tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2250167587171408442024-03-22T13:02:01.227-07:00History, True or FeignedPaul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-24587292565765344922024-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:002024-01-01T14:55:53.977-08:00What I read in 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipICUyG0-juSR6yKjBdQ8nWHP99yYvC7vIiHgW8C_f7lNLqP66DXAQht62Aaep6AChqk753eT39d3gk8FAmJf_HdP6mJxpjbbo5EMGIlEMsbQrBO8ofX1HP3-5uIKDsPCLmlLY0hJhLwbaEJRWwnWFvFYTNXvcqQiYYfp_0d_cCV7VGetcYnzRowrSU_BQ/s1024/BattleBornCOVER_FINAL-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipICUyG0-juSR6yKjBdQ8nWHP99yYvC7vIiHgW8C_f7lNLqP66DXAQht62Aaep6AChqk753eT39d3gk8FAmJf_HdP6mJxpjbbo5EMGIlEMsbQrBO8ofX1HP3-5uIKDsPCLmlLY0hJhLwbaEJRWwnWFvFYTNXvcqQiYYfp_0d_cCV7VGetcYnzRowrSU_BQ/s320/BattleBornCOVER_FINAL-768x1024.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div>On New Years, 2019 a friend of mine posted a list of the books they had read in 2018. I thought it was a great idea so I've been posting such a list myself ever since, first on Facebook, now on my blog. I find it a very useful exercise in self-reflection - though I am sure it is really just another example of my narcissism. đ</div><br />If anyone else makes such lists, I'd love to see them. Feel free to share the lists, or links to your lists, in the comments.đ You can find my previous years here: <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-i-read-in-2019.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2019</a>, <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-i-read-in-2020.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2020</a>, <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2022/01/what-i-read-in-2021.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2021</a> and <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2023/01/what-i-read-in-2022.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2022</a>.<div><br /><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking over this year's list (see below), I had fewer rereads then normal. Lots of fantasy as usual, but not many Tolkien reads. Overall, I read as many works as I usually do. But I didn't have as many focused topic reads this year. I continued reading the Frigate Navy period, of course, and my normal interests - the Corps, <i>Thieves' World</i>, the Lovecraft circle, ect. - all show up but over all it was a fairly mixed year. As usual, the fantasy genre dominated my non-professional reading. As usual, I only listed books I read all the way through, so the massive amount of reading I did for work isn't included. Only the few books I read over to cover. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Rereads: 25 (I've marked rereads below with an *) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorPdrewAtVsptDloDOhk9pXSx5ehO9xWWgCO_uH2X2bwX_8gLc0Ql4LXGK0q07ndlBQQYxgotc0iYvT6x6V37qLuQXF5VEtDtyz-xu1I0PP-OLh1arLoGdKR5U_TMuutQ7ENaBgZ4w2QtFPRFzsI3bvgEmQK-9kbMwpHvCSI6mti0jyGJ8PoJU9mw_F7J/s475/twlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiorPdrewAtVsptDloDOhk9pXSx5ehO9xWWgCO_uH2X2bwX_8gLc0Ql4LXGK0q07ndlBQQYxgotc0iYvT6x6V37qLuQXF5VEtDtyz-xu1I0PP-OLh1arLoGdKR5U_TMuutQ7ENaBgZ4w2QtFPRFzsI3bvgEmQK-9kbMwpHvCSI6mti0jyGJ8PoJU9mw_F7J/s320/twlg.jpg" width="218" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Military History reads: 8</span></div><div># of fantasy works: 40<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># by or about Tolkien or Inklings: 4</span></div><div># related to Lovecraft or the Mythos: 5<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Marine reads: 5 </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Frigate Navy period reads: 9</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Thieves' World & related: 12</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Matter of Britain/France works: 3</span></div><div><div># of holiday reads: 8<br /><span></span></div><div># historical fiction reads: 7</div><div># World War II reads: 5</div></div></div><div># Late Roman/Byzantine reads: 2</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>What I read in 2023:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div> 1. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/For-the-Common-Defense-3rd-Edition-Audiobook/B07D816WHN?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B07D816WHN&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=R92V5S4FMPHW74T3E43Z&pageLoadId=E5fHbcrUwSsHP3wf&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012</i> by Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, William B. Feis</a>*</div><div> 2. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429969987/sanctuary" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Sanctuary</i> by Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 3. <a href="http://www.pjfarmer.com/WORKS-books-tarzan-alive.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Tarzan Alive: A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke</i> by Philip JosĂ© Farmer</a></div><div> 4. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-World-Turning-Lynn-Abbey/dp/0312875177" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Turning Points</i> edited by Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 5. <a href="https://librivox.org/infamous-day-pearl-harbor-by-robert-james-cressman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Infamous Day: Marines At Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941</i> by Robert J. Cressman and J. Michael Wenger</a>*</div><div> 6. <a href="https://librivox.org/first-offensive-the-marine-campaign-for-guadalcanal-by-henry-i-shaw/"><i>First Offensive: The Marine Campaign for Guadalcanal </i>by Henry I. Shaw, Jr.</a>*</div><div> 7. <a href="https://maximilianuriarte.com/portfolio/battle-born-lapis-lazuli/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli</i> by Maximilian Uriarte</a></div><div> 8. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_(novel)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Roads</i> by Seabury Quinn</a></div><div> 9. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/My-Father-the-Pornographer-Audiobook/B01F7SOMHQ?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B01F7SOMHQ&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=G8Z67V37BVZADD33YDMZ&pageLoadId=WeLr6PCPGzXQbUYv&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir</i> by Chris Offutt</a></div><div> 10. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Bright-Moon-Lynn-Abbey/dp/044113873X" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Daughter of the Bright Moon</i> by Lynn Abbey</a> </div><div> 11.<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Thieves-World-Enemies-Steven-Brust/dp/0765353261" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Enemies of Fortune</i> edited by Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 12. <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/10/review-tales-of-peril.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Tales of Peril - The Complete Boinger & Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes</i> by John Eric Holmes, edited by Allan T. Grohne Jr.</a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviKccyaCe6ESo9K4p3Dd5ptanHmSi7ktPRGQFTj0k50T1mTE3QW-HQwdVbn742ERG29TKUaFXjEYGib8sBGnld9ZlBA8iuBhgzbTO-VA7MV1Mwlwv8W_ZH3JSYVlVhMoLvi2z23SDWiIfzeAKPmCymCqmgekWCFYIA6A8NXZoCsGUMlXfiJBbHe87oIfb/s279/160px-Anderson_three_avong1127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="160" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviKccyaCe6ESo9K4p3Dd5ptanHmSi7ktPRGQFTj0k50T1mTE3QW-HQwdVbn742ERG29TKUaFXjEYGib8sBGnld9ZlBA8iuBhgzbTO-VA7MV1Mwlwv8W_ZH3JSYVlVhMoLvi2z23SDWiIfzeAKPmCymCqmgekWCFYIA6A8NXZoCsGUMlXfiJBbHe87oIfb/s1600/160px-Anderson_three_avong1127.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><br /> 13. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Three-Hearts-and-Three-Lions-Audiobook/B004TBQM62?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B004TBQM62_1&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=5YVCWF3NW6TRDRJH8MSZ&pageLoadId=KNYv9FpfIWhFQS7H&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i> by Poul Anderson</a>*</div><div> 14. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Broken-Sword-Audiobook/B004XDWD5U?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B004XDWD5U_0&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=5YVCWF3NW6TRDRJH8MSZ&pageLoadId=KNYv9FpfIWhFQS7H&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Broken Sword</i> by Poul Anderson</a>*</div><div> 15. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Law-Audiobook/B09Y286JK6?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B09Y286JK6_11&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=GGR5JDNBAWSKCACHNKVX&pageLoadId=upkm0bG9TaYTCcxO&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Law: A Dresden Files Novella</i> by Jim Butcher</a></div><div> 16. <a href="https://oikofuge.com/anderson-midsummer-tempest/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Midsummer Tempest</i> by Poul Anderson</a></div><div> 17. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fall-of-Numenor-Audiobook/B0B5H2QK7L?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0B5H2QK7L_9&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=Y06HX66BK2EQA16XBFTW&pageLoadId=iRxTEQUyIuzFiEoC&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Fall of NĂșmenor And Other Tales from the Second Age of Middle-Earth</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Brian Sibley</a> </div><div> 18. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fortune-of-War-Audiobook/B002V0A5Y8?