Tag Archives: History

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

Palo Alto A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

Palo Alto is nice. The weather is temperate; the people are educated, rich, healthy, innovative. Remnants of a hippie counterculture synthesized with high technology and big finance to produce the spiritually and materially ambitious heart of Silicon Valley. In some circles the small city—population near 70,000, as of this writing—has acquired the mythical reputation of […]

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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma. There are Johnny-jump-ups and spring beauties and little bluets. The Osage writer John Joseph Mathews observed that the galaxy of petals makes it look as if the “gods had left confetti.” In May, when coyotes […]

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The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel

OCTOBER 11, 1913. There was something in the water. Crew members of the Dutch pilot steamer Coertzen approached the object that had caught their attention. There, near the mouth of the Scheldt River along the eastern edge of the English Channel, in the rippling black, the men on the small vessel realized what they’d seen. […]

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The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The Wager A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The only impartial witness was the sun. For days, it watched as the strange object heaved up and down in the ocean, tossed mercilessly by the wind and the waves. Once or twice the vessel nearly smashed into a reef, which might have ended our story. Yet somehow—whether through destiny, as some would later proclaim, […]

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White Fear: How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds

White Fear How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds

By 2043, no ethnic group will be the majority in America. Two thirds of the world’s countries are already composed of a majority of people of color and—sooner than we know it—America will be just like the rest of the world. In fact, a 2018 Pew Research Study showed that almost half (49 percent) of […]

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American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis

American Midnight The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracys Forgotten Crisis

NIGHT HAD FALLEN in the rugged oil-boom city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, when the squad of detectives appeared on a downtown street. They gathered outside a building whose ground-floor meeting hall had yellow curtains at the windows. Then they burst inside. It was November 5, 1917, and the room they raided was the local headquarters of […]

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Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice

Devotion An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice

FROM ACROSS THE HOTEL LOBBY, I saw him sitting alone, newspaper in hand. He was a distinguished-looking older gentleman. His gray hair was swept back, his face sharp and handsome. He wore a navy blazer and tan slacks, and his luggage sat by his side. The lobby was buzzing, but no one paid him any […]

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Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America

Indigenous Continent The Epic Contest for North America

THERE IS AN OLD, DEEPLY ROOTED STORY ABOUT America that goes something like this: Columbus stumbles upon a strange continent and brings back stories of untold riches. The European empires rush over, eager to stake out as much of this astonishing New World as possible. Even as they clash, they ignite an era of colonial […]

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California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric

California Burning The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric

It’s hard to say exactly when PG&E Corporation began its fall. Like the erosion of any great institution, it happened slowly, and then all at once as the weight of past mistakes became too much to bear. Few could have foreseen the extent of the consequences when California’s largest and most powerful utility, a regulated […]

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Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival

Prisoners of the Castle An Epic Story of Survival

Franz Josef Every evening, Sergeant Major Gustav Rothenberger carried out an inspection of the castle perimeter, checking that the sentries were alert at their posts and hoping to catch one napping. Rothenberger was a stickler for routine, and the last stop on his rounds was always the east side of the building, where a narrow […]

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Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America’s Generals and Politicians

Crisis of Command How We Lost Trust and Confidence in Americas Generals and Politicians

My name is Stuart Scheller. I am the seventeen-year Marine Corps infantry officer who resigned at the rank of lieutenant colonel after witnessing a poorly planned and executed Afghanistan withdraw. I was thrust into the media when I posted a video on Facebook and LinkedIn from my office as a battalion commander. Wearing my uniform, I identified […]

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Medicine: The Definitive Illustrated History

Medicine The Definitive Illustrated History

One of the greatest figures in the history of medicine, Hippocrates of ancient Greece, believed that “A wise man should consider health as the greatest human blessing… To physicians: Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always… And make a habit of two things: Help; or at least, do no harm.” While these words are more than […]

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