With Florence serving as the base of our 2016 trip to Italy, we took a two hour high-speed train ride to Rome for a day in the… Read more “All Roads (and tracks) Lead to Rome”
Category: History
Book Review: Female Tars
I’ve seen some weirdly harsh criticism of this book that I really don’t understand. Folks seemed to be upset by Suzanne J. Stark’s questioning of generally accepted… Read more “Book Review: Female Tars”
Book Review: Cod
This is an excellent book, and a much quicker read than Kurlansky’s more famous and popular book, Salt. I love that it balances History, Food, and Environmentalism… Read more “Book Review: Cod”
Book Review: The Job
William S. Burroughs is a challenging figure in American literature, especially fringe literature. Key to the Beats, but not a part of it; key to drug culture,… Read more “Book Review: The Job”
Book Review: The Cult of Alien Gods
The more history and science I read, the more it becomes clear that everything is connected, and nothing exists in a vacuum. I don’t mean that in… Read more “Book Review: The Cult of Alien Gods”
Book Review: Odessa
The subtitle of this book is ‘Genius and Death in the City of Dreams.’ That seems very accurate. Charles King takes us through the relatively brief history… Read more “Book Review: Odessa”
Book Review: The Maid and the Queen
As a kid, the story of Joan of Arc fascinated me. So much great imagery swirls around her legend, so much mystery and power. What then is… Read more “Book Review: The Maid and the Queen”
Firenze: Three Days of Art, History, and Food
In February of 2016, Rebecca and I took our second European trip, this time to Italy. As we had done with Lisbon, our plan was to… Read more “Firenze: Three Days of Art, History, and Food”
Book Review: Gilded Suffragists
I really don’t enjoy writing negative reviews. I tend to be somewhat picky about what I read, so I tend to like a lot of the books… Read more “Book Review: Gilded Suffragists”
Book Review: Best Little Stories of the Wild West
While this book will not win any awards for most compelling or artistic exploration of a subject, it is packed with interesting anecdotes, and written with enough… Read more “Book Review: Best Little Stories of the Wild West”
Matthew J. Constantine 