OK Recruiter: The Legion is Coming
Anxieties over the abduction of young men into the French Foreign Legion after WWII reflected West Germany’s concerns about the state of their nation.
Reading Aloud in the Early Republic
Magazines of the freshly founded United States drew legitimacy and stability from the collective voice and sociability of their editors.
Is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Still Around?
With the US government poised to declare the Ivory-billed Woodpecker extinct, scientists work to determine what counts as evidence of existence.
Fighting Over the Dead
There was more than one violent altercation at the cemetery when one side of the family wanted to move a dead relative, and the other didn’t.
The Bug in the Computer Bug Story
Soon after a team of engineers discovered a moth in a machine at Harvard, the word "bug" became a standard part of the programmer's lexicon. Or did it?
Not Mathew Brady: The Civil War Photos of Andrew J. Russell
Will the real Civil War photographer please stand up?
The International Brigades
Foreigners fighting for Ukraine may call to mind the International Brigades that fought in defense of the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.
Counting War’s Civilian Dead
Despite claims of precision strikes and the proliferation of smart bombs, the number of civilians killed in war appears staggeringly high.
Heroic Newsboy Funerals
These collective rituals of death brought meaning and identity to urban, working-class youth.
Empire: The Russian Way
Russia's rise as an imperial power was built on intercontinental expansion, and a mission of "civilizing, protecting and educating" the conquered.