history
Continuing a discussion from our podcast and YouTube channel, a listener asked us to elaborate on some of the historical books that Hal enjoys reading. An earlier post linked to a number of historical books, but this segment Hal's talking about biographies - a branch of history that he also follows. (These are affiliate links…
I’m a fan of historical films (see my reviews of They Shall Not Grow Old and Darkest Hour). I had read some sharp criticism of last year’s dramatization First Man and didn’t see it, but Melanie and I had a recent “date afternoon” and watched the purely documentary Apollo 11 at a local IMAX theater.…
At the conclusion of the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill said of the courageous British pilots, “This was their finest hour.” This new biographical film portrays a much darker hour, when Europe was collapsing under Nazi domination, England faced the loss of its army with invasion to follow, and King George was forced to hand…
We all love the director’s commentary and the extra “How We Made It” sequences on DVDs. We’re not quite there yet for our own Great Waters Press productions, but we thought you might be interested in what is going into our Hero Tales audiobook CDs. The third volume in this series brings the collection up to the…
King Alfred's English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do is a fun and enlightening view of English history in the format of four major language "invasions" and how they changed the shape and form of English. Surprising facts about people and wars, quirky details about spelling…
Bonne Ville means "good city" in French, but without a doubt Bonneville, Utah, is the most inhospitable, uninhabitable place I've ever seen, including the Arabian Desert. It was named for Benjamin Bonneville, a French-born Army officer who explored the region in the 1830s. It certainly is no place for a city, good or bad. 'The…
Our family enjoys board games from time to time, especially old standards like Monopoly, Clue, and Scrabble. We also enjoy history, geography and trains. Our friends at Timberdoodle sent us a board game that combines them all, and we've added a new game to our list of favorites! Settlers of America: Trails to Rails is…
There are only a select subset of books that I reread. Most are barely worth the time to finish them, but there are a few that bear rereading again and again. Dorothy Sayers is like that. Although she writes mysteries, her prose is so enjoyable that you don't even care that you know "who dunnit."…