ca. 1100-1892)

Journal of African cities: chapter 16.

27 minutes ago 1 votes