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B002V0A5Y8_0&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=BPXC34HX0GSG0AZ6S12M&pageLoadId=rk036I2tGy56BjPH&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Fortune of War</i> by Patrick O'Brian</a></div><div> 19. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Merman%27s_Children" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Merman's Children</i> by Poul Anderson</a></div><div> 20. <a href="https://www.biblio.com/book/uss-constitutions-finest-fight-1815-journal/d/1508526214" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The USS Constitution's Finest Fight, 1815: The Journal of Acting Chaplain Assheton Humphreys, US Navy</i>, edited by Tyrone G. Martin</a></div><div> 21. <a href="http://lankhmar.co.uk/the-sinful-ones/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Sinful Ones</i> by Fritz Leiber</a>*</div><div> 22. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XGKKPF8/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Generalship Of Belisarius</i> by Major Anthony Brogna</a></div><div> 23. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Homecoming-of-Beorhtnoth-Audiobook/B0BTMBQFXY?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0BTMBQFXY_1&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=WT2EX8PSDTB9B7HF4Y3P&pageLoadId=f19XvEbX3LMtq2TC&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a></div><div> 24. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Secret-History-Audiobook/B07957MGQ9?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B07957MGQ9_2&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=WT2EX8PSDTB9B7HF4Y3P&pageLoadId=f19XvEbX3LMtq2TC&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Secret History</i> by Procopius</a>*</div><div> 25. <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tolkien_and_The_Silmarillion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Tolkien and The Silmarillion</i> by Clyde S. Kilby</a></div><div> 26. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Essex-Journal-Voyage-1813-1814/dp/1848321740" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Hunting the Essex: A Journal of the Voyage of HMS Phoebe, 1813-1814</i> by Midshipman Allen F. Gardiner, edited by John S. Reiske</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Essex-Journal-Voyage-1813-1814/dp/1848321740" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBR0vXQzBJBdl_tpC9YS3eMZXtwz7fc4Fen9PV0xwuIGSZWWyMXQ91vueKeX-MuztwqKq22MYS0NJZgr_FrxtwlB-xkKmV0AmiaY51hypUD1vHg36G0kOsBdvLo3fMe0FkOFm-utZEZOfcaK4UJOxU0LSNvM4yn2WUc-wUOjopLnnUsxNcvvnfvR3qOgHC/s500/612RqvTSuUL._SL500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBR0vXQzBJBdl_tpC9YS3eMZXtwz7fc4Fen9PV0xwuIGSZWWyMXQ91vueKeX-MuztwqKq22MYS0NJZgr_FrxtwlB-xkKmV0AmiaY51hypUD1vHg36G0kOsBdvLo3fMe0FkOFm-utZEZOfcaK4UJOxU0LSNvM4yn2WUc-wUOjopLnnUsxNcvvnfvR3qOgHC/w200-h200/612RqvTSuUL._SL500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div></div><div> 27. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Dragon-No-Lynn-Abbey/dp/0743458214" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Unicorn and Dragon</i> by Lynn Abbey</a></div><div> 28.<a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Another-Fine-Myth-Audiobook/1980092184?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_1980092184_0&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=DDRAD4Y70DEPVEH0N1KQ&pageLoadId=Bej5xSMX1evjutbO&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> <i>Another Fine Myth</i> by Robert Asprin</a></div><div> 29. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unicorn-Dragon-No-Lynn-Abbey/dp/0743458214" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Unicorn and Dragon: Conquest</i> by Lynn Abbey</a></div><div> 30. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Foundling-Audiobook/B06ZYSJDG5?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_8&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=X91D6EXSXSBSYMKG5FY9&pageLoadId=s6WeQPoDEy8BqoEf&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>The Foundling And Other Tales of Prydain </i>by Lloyd Alexander</a>*<br /></div><div> 31. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Book-of-Three-Audiobook/B002V8N86C?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=0QCGQJZ0BY7T96T8DB32&pageLoadId=khgq5JbWepeeoOf0&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>The Book of Three</i> by Lloyd Alexander</a>*</div><div> 32. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Black-Cauldron-Audiobook/B002V1M4PA?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_3&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=18NRGHHWMR01DV3RYDZK&pageLoadId=CeOjQj0gvP1HK6AA&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>The Black Cauldron</i> by Lloyd Alexander</a>*</div><div> 33. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Castle-of-Llyr-Audiobook/B002V1AHQI?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_4&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=N9SBA1Y9KSK7CTS32VNC&pageLoadId=cd6Xu3jjohu58vFz&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>The Castle of Llyr</i> by Lloyd Alexander</a>*</div><div> 34. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Taran-Wanderer-Audiobook/B002V5H4ZG?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_5&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=4YRJ7186C6ZTWGTWSC17&pageLoadId=XtmzVdfxdn3pKE2n&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>Taran Wanderer</i> by Lloyd Alexander</a>*</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOPlUrlWoc9WyDKKcfulCbdhtSGTFWoS7KQFxkRlrD6q_24CUw7-OqtHfhYf6CAA7YZgVOiKzHU1E5FXqYUze024FwpKjutQRBR7Ajr5_s5j4-dv4xxEXSD8vD6l3tL-Cwg5E9NxEYvODjLUpaKKZkF1pxnCY2JEOArjbbsahrygFQQAIZXCGACNQUDpy/s180/The%20high%20king.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="120" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOPlUrlWoc9WyDKKcfulCbdhtSGTFWoS7KQFxkRlrD6q_24CUw7-OqtHfhYf6CAA7YZgVOiKzHU1E5FXqYUze024FwpKjutQRBR7Ajr5_s5j4-dv4xxEXSD8vD6l3tL-Cwg5E9NxEYvODjLUpaKKZkF1pxnCY2JEOArjbbsahrygFQQAIZXCGACNQUDpy/s1600/The%20high%20king.jpg" width="120" /></a></div> 35. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-High-King-Audiobook/B002V1NKDK?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_6&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=6B3RSWV3Q17KYRBFF24A&pageLoadId=SRzniSEc0TTTF9oO&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prydain Chronicles: <i>The High King</i> by Lloyd Alexander</a>*</div><div> 36. <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Witchy-Eye/D-J-Butler/Witchy-War/9781982192365" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Witchy Eye</i> By D.J. Butler</a></div><div> 37. <a href="https://www.orbitbooks.net/tag/sword-of-destiny/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Sword of Destiny</i> by Andrzej Sapkowski (Translated by David French)</a></div><div> 38. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andrzej-sapkowski/blood-of-elves/9780316453363/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Blood of Elves</i> by Andrzej Sapkowski (Translated by Danusia Stok)</a></div><div> 39. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft:_A_Biography" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Lovecraft: A Biography</i> by L. Sprague de Camp</a></div><div> 40. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Burr-Conspiracy-Audiobook/B076QW5VV5?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B076QW5VV5_2&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=FS1P294Q4N36FW75T17T&pageLoadId=BlyfaJn2mKLK4K8w&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Burr Conspiracy: Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis</i> by James E. Lewis Jr.</a></div><div> 41. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Personal-Memoirs-of-US-Grant-Part-1-The-Early-Years-West-Point-Mexico-Audiobook/B002V084AU?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B002V084AU_9&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=VT3SR7EZFJX6AP36QCF2&pageLoadId=uVLAwJB33QGkmCmO&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: Part 1: The Early Years, West Point, Mexico</i> by Ulysses S. Grant</a></div><div> 42. <i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Shining-Sea-Audiobook/B00FMYYCC6?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B00FMYYCC6_7&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=9ZB6N92AVCKV06590MCB&pageLoadId=BUPDOHegM4n8KUIB&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Shining Sea: David Porter and the Epic Voyage of the U.S.S. Essex during the War of 1812</a></i></div><div><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Shining-Sea-Audiobook/B00FMYYCC6?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B00FMYYCC6_7&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=9ZB6N92AVCKV06590MCB&pageLoadId=BUPDOHegM4n8KUIB&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by George C. Daughan</a></div><div> 43. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Dar_Al-Harb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Beyond the Dar Al-Harb</i> by Gordon R. Dickson</a></div><div> 44. <a href="https://www.hippocampuspress.com/clark-ashton-smith/fiction/the-averoigne-chronicles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Averoigne Chronicles</i> by Clark Ashton Smith</a></div><div> 45. Thieves' World #1: <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Thieves-World-Audiobook/B0CFRFLNCQ?ref_pageloadid=n3W9johgeWyM0nCm&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0CFRFLNCQ_0&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=D4M8B30J7BN3KSADQFMZ&pageLoadId=hVuwi9AjzKubn866&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World</i> edited by: Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>* </div><div> 46. