May 2015
Massacres old and new
Posted May 26, 2015
Be warned. This column is not amusing or exciting. Its subject is continuing tragedy.
The Accidental Archaeologist
Posted May 19, 2015
If you come across a portrait or photograph of the famous archaeologist, author and politician Austen Henry Layard, it is most often of him as an old gentleman with an enormous white beard. That beard is so big and white that he seems to be all beard and no person. But long before that he was a young man working in an office and longing for something—anything—more exciting.
Pamper Me With Possets
Posted May 12, 2015
Have you ever had a posset? It's a classic comfort food. Soft and gentle, like something that would pamper and console you. And we all have times when we need comfort food. (I certainly do.)
Of Safety and Snobbery
Posted May 5, 2015
George Stephenson was an English engineer who has been called “The Father of the Railways” of the 19th century. He was a brilliant and visionary man, but success wasn’t easy for him.The scientific establishment of his day had difficulty believeing that anything good or important could come from a man who wasn't a "gentleman" and who didn't have the benefit of a univeristy education.