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Cthulhu-Casebooks-Sherlock-Holmes-and-the-Shadwell-Shadows-Audiobook/1094095028?ref_pageloadid=MO7dpUNYPagzpaIJ&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_1094095028_1&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=G1B3D8QMW2DMTNNWM2C6&pageLoadId=sKA6nxVruyQ097wd&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows</i> by James Lovegrove</a></div><div> 47. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Sherlock-Holmes-and-the-Miskatonic-Monstrosities-Audiobook/1094095184?ref_pageloadid=srizENZpzKxd9v73&ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=HDE0KYC62Y7D0F2XE3W6&pageLoadId=QpTLG5Usy0numOd7&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities</i> by James Lovegrove</a></div><div> 48. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Cthulhu-Casebooks-Sherlock-Holmes-and-the-Sussex-Sea-Devils-Audiobook/1094095109?ref_pageloadid=kRVtutqjqnokw8VB&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_1094095109_7&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=YM0XGYMBX6Z4CJ8246YS&pageLoadId=QxDy2ignHkHVweUA&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Cthulhu Casebooks: Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils</i> by James Lovegrove</a></div><div> 49. Thieves' World #2: <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Tales-from-the-Vulgar-Unicorn-Audiobook/B0CGVNQ3C9?ref_pageloadid=zbVSeTfl6KgLMCnI&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0CGVNQ3C9_2&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=DC8HJW83H9PSRGH6QHJR&pageLoadId=SvIftP8FtNxrAoyH&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 50. Thieves' World #3: <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Shadows-of-Sanctuary-Audiobook/B0CKJZ9LN9?ref_pageloadid=zbVSeTfl6KgLMCnI&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0CKJZ9LN9_1&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=DC8HJW83H9PSRGH6QHJR&pageLoadId=SvIftP8FtNxrAoyH&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Shadows of Sanctuary</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 51. Thieves' World #4: <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Thieves-World-Series-4-Storm-Season-Audiobook/B0CM47F15B?ref_pageloadid=zbVSeTfl6KgLMCnI&ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0CM47F15B_0&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=DC8HJW83H9PSRGH6QHJR&pageLoadId=SvIftP8FtNxrAoyH&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Storm Season</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div> 52. <a href="https://www.douglasreeman.com/the-books/alexander-kent-novels-5/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Sword of Honour</i> by Alexander Kent</a></div><div> 53. <a href="https://www.douglasreeman.com/the-books/alexander-kent-novels-5/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Second to None</i> by Alexander Kent</a></div><div> 54. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Holmes-holidays-Martin-Harry-Greenberg/dp/0425154734" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Holmes for the Holidays</i> edited by Martin Harry Greenberg, Jon Lellenberg, & Carol-Lynn Waugh</a> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlqTDtH7RKbrPOgk_pO9blUhyClmPPrzIe4TVwjfEYBPogie7BclpQJwaBAbLGLAJZ_EqDGMgU2q4cHY-dV3rfSKRs-MaqXwCmpWH0oIrox6O74gLDHddZ4NHnBxlLfWq_f9-JTvJ6jKHqKKX7pgG8HHFN7fIwlnv93dDIBVJ_shTKfvfmMejO5bgGAx8/s475/semperfi.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlqTDtH7RKbrPOgk_pO9blUhyClmPPrzIe4TVwjfEYBPogie7BclpQJwaBAbLGLAJZ_EqDGMgU2q4cHY-dV3rfSKRs-MaqXwCmpWH0oIrox6O74gLDHddZ4NHnBxlLfWq_f9-JTvJ6jKHqKKX7pgG8HHFN7fIwlnv93dDIBVJ_shTKfvfmMejO5bgGAx8/w119-h200/semperfi.JPG" width="119" /></a></div> 55. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Holidays-Martin-Harry-Greenberg/dp/0425170330/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_1/140-6248460-9271728?pd_rd_w=3ujEc&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf_rd_r=GNMWNKEY7TPPGMYCP742&pd_rd_wg=Imam8&pd_rd_r=f9d61e71-4bd5-4b46-95a7-e67c47034b8a&pd_rd_i=0425170330&psc=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>More Holmes for the Holidays</i> edited by Martin Harry Greenberg</a> </div><div> 55. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Dark-Is-Rising-Audiobook/B002V5B8HG?eac_link=P56pqCdqTYfX&ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B002V5B8HG&qid=TnygHhfVGe&eac_id=145-0217808-2563713_TnygHhfVGe&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Dark Is Rising #2: <i>The Dark Is Rising</i> by Susan Cooper</a>*</div><div> 56. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Semper-Fi-Audiobook/B0074OA8FW?eac_link=4SjjCHgg4CTh&ref=web_search_eac_asin_2&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0074OA8FW&qid=Bu1356YYDe&eac_id=145-0217808-2563713_Bu1356YYDe&sr=1-2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Corps #1: <i>Semper Fi b</i>y: W. E. B. Griffin</a>*</div><div> 57. <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/16693/santa-claus-by-gerry-bowler/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Santa Claus: A Biography</i> by Gerry Bowler</a></div><div> 58. <a href="https://store.doverpublications.com/0486233545.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Christmas Customs and Traditions</i> by Clement A. Miles</a></div><div> 59. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Letters-from-Father-Christmas-Audiobook/B0036GRN28?eac_link=ydOPzkJG2dE4&ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&eac_selected_type=asin&eac_selected=B0036GRN28&qid=UyBrItZGcV&eac_id=145-0217808-2563713_UyBrItZGcV&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Letters from Father Christmas</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div> 60. <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/a-christmas-carol-unabridged/id1434057289" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens, read by Jim Dale</a>*</div><div> 61. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Call-to-Arms-Audiobook/B007HB5ZUA?ref_pageloadid=Qz27H39HeSfKfxzA&ref=a_series_Co_c5_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=B3YX1SFZ098FR9SAB738&pageLoadId=jMqW5JEYLm4AL1YI&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=b570234c-250a-43ff-be6b-ca1b4c5d7caa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Corps #2: <i>Call to Arms</i> by: W. E. B. Griffin</a>*</div><div><br /></div><div><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div><div><br /></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-78701541911276095222023-12-25T21:43:00.000-08:002023-12-25T21:43:19.076-08:00Yule Review: Santa Claus in Fantasy Fiction<div class="separator"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> </div></div><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAKlEG28aZ9vaeyoJuoWB46MC5bsJAlDupWUf7BnPg2DYGDJklD84orR3zrUF2a2ildwf04tto_OvwHQK_WFP2mv9XBcVbVh933igiyjiP9NyS6Ztfw2-y4YrQZUe_cmM1KaSrJ1zt3flP892vPJU17Bf-nGuoJ80vPfYZne2njBjD-QLirlB6w4xY2n1M/s609/5ca883b66f045716334ea2161e848ad4--father-christmas-christmas-things.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAKlEG28aZ9vaeyoJuoWB46MC5bsJAlDupWUf7BnPg2DYGDJklD84orR3zrUF2a2ildwf04tto_OvwHQK_WFP2mv9XBcVbVh933igiyjiP9NyS6Ztfw2-y4YrQZUe_cmM1KaSrJ1zt3flP892vPJU17Bf-nGuoJ80vPfYZne2njBjD-QLirlB6w4xY2n1M/s320/5ca883b66f045716334ea2161e848ad4--father-christmas-christmas-things.jpg" width="249" /></a></i></div><i><br />A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-182/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table #182</a><i> (December, 2011).</i><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Some of the pictures of Father Christmas in our
world make him look only funny and jolly. But now that the children actually
stood looking at him they didnât find it quite like that. He was so big, and so
glad, and so real, that they all became quite still. They felt very glad, but
also very solemn. </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">â</span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><i>The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</i>, by C.S. Lewis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">It is once again
the merry time of Yule, when the old year dies and the new is born again. It is
natural in the northern hemisphere, and especially in the truly northern
regions, to associate this time with death and rebirth. It is a special time
for myth and religion, a time that seems to attract mythical figures like moth
to a flame. Christianity and Mithraism both chose this time to honor the broth
of their respective deities, of course, but equally entwined in the season is
the legend of the Gift Bringer, a magical figure that rewards children for good
behavior and, sometimes, punishes the bad children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">The gift figure
takes many forms throughout Europe, ranging from the Yule Goat of Scandinavia
to La Befana, the Old Woman of Italy or the Christkind of Bavaria and Austria.
The more common form, however is a bearded old man, usually connected to the Christian Saint Nicholas, called Father Christmas in the British Isles. In America he is Santa Claus, and like many American things he has sprung from his old world
origins to spread back out throughout the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Whatever we call
him, Santa Claus is a powerfully mythic figure and a seeming natural for
fantasy fiction, especially the more mystical, dream-like style of fantasy that
follows in Lord Dunsanyâs footsteps far from the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fields we know and deep into the realms of
Faerie. But as I have mentioned before, Christmas remains a difficult subject,
and perhaps its relentless commercialization and the plethora of childrenâs
stories have dissuaded fantasy authors from exploring its fantasy potential.
Regardless, there are some very good fantasy tales of Santa, by the greatest
writers in the field, and fantasy lovers looking for a fantastical take on
Christmas should give them a try. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNIfPCXQB-IveAoWPAkr68r-ux1oJjs7g9DoUzrZU140PJmqVgyPZqUt_ZE_FcnCGA8xeYvODwN8hFGrXLjmMQzMUNCM0TW-WaVbYRTT08iuBjz_JwJjCq4YHg2PVxBwuzBYjgqjwYYOasuyq_La1d6Bd8sFtAIDAqz1lEdmkUBf44_yExrZRSKVFVqt7/s389/LifeAndAdventuresOfSantaClaus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNIfPCXQB-IveAoWPAkr68r-ux1oJjs7g9DoUzrZU140PJmqVgyPZqUt_ZE_FcnCGA8xeYvODwN8hFGrXLjmMQzMUNCM0TW-WaVbYRTT08iuBjz_JwJjCq4YHg2PVxBwuzBYjgqjwYYOasuyq_La1d6Bd8sFtAIDAqz1lEdmkUBf44_yExrZRSKVFVqt7/w154-h200/LifeAndAdventuresOfSantaClaus.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Perhaps the earliest fantasy novel to tell a
Santa story is L. Frank Baum's excellent<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Adventures_of_Santa_Claus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Life and<br /> Adventures of Santa Claus</a> </i>(1902), which I reviewed <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Baum revisited Santa in the short story <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Kidnapped_Santa_Claus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"A Kidnapped Santa Claus"</a> (1904), a sequel to the origin tale which the five "Daemons of the Caves" (Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance). They try to eliminate Santa and his influence on children first through temptation then when that fails through kidnapping. It's an excellent short parable, with plenty of fodder for gamemasters.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">C.S. Lewis, of course, employs Father
Christmas, but his momentous appearance in Narnia in </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion,_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe</a></span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (1950) was indistinguishable from Santa save in name. His appearance is a pivotal plot point, and the gifts he brings are not mere toys, but essential to the tale. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglai3wjKS6p7mZzxXGLoC6vy1X4iPjl8n6GX7UVktH5QJaJfgotlm1NiAPs5z3CjMLL6LWCyejXrVqhGkNa48N8MqwQPgfJFt3s8QAbEwmvYDpNbn6AXrhPim17jOEr2OqqubkKcF0kaRm1JHwvOah0RAqlPiz8DPO9-rWBESvu9IHmrwzFsq3q7A0_Aoy/s714/Father%20Xmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="460" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglai3wjKS6p7mZzxXGLoC6vy1X4iPjl8n6GX7UVktH5QJaJfgotlm1NiAPs5z3CjMLL6LWCyejXrVqhGkNa48N8MqwQPgfJFt3s8QAbEwmvYDpNbn6AXrhPim17jOEr2OqqubkKcF0kaRm1JHwvOah0RAqlPiz8DPO9-rWBESvu9IHmrwzFsq3q7A0_Aoy/w129-h200/Father%20Xmas.jpg" width="129" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />Rather similar to Galadriel's gifts in Tolkien's <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. Lewisâ friend J.R.R.
Tolkien produced a series of letters from Father Christmas to his children,
written over two decades and first published in 1976.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Letters_from_Father_Christmas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Letters from Father Christmas</a> </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(revised 1999)</span>, notable not only for its engaging prose and
episodic tales of life at the North Pole, but also because so many of the
motifs and events of Tolkienâs <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Hobbit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Hobbit</a></i>,
<a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lord of the Rings</i></a>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Silmarillion" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Silmarillion</a></i>
are foreshadowed in the letters.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Of course, as
well written as they are, the Santa works of Tolkien, Lewis, and Baum are aimed
at children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_(novel)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seabury Quinnâs <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roads</i></a>, first published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weird Tales</i> in 1938 and then in hardback
by Arkham House in 1948, is written for adults, asking the question, "What if Conan the Barbarian became Santa Claus?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Arkham House novel was well illustrated by Virgil Finlay, and was
reprinted in 2005.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It is divided into three parts, âThe Road to Bethlehem,â âThe Road to Calvary,â and âThe Long, Long</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0TsNcHvyXSHSRwKlauhZhMyvKrpFzzjQLwfwJbq-8VRFFdiZL9CVeRPZGoIZ06k5DGWmF5rGKjrEWTUmr1kENua3spgft88kCl6yDVBxaJu1O6V9emDPITrK2yQCMNAx8aaM_FcJCVOT8RgMgxFBQTaofIDUB5wgRaScWXmaa3wEqb1PN5HRRb-uq8El/s502/roads%20cvr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0TsNcHvyXSHSRwKlauhZhMyvKrpFzzjQLwfwJbq-8VRFFdiZL9CVeRPZGoIZ06k5DGWmF5rGKjrEWTUmr1kENua3spgft88kCl6yDVBxaJu1O6V9emDPITrK2yQCMNAx8aaM_FcJCVOT8RgMgxFBQTaofIDUB5wgRaScWXmaa3wEqb1PN5HRRb-uq8El/w133-h200/roads%20cvr.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></span></div><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> Road.â </span>Santa is really "Claudius" an immortal German mercenary who apparently spent centuries slaughtering his way across Europe and the Middle east with his equally immortal wife (a sort of Jewish Red Sonja who begins life as a prostitute in a brothel run by Mary Magdalen). The book positively reeks of anti-Semitism and Anglo-Saxon triumphalism. Quinn is best known for
writing occult detective stories, which appeared in the pulp magazines
alongside the tales of H.P. Lovecraft, R.E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith. </span><i>Roads</i> is a religious Christmas tale told through a Sword & Sorcery lens and dripping with 1930s style anti-Semitism that it simply never rises above.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A more modern take comes in Bill Willinghamâs long running comic<b> </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/comics/series/fables/4fe8042e-135d-49b3-ab20-0669e45f342f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fables</a></i>. The comic addressed Santa, in âJiminy
Christmasâ</span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/comics/book/fables-56/396e8038-e70e-4ec6-b920-95834d4eb314/c" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">(issue #56)</a>. Santa is a </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPeF2_I0Xjwj7yGjlNR_vIkD-rXzs9xadiPGbGmKYBzn0gVVI03w9KxBMv9Ij1TPr9imQBPAks3ZApi1bOyl1HjAOTlbNhH-e48ui6skCUESJlrRstDDfh1XlaX06OD-1T7zZI_OvU3ZYxjeaGaHayARBt2q-FyDf0ykoApgz5JGw_g1LoT62S72oboYKK/s1650/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1073" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPeF2_I0Xjwj7yGjlNR_vIkD-rXzs9xadiPGbGmKYBzn0gVVI03w9KxBMv9Ij1TPr9imQBPAks3ZApi1bOyl1HjAOTlbNhH-e48ui6skCUESJlrRstDDfh1XlaX06OD-1T7zZI_OvU3ZYxjeaGaHayARBt2q-FyDf0ykoApgz5JGw_g1LoT62S72oboYKK/w130-h200/0.jpg" width="130" /></a></span></span></div><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br />âFableâ (a living,
breathing fairy tale) of course, but he is a particularly powerful one who
somehow transcends the other Fables in power and influence. The tale is very
adult, all though it portrays a young childâs quest to see Santa during his
gift-giving (the explanation provided for Clausâ miraculous Christmas Eve
global service is sublime). Like Lewis, Willingham uses Santa as a <i>deus ex
machina</i> who passes gifts and knowledge onto the protagonists. It also provides one of the best explanations for how Santa reaches all the houses around the globe in one night. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcWk9IxA4Y44IM_sdsITKZfCSRNxfsCdV5mtO7cmXL2B40-eQhGpw1Ey_2iH2hWYuZPOuFG-C4BZzZaKFig9iZJrlBnFXOoJRSORDeSh4EuqFJWnzZILW1KLTipgGEdSVIn3-P7DwQ3pT44BkWBZR2JAtaEu8kiAIXr9t7g8bMuvQ9cWKG48DKxtESN4W/s648/Kringle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="428" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcWk9IxA4Y44IM_sdsITKZfCSRNxfsCdV5mtO7cmXL2B40-eQhGpw1Ey_2iH2hWYuZPOuFG-C4BZzZaKFig9iZJrlBnFXOoJRSORDeSh4EuqFJWnzZILW1KLTipgGEdSVIn3-P7DwQ3pT44BkWBZR2JAtaEu8kiAIXr9t7g8bMuvQ9cWKG48DKxtESN4W/w132-h200/Kringle.jpg" width="132" /></a></div></span></span>Another modern fantasy take is Tony Abbot's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439749425/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&fbclid=IwAR0w5336tl3usff3aPOIIpQFN_90p84ke-BLmAD_-_rdX_K2Oeml_L2VLso"><i>Kringle</i></a>, from 2005. It isn't a traditional Christmas book but rather a Dark Age bildungsroman. <i>Kringle</i> has goblins, elves, magic, all against a back drop of Anglo-Saxon Britain. It's very<br /> good, but it is really only about the start of the tale, how Kringle transform into Santa is barely addressed. But as far as it goes its a great, fun, fantasy tale. It reminds me a great deal of Poul Anderson's <a href="https://goodman-games.com/tftms/2022/11/29/piecing-together-poul-andersons-the-broken-sword/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=piecing-together-poul-andersons-the-broken-sword"><i>The Broken Sword</i></a>, with the magic world existing alongside but hidden from the barbarity of the Dark Ages. <br /><br />An even more modern take is <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.audible.com%2Fpd%2FThe-Christmas-Chronicles-Audiobook%2FB0049WNK9S%3Fref%3Da_library_t_c5_libItem_B0049WNK9S%26pf_rd_p%3D80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047%26pf_rd_r%3DV26DN9X7DA8V1NQGYV8Q%26pageLoadId%3DrRdIKkPG47AE05VQ%26creativeId%3D4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225%26fbclid%3DIwAR06MR-op6R8smcKXC745UTfH93jG30GAb1ZjVV0tMmaVz4CzPuXMlCmu4Q&h=AT0Va54qRpVAGe630NJqvxrh0WQePFOTh-E8tL8ObZpCkyTsWx7yOZEGpGUyZXTgzFgi80Ts9Ryy7Pa3l8c9_027ohM2cI9M0UrE5Be3r6J3kayWnZnzdjdPzuK3ftvoorto&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT0Ns4OTiT7NMZwvYL9NY5FFK6yyIS8rMKM7UyC51uXv-OZB-y2m9w7mXUW0rxVErqB-7tIvLEccIQ1G5q0AElKultSK3Gx2Be1CGns_2e5VAmvRHnHbAhn7Z2H15Jcnx4QSIMOzns7hs3vUlvFaVkQRtQfMatZREwe2tra1Yh8tiq2Hj9hkGTV0g7Aib3zbShyjk3FT7qu5e3VNZC_1Zjk"><i>The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus</i></a> by Tim Slover. It is a pleasant enough tale, but it doesn't quite scratch the Santa and Fantasy itch I've always had. It doesn't catch the magic of the elves and faerie quite right. Magic only enters the tale after Claus and his wife have had a long life as toy givers. Even then, it ignores or changes most of the Christmas legends, (Rudolph gets a different name and totally different story). It lacks that connection to older, deeper mythologies <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVPpilj7UnVyDAPsTiouYraTxCstMKv3z93xI2Ymn8omo9VDJTdVBlGOttNV-SxJi6xAY1McK69o8piEYdPtozVSqtfHGZX7V2o1bBJhu11S3OTbEaAMVpfY_zL7AZMtdFoU_wNgRvjXOOIuq2kxXRp1kYoMhxXActESySkA92J2keo7rf0bwrhSHWqwH/s1485/61psF33lH3L._SL1485_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1485" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVPpilj7UnVyDAPsTiouYraTxCstMKv3z93xI2Ymn8omo9VDJTdVBlGOttNV-SxJi6xAY1McK69o8piEYdPtozVSqtfHGZX7V2o1bBJhu11S3OTbEaAMVpfY_zL7AZMtdFoU_wNgRvjXOOIuq2kxXRp1kYoMhxXActESySkA92J2keo7rf0bwrhSHWqwH/w134-h200/61psF33lH3L._SL1485_.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>and is very Christian, aside from an odd digression concerning the Dalai Lama.<div><br /></div><div>For gamemasters looking to add some Christmas spark, Lewis and Willinghamâs use of Santa as a gift-giver provides an excellent example. Lewisâ Santa, especially, is similar in role to Tolkienâs Galadriel. Santa can pass on wisdom or knowledge (suitably hidden in rhyme) as well as providing precisely the needed magic weapon or spell. If limited to a one time, special event for a particularly mythic quest, this can work extremely well. Of course, Christmas scenarios can also be drawn from these Santa tales, especially the ongoing war between Santa and the goblins in Tolkienâs <i>The Father Christmas Letters</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosy3ljkAAnwUmhWU5VNSVikfJb-MjKNnAE92TEqr2RGBs6hQf87nDOdItqb2pPV0ggYrrxOppnvhv4CEveLlBuGr4gYBvsWRYCHDydElEwP84TIDq1yOgPCWgsldyEfaKFYRAm3Hf_FhrhgGES41jF0DSx1MnSsCLIjQ8zZOZV_2T9DTtSUSZiycjQeh7/s640/5f79171865ac254011e5c0860e082cec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="453" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosy3ljkAAnwUmhWU5VNSVikfJb-MjKNnAE92TEqr2RGBs6hQf87nDOdItqb2pPV0ggYrrxOppnvhv4CEveLlBuGr4gYBvsWRYCHDydElEwP84TIDq1yOgPCWgsldyEfaKFYRAm3Hf_FhrhgGES41jF0DSx1MnSsCLIjQ8zZOZV_2T9DTtSUSZiycjQeh7/s320/5f79171865ac254011e5c0860e082cec.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div>Whether you read these tales for fun, for a window into the holiday, or merely to get some ideas for the Christmas Eve role-playing session, I hope you will sing:<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Goday, goday, my lord Sire ChristĂ«mas, goday!</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i>Goday, Sire ChristĂ«mas, our king,</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i>for ev'ry man, both old and ying,</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i>is glad and blithe of your coming;</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><i>Goday!</i></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Anon. Christmas Carol, 1458)</div><br /><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i><p></p><i></i><p></p></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-57421030196876536132023-12-09T07:46:00.000-08:002023-12-30T07:50:15.712-08:00Israel and Palestine<p> <i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p>It seems we have to make our stands clear these days.</p><p>I am Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine. </p><p>The following statements are not contradictory. A sane, ethical personal can, and I believe should, hold all these beliefs at the same time. These are NOT presented in any sort of order of importance or validity. </p><p>No one wins the competition to be the greatest victim. </p><p>The nation of Israel exists and deserves to exist.</p><p>The nation of Palestine deserves to exist. Sadly, there is no functioning Palestinian government.</p><p>A Two State solution is the only moral solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. </p><p>That requires Palestinians and Israelis to both acknowledge the otherâs right to life and existence. It requires both to compromise on other issues. </p><p>It is wrong to call for the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews. </p><p>Hamas does this in its charter. It is fundamentally a terrorist organization. </p><p>The Attacks of 7 October 2023 on Israel were wrong. Killing civilian men, women, and children is wrong. Raping women as an act of terrorism (or for any other reason, of course) is wrong. </p><p>Israel is right to seek to root out and destroy Hamas, the terrorist organization.</p><p>Netanyahu is a far-right extremist who has empowered far-right extremists in Israel. The democratic state of Israel needs to remove him from office to protect its democracy.</p><p>Israeli settlers in the West Bank have used threats, intimidation, and violence in an attempt to drive out Palestinians. This is text book ethnic cleansing and it is wrong. </p><p>Hamas uses other Palestinians as human shields in Gaza. </p><p>That does not absolve Israel of its obligation to prevent war crimes and reduce collateral damage. </p><p>Civilian deaths, aka âcollateral damageâ, cannot be prevented in warfare but the only acceptable level of such damage is 0. This applies to all nations, everywhere. For example, it applies to the American wars against the Taleban and Al-Qaida as well as Ukraine versus Russia. It is universal. </p><p>The Law of War is not suspended because one side violates it. It is not a pact. You follow the law of war because civilization and morality demands it. Nations that willingly and knowingly violate the Laws of War are tainted by their failures.</p><p>The Holocaust happened. It was real. We must never allow it to happen again. </p><p>The Holocaust doesnât excuse all Israeli actions, forever. </p><p>Israeli actions against the West Bank and Gaza do not excuse terrorist attacks.</p><p>Those attacking Jews or Muslims in the United States or elsewhere because they are Jews or Muslims are wrong. There is no place in the world for such hatred and evil.</p><p></p><p>Knowing these things are true doesnât solve the problem. But starting from this foundation makes peace between those of good will possible. </p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-23858841701449171012023-10-31T10:22:00.002-07:002023-10-31T10:24:00.578-07:00A Halloween Review: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley <p> <i>A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-168/">Knights of the Dinner Table #168</a><i> (October, 2010).</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYPkDNKyGBAuHtpd37s_UFu0hJKVemuarruU0xQAZ7NAJa7zsgL4410Kxwcpew-o2ay7mkBNv32dJ-qpJEIABUIITxdtlOwXK3J_Jti1t5ycGGCeEzcJvQkLds5WhlUiHZsZ5LpxSWo75_2W6F7PPPMJc9zYCXy3wXqQhoChYlIAezuFcnQjFqWvzWZ4D/s400/BigFrankenstein.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeYPkDNKyGBAuHtpd37s_UFu0hJKVemuarruU0xQAZ7NAJa7zsgL4410Kxwcpew-o2ay7mkBNv32dJ-qpJEIABUIITxdtlOwXK3J_Jti1t5ycGGCeEzcJvQkLds5WhlUiHZsZ5LpxSWo75_2W6F7PPPMJc9zYCXy3wXqQhoChYlIAezuFcnQjFqWvzWZ4D/s320/BigFrankenstein.jpg" width="200" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p><i>From 2006 through 2012 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/knights-of-the-dinner-table/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table</a>, a<i> magazine and comic book devoted to tabletop fantasy role paying games. I reviewed classic and modern fantasy, horror, and science fiction novels. Every October I tried to review a work of classic horror in honor of Halloween. I am trying to continue that tradition with my blog. You can find previous <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Halloween Reviews here.</a> </i></p><p><i></i></p><div>The witch is on the broomstick and a chill is in the air as haunted old Halloween arrives. This year I review Mary Shelleyâs <i>Frankenstein</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mary Shelley was a remarkable woman from a remarkable family; her father was a famous philosopher, her mother a famous feminist, her husband the renowned poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her early life was remarkable for the early 19th century, âradicalâ even by todayâs standards and colored by a remarkable amount of grief. Aside from the creation of his monster, she in fact led a far more fascinating and interesting life than her novelâs protagonist. But a full accounting of her life would require a thick biography.</div><div><br /></div><div>The story of the genesis of <i>Frankenstein</i> is well known. In 1816 she and Percy visited Lord Byron at a villa near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. To pass the rainy days, Byron suggested they write ghost stories themselves, and from that summer came the story that she later worked into the novel: <i>Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The plot of the novel is well know: Frankenstein, a Byronic figure, becomes infatuated with creating life through electricity and his obsessive studies and experiments allow him to eventually give life to a creature he has constructed from cadavers. His reaction is not what he expects:</div><div><br /></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OcVPfi_MtctC17GiIFs2ijF5dAT_8NrRnjOg4VtKdphh2ScPjpEJWqnLhDDlRmzoBYIM_T7gDN4a3BiAHtwslha_s0z9UUqJaQEad9Qn2ko2WbAJegDAGeCSqz4Y3zF0WLZKB5U74qAIYLO5tE-jf6VV-mna01ZdHwlOdzQPIzknIcE2TLGwNRVeezIs/s676/Frontispiece_to_Frankenstein_1831.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="520" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OcVPfi_MtctC17GiIFs2ijF5dAT_8NrRnjOg4VtKdphh2ScPjpEJWqnLhDDlRmzoBYIM_T7gDN4a3BiAHtwslha_s0z9UUqJaQEad9Qn2ko2WbAJegDAGeCSqz4Y3zF0WLZKB5U74qAIYLO5tE-jf6VV-mna01ZdHwlOdzQPIzknIcE2TLGwNRVeezIs/s320/Frontispiece_to_Frankenstein_1831.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br />It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Frankenstein violently rejects his creature and abandons it, returning to his home and trying to resume his life as though his demented escapade had never occurred. But of course oneâs mistakes cannot be so easily buried or forgotten and tragedy stalks Frankensteinâs loved ones until finally he and the creature race to a final confrontation in the far north. The novel is narrated by the device of a framing tale to the captain of an arctic exploration vessel as Frankenstein recovers from exposure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Frankentsein is a major influence for gamers, directly inspiring villains in various horror settings like TSRâs <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenloft" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ravenloft</a></b>. Frankenstein himself serves as an excellent model for either PC protagonist or NPC antagonist, indeed stripped of his scientific trappings he makes an excellent wizard. The Creature is equally fascinating, and gamemasters who study how he plots his actions and justifies his actions can model truly tragic and emotionally painful foes for their players on him. Of course, for those gaming in a âSteam-punkâ setting the novel is practically required reading. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-c67GZUVrhbH8A8HCKUb88AhmQOZyd3E5XVPH7TBa9pgPU-yRT2EscXSRMWY4dKvpV7srkskqEbVOBJz8dg4P-oQoMvx5VnAIGi-b-M6aK47F56xs-Oaq9Qn1A_soocR1J0XLuJHDe-wK2En5jFLVMagPuCKBaSNiaSk2bAV44CElDKzATOLDpX-K-6Ee/s1046/frankenstein-1831-tp-small.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-c67GZUVrhbH8A8HCKUb88AhmQOZyd3E5XVPH7TBa9pgPU-yRT2EscXSRMWY4dKvpV7srkskqEbVOBJz8dg4P-oQoMvx5VnAIGi-b-M6aK47F56xs-Oaq9Qn1A_soocR1J0XLuJHDe-wK2En5jFLVMagPuCKBaSNiaSk2bAV44CElDKzATOLDpX-K-6Ee/s320/frankenstein-1831-tp-small.jpg" width="184" /></a></div><i>Frankenstein</i> is a classic novel that fully deserves the attention it receives, but it has perhaps been over-exposed. High school English teachers reach for it easily, since it grabs the attention of students and the authorâs life touches on so many important themes: Romanticism, Feminism, Liberalism, and so forth. But few of us truly enjoy works we are forced to read as homework, and when our memories are tainted by dozens of movies which pay only a passing nod to the novel while employing its themes and characters with casual abandon, it is only natural the one begins to think of it as an anemic, unoriginal motif.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Shelleyâs novel is more than that, it is a rich, full-bodied gothic experience that induces in the willing reader a deep despair. Her prose is as carefully crafted as any other from that most literary period, and just as passionate as anything written by Byron or Shelley themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the moon is full and you wish to delve into the soul of horror and despair, leave the urban vampire tales alone and revisit <i>Frankenstein</i>. It will be time well spent. </div><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.<br /></i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-58969106782118232422023-04-11T11:52:00.005-07:002023-04-11T11:52:55.695-07:00Society for Military History 2023 - Saturday/Sunday<p> <i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p>More from the <a href="https://www.smh-hq.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Society for Military History</a> 2023 conference.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pfCorbUwG4lg4dd_c_HXAOq3kya2am23o1BVorqoXRBXuNqDtkkMWR9pBlNYtNW4aahHzENH1TMPIY-9w23q-lvqvke86W4HGvSJWjA3cnH6J3FrC_pR8nzqCA_LjVmdtIUSliFGewFzPU72ZuVSg0-gppUzXhK-nyTTOXlbqw7iR1gQPaYwWUUeVg/s541/smh%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pfCorbUwG4lg4dd_c_HXAOq3kya2am23o1BVorqoXRBXuNqDtkkMWR9pBlNYtNW4aahHzENH1TMPIY-9w23q-lvqvke86W4HGvSJWjA3cnH6J3FrC_pR8nzqCA_LjVmdtIUSliFGewFzPU72ZuVSg0-gppUzXhK-nyTTOXlbqw7iR1gQPaYwWUUeVg/s320/smh%202023.jpg" width="208" /></a></div> For my Friday at the conference is <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2023/04/society-for-military-history-2023-friday.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Saturday<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8:30 a.m.</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 13 panels to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Saturday morning began with more
excellent panels, including panels on history & podcasting, the law of war,
Vietnam, & warâs aftermath. I was intrigued by <b>Beyond Belleau Wood: Three Cantankerous Marines Ponder the Great War</b>
chaired by my friend and former colleague, Annette Amerman but Iâm not
currently working on World War I, and I knew my colleague, Lisa, who is working
on that period, would attend and let me know what I missed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So, I was able to attend a panel on
ancient military history, <b>Making Sense
of Ancient Strategy</b>. Ancient history was one of my minor fields, and
Ancient Roman/Byzantine military history the subject of my Masterâs thesis, I
have an abiding interest in the topic, but at SMH conferences I usually only
manage to make one panel on the subject, since professional obligations usually
send me to more modern topics. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This panel was attended by over 40
people. The first paper, âThe Grand Strategy of the Achaemenid Empireâ by Michael
J. Taylor, SUNY-Albany, was an excellent look at one of the earliest military
forces from which we have enough information to draw conclusions about their
strategy and tactics. Popular movies like <i>300</i>
have almost criminally inaccurate depictions of the Persian Empire, and of course
this professional presentation based on solid ancient sources was nothing like
that. Ancient empires had significant challenges concerning resources,
distance, and communication. Taylor spoke of an âescalation ladderâ in Persiaâs
response to rebellion or resistance, his analysis of this was well thought out,
and he provided several examples. He included the Ionian revolt, but other
examples as well. That really bolstered his argument â documentary and
archaeological sources on the Persian Empire are dominated by the Greek
periphery, which can make a solid understanding of the empire difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second paper was âSystems Theory
and Strategic Sense-Making in the Peloponnesian Warâ by Paul A. Johstono, Air
Command and Staff College. No ancient war has been studied as thoroughly by
modern students of military science, and I donât believe this presentation
opened any new ground. However, it was professional and solidly backed by
ancient sources. He argued that it studied strategy from a non-Empire point of
view, but I would argue that Athens certainly fit the definition of empire
during this period. He also spoke of communal mores, and that points to the
more salient difference, IMO, i.e. group authority (democracy perhaps is too
strong a word) versus autocracy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The last paper was the one that most
people anticipated, I believe. âCould the Romans do Strategy?â by James Lacey,
U.S. Marine Corps University. This was essentially a preview of his new book, <i>Rome: Strategy of Empire</i> (Oxford University Press, 2022). I havenât yet read Laceyâs book, though I think now
that I will have to. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I found his presentation disappointing.
It was very focused on the idea that modern scholars of ancient history have
rejected the idea that the Romans thought or acted in strategic terms,
especially in their rejection of Edward Luttwakâs <i>The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century AD to the
Third</i> (1976). Lacey himself admitted that he felt like he was constructing
strawmen in his arguments, and it certainly felt that way to me. I studied
Luttwakâs work in grad school, and still have my well-worn copy. The Ancient
historians who taught me didnât reject Luttwak or claim that the Romans could not âdoâ strategy, they criticized the work for some anachronisms and Luttwakâs
assumptions that ancient Roman strategists thought in the same way as late 20<sup>th</sup>
century American strategists. I think that criticism is valid, and something
that absolutely needs to be controlled for when studying the ancient world for
lessons to apply to the modern world. Itâs an inherent difference between
military history and military science. Laceyâs work straddles that divide. Even
when I think heâs getting things absolutely right and making good points, that
anachronistic issue makes those lessons questionable and dangerous. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But thatâs all based on his 20-minute
presentation, which may be seen almost as more of a sales pitch. It certainly
worked on me. I had wavered on whether or not I should take the time to read
his book before, given my other professional obligations (which are currently focused on the 19th century). Now I am absolutely
going to read it this year. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10:30</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 14 panels to
choose from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second slot of morning panels was
again excellent, with military suicide, counter-insurgency, and maritime
strategy amongst the offered topics. I thought the panel <b>Visualizing Empire in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States in the
1890s </b>might be an excellent preview of the Marines in the Steam Navy book I
hope to write next, but instead I decided to attend a panel with two historians
of the Marine Corps whose work I respect and want to support. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That was <b>Masculinity and its Discontents: The Effect of Masculine Identities on
Service Culture in Elite Units</b>. Too many Marines (and others) get their
brains locked down when words like masculinity or toxic appear, but you cannot
honestly understand the cultural and institutional history of the Corps without
addressing them. The Corps is, after all, a self-created, self-maintained, and
self-selecting (and self-centered?) âeliteâ in every sense of the term.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This was the only panel which had any
tech issues, the slide projector not working properly. But all of the
presenters handled this well, even those whose presentations were heavily dependent
on images. The panel was standing room only, in one of the smaller rooms in the
conference. Around 30 attendees, I believe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The first paper was âThe Few, the
Proud, the (Relatively) Stagnant: 100+ Years of the Corps' Depicting Women
Marinesâ by Heather Venable, Air Command and Staff College. Heather is the
author of <i>How the Few Became the Proud</i>
(2019) which is easily one of the top five histories ever written about the
Marine Corps. Her presentation was entertaining and informative, showed how far
behind the Corps still was in its presentation of Woman Marines. I should point
out that Heather was the conference Chair, she organized all of SMH 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second paper was ââSemper Wokeâ:
Race, Gender, Sexuality and the Ugly Side of the Marine Corps' Debate Over
Force Design 2030â by Mark Folse, U.S. Army Center of Military History. In his
past Mark served as an infantry Marine in Afghanistan, and his conclusions
about Marine culture were both searing and highly accurate as a result. He is
also one of History Divisionâs many success stories, since he was one of our
interns and has gone on to teach at the Naval Academy and now write for the
Army. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The third paper was âA âRoughâ And
âProudâ Group Of Men: Marine Corps Masculinity In The Late Twentieth Centuryâ
by Thomas Scovel, United States Naval Academy.
A professional paper that reinforced the findings of the previous two
papers, in my opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The final paper was the only non-Marine
Corps paper for the panel, ââOur Problem Childrenâ: Constructing Paratrooper
Masculinity in World War II and its Modern Legacyâ by Robert F. Williams, Ohio
State University. He deftly combined evidence and personal experience in his
presentation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Overall, I thought this was a critical
but important set of panels on a difficult issue. I never got to ask the
question the panel inspired in me, unfortunately. I wonder if the extremely
performative masculinity of the Marines and the paratroopers today comes, in
part, from the sense that both may feel sidelined or marginalized in modern
strategic calculations. Airborne assault has arguably been identified as of only
marginal use since World War II, and the many have claimed that first nuclear
weapons and then anti-ship missiles and drones have made amphibious assaults
obsolete as well.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3:30</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 14 panels to
choose from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Saturday finished with another
outstanding set of panels covering a diverse set of topics, commemoration,
masculinity, gender, ethnicity, ancient and medieval history, and operational
warfare topics. And an excellent roundtable, âWar in Afghanistan Oral History
Roundtable.â</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Keynote Address<o:p></o:p></span></u></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The keynote address was given by Dr.
Craig L. Symonds, Professor Emeritus of History at the United States Naval
Academy. Symonds is the author of many excellent works on naval history, most
notably the Civil War and the Second World War. His most recent book was a
biography of Admiral Nimitz, and I was frankly hoping that his keynote would
primarily talk about Nimitz, or at least would speak specifically about naval
history. Instead, it was a fairly short talk (maybe 20 minutes?) on the
importance and value of military history broadly. Symonds is a gifted speaker,
and the presentation was convincing and enjoyable. But I could not help being
just a touch disappointed since I was hoping for a more in-depth discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Sunday<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Sunday panels are traditionally poorly
attended, as many attendees leave early on Sunday.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk132017347"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8:30 a.m.</span></u></a><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 14 panels to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Sunday panels this year were
actually pretty good, however. They covered fascinating topics like courage in
antiquity, expert language as means of controlling access in modern militaries,
medicine in warfare, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. Of
especial note for official historians were two roundtables: <b>âLight at the End of the Tunnelâ: The
Armyâs Official History of the Vietnam War Nears Completion</b> and <b>Pervasive Myths in U.S. Naval History</b>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10:30 a.m.</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> 13 panels to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The final batch of panels was as varied
as the others. A naval panel with papers from ancient Greece to Vietnam,
operational World War II and Global War on Terror panels, as well as panels on
science and ethnicity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The final panel I attended was <b>Fulfilling our Nationâs Promise to those in
the Forgotten War: Research into Locating and Identifying the Korean Warâs
Missing</b>. The panels three papers were ââOperation Pickupâ: Recovering War
Dead from the Korean Demilitarized Zone, 1953-54â by Kyle Bracken, Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency, âAccounting for UNC (and ROK?) prisoner of wars
(POWs) during and after the Korean Warâ from Anna Rindfleisch, Defense POW/MIA
Accounting Agency, and âSeventy Years Later: Attempting to Account for Those
Still Missing from the Chosin Reservoir, North Koreaâ by Abraham Shragge,
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. The panelâs chair and commentator was Annette
Amerman, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Annette is a former History division
colleague and a good friend. This panel was not the normal sort of topic I am
interested in and it really brought home to me the diversity of the papers,
presenters, and attendees at SMH meetings.
Yes, as I mentioned earlier, the Society is split between âacademicâ
historians and government historians, but there are several subgroups there as
well. Government historians include the âTitle 10â types - historians who teach
at the various service academies or war colleges, such as Marine Corps
University as well as the service history office historians who produce
official histories, who work for place like my own employer, the Marine Corps
History Division or the U.S. Armyâs Center for Military History. But there are
also the museum curators from places like the Smithsonian or the National
Museum of the Marine Corps, National Park Service rangers manning the nations
preserved battlefields, forts, and other military history sites like
Gettysburg, and the historians like my friend Annette, working to find and
identify every one of Americaâs lost war dead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">âAcademicâ historians include
university professors, and their students, from large research institutions
like Ohio State University, but also professors from smaller liberal arts
schools and community colleges. It also includes, in my estimation, historians
working in private sector think tanks and contractors like RAND. And there
are many âindependentâ scholars in the Society as well, doing work in the field
on the side while they are either retired or working in another field for their
primary means of support but producing books and articles furthering the study of military history nonetheless. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On Sunday, the conference concluded at
noon. Myself and a couple fellow historians went to the USS <i>Midway </i>Museum (</span><a href="https://www.midway.org/"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">https://www.midway.org/</span></a><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">) for the afternoon,
which offered free admission to all SMH attendees with their badges. The <i>Midway</i> tour was excellent, illustrating
living conditions typical to large Navy vessels in the 1970s and 1980s. The
deck was covered with Navy aircraft from the 1950s on, and the since we visited
on a Sunday, there were many volunteers, many former naval aviators, giving
excellent talks and presentations on the ship and its aircraft. It completely brought me back to my days as a young Marine on the USS <i>Belleau Wood</i> and USS <i>Guadalcanal</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A personal highlight was the very first
display seen when boarding, the three major WWII naval aircraft that were employed in
the Battle of Midway â F4F Wildcat, SBD-3 Dauntless, and TBD-1 Devastator. The only negative was the film shown about the Battle of
Midway, which was jingoistic and a little inaccurate. It also did a poor job
covering the battle, or even just the story of the naval aviators in the
battle, during the time allotted. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Overall, though, the museum was
excellent.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">An excellent conclusion to a memorable,
if a bit exhausting, annual meeting for the Society for Military History. I
look forward to next yearâs conference, though having the conference in
Arlington, Virginia will be a mixed blessing. Itâs actually less convenient, since Iâll need to travel
up from Fredericksburg every day (2 hours or so each way, whether I drive or
take the train). Much easier when I can just stay in the conference hotel. But no long flights or clock changes, at least, and I'll be able to see my family every night. </span></p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-43729951410994659832023-04-11T11:48:00.001-07:002023-04-11T11:54:37.767-07:00Society for Military History 2023 - Friday<p> <i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Last month I attended the 2023 Meeting for the <a href="https://www.smh-hq.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Society for Military History</a>, in San Diego, California. I thought some folks might enjoy a "peak behind the curtain" at this conference.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0HgZJEtvmikEntBap2PuqUQac3vHWVVkLI_dsr-SWCk5JXkTxL_PHh93KcgtC5yMfYLUkTc_WtSo2H3ejj3f-O365a4wLIbDhFx0TTUtypcl6evsM-88gEmh4wRXn6SzDza1wJlf6BaUsec7Gd-lFLH7xGkBCFOBpUSXSKsKI5hzsV4xMHYVpVynn-A/s541/smh%202023.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0HgZJEtvmikEntBap2PuqUQac3vHWVVkLI_dsr-SWCk5JXkTxL_PHh93KcgtC5yMfYLUkTc_WtSo2H3ejj3f-O365a4wLIbDhFx0TTUtypcl6evsM-88gEmh4wRXn6SzDza1wJlf6BaUsec7Gd-lFLH7xGkBCFOBpUSXSKsKI5hzsV4xMHYVpVynn-A/s320/smh%202023.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></div><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Society for Military History is the primary professional organization
for military historians. Unlike other academic societies, which are dominated
by civilian college and university professors, SMH members come from three
distinct communities in roughly equal numbers: civilian professors, military
college professors (i.e. Title 10 professors from war colleges and service
academies), and staff historians (GS employees from service history offices). This
unique membership makes the conference an excellent networking opportunity for
military history professionals, leading to intellectual cross-pollination within
the subcommunities and within the specialty as a whole. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
conference, by my count, comprised roughly 140 panels, out of those 11 panels had at least
one panel dealing with an aspect of Marine Corps history.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">8:30 a.m.</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
14 panels to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday was an
excellent example of how packed the schedule was. There were two different
panels I wanted to attend in the first session. One was <b>From the Jaws of Defeat: Military
Leadership in Times of Crisis, Part 2</b>, which included papers on the USS<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Chesapeake</i> (relevant to my <i>Marines in the Frigate Navy</i> book (MIFN) and another paper from
my colleague Henry Himes on his studies on USMC officer diversity efforts. I
choose to attend the other panel, since I know Henryâs work well, and I could
get info from him on the other paper. Henry came through for me, telling the
USS<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Chesapeake</i> author about my work. We
later met during one of the coffee breaks and exchanged information and
business cards.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead I
attended <b>"Tell it to the Marines":
Reassessing the History of the U.S. Marine Corps</b>, I felt that professionally
this panel was one I needed to attend, especially since two of the papers
directly tied into my own paper that I would be presenting in the afternoon. The
panel was well attended, with over 20 people in the audience. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
first paper was â<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Evaluating Doctrine:
Reconsidering the U.S. Marine Corps' Tentative Manual for</span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Landing Operationsâ</span> by Chris K.
Hemler, Independent Scholar. It was a well-presented paper that hit on a well-known
weakness in early U.S. amphibious warfare doctrine, naval gunfire support, and showed how it slipped through the
cracks in the â20s and â30s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A solid,
thoughtful, and professional presentation. My only criticism is that I thought
he was perhaps a touch too critical of the Caribbean exercises of the Interwar period
â given constraints of funding, safety, and the availability of equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second paper was â<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Duffer's Drift Comes to I Corps: The Tactical
Relevance of Khe Sanh's Hill Fights</span>â by Mike Morris, School of Advanced
Warfighting, Marine Corps University. I wasnât certain what to expect from this
paper. The author applied the principles behind the famous âDufferâs Driftâ
tactical study method to the battle of Khe Sanh. As a tactical study it was
superb, I thought, completely achieving its objective. He was particularly
convincing laying out the deficiencies of the Khe Sanh defensive position and
why the Marines could have done better. As history, however, he never explained
the key point â if the position was this weak, why did the NVA not over run Khe
Sanh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did the defenders know something
he didnât show us or did they just get lucky? SMH papers are about scholarly
possibilities, so this paper presented intriguing areas of study on a battle I
had thought studied to death. Well done. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The last
paper was âMCDP 1: Warfighting: Retrospect and Prospectâ by </span><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Nate
Packard, U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College. I was heavily biased in
favor of this presentation. MCDP-1 is one of the âholy trinityâ of Marine
doctrine manuals, alongside the <i>Tentative Landing Manual</i> and the <i>Small Wars</i>
Manual, but it has received far less scholarly attention then either of those
works. I know Nate, and his work was just as concise and professional as I would
have expected. He explained <i>Warfighting</i> purpose as a foundational doctrinal
document and its connection to maneuver warfare quite well. Then he argued
persuasively that manual needs revision, a â<i>Warfighting</i> 2030.â<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">10:30 a.m.</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
14 panels to choose from.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Again,
difficult to choose which panel to see in this time slot, panel topics included the
war in the Ukraine, nuclear strategy, third world conflict, atrocities, and
senior U.S. military leaders, including a paper on Cunningham, the father of
USMC aviation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I
choose to attend <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Sources and
Interpretations in Early Modern British Military History</b> hoping to get
insights to help with my MIFN work, as the British are involved, even when they are not
actively our enemies, in nearly all of the events in the first half of the 19<sup>th</sup>
century. This panel was also well attended with over 20 in the audience. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">âMedical Practitioners during the
English Civil Wars: The Evidence from Civil War Petitionsâ from Ismini Pells,
Oxford University, was a gory but enjoyable talk on typical wounds of the pre-modern
era. It reminded me of some of my own research in U.S. pension records for the
Barbary War. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The next paper was âGeneral Sir Henry
Clinton's First Notebook: The Junior Officers Reading Listâ by Huw J. Davies,
King's College London. This was a fascinating look at a newly discovered
source, recently discovered by the author in the holdings of the âSociety of
Cincinnatiâ in D.C. It showed the professional military history reading that
prepared one British officer for the American Revolution. NOT merely classical events studied but ârecentâ campaigns in Europe. An eye-opening presentation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The last paper was âMajor General Sir
George Murray's Papers: Discovery, Controversy and Importanceâ by William
Fletcher, King's College London. Insightful presentation into the papers of
Wellingtonâs Quartermaster General (i.e. Chief of Staff).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">1:30 p.m. </span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">13
panels to choose from.<u> </u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Panels
on military medicine, the OSS, the Tet offensive, and draft resistance were
highlights of this time slot. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I attended a roundtable:
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Military University Presses and You:
Navigating the World of Open Access Academic Publishing</b>, including MCUP,
Army War College Press, and Air University Press. I write official history, so
Iâm not looking for a publisher, but it was good to see how the different
services handled this. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">3:30 p.m.</span></u><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
14 panels to choose from.<u> </u><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
period again had too many good panels to choose from. Highlights included 3!
panels on aspects of Marine Corps history, including one on the Vietnam War and
another on interwar innovation. Fascinating panels on music, espionage,
occupations, and women in war were also included. I was upset that I missed the
following paper, âA Failed Insurrection: The Burr Conspiracy and its Military
Connections, 1805-1807â by Timothy C. Hemmis, Texas A&M University Central
Texas. Marines were involved in the Burr conspiracy on the fringes, and I need
to find a way to contact the author so we can exchange information.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
panel I organized, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Controlling the
Littoral: Aspects of Naval Operations in the Second World War</b>, was during
this time slot. I was very pleased with attendance, we had over 50 people in
the audience.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My own paper
was âLand, Air, and Sea: The United States Marine Corps' as a Combined Arms
Naval Force in the Second World War,â mostly a historical look at aviation and
defense battalions as a historical precursor to FD 2030. I was happy with how
it went. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The second
paper was âThe Blunted Harpoon: Luftwaffe Anti-shipping Operations in Normandy,
Summer 1944â by Russell A. Hart, Hawai'i Pacific University. Russel is a fellow
Ohio State military history alum, and one of the worldâs experts on D-Day. He
gave an excellent peak into a little-known aspect of the German defense, and
how it failed. The technological innovations appeared to have been bleeding
edge, but based on his presentation I think a large, better supplied, and
better trained air force would have served Germany better than the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wunderwaffe</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The final paper
was âWriting the Book: Lessons Learned in the Combined Operations of the
Central Pacific Force, November 1943 to February 1944â by Andrew Blackley,
Independent Scholar. An excellent presentation on seizing advanced naval bases,
just as my paper had focused on defending them. Our papers were inadvertently
well connected - we had nearly identical slides on Ellis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our chair, Sarandis Papadopoulos, U.S.
Navy, and commentator: <a name="_Hlk132022305">Lisa Budreau</a>, History
Division, Marine Corps University, both did an excellent job guiding discussion
which was lively and full of excellent questions. I met a Marine colonel after
who wondered how well FD2030 was linked to Navy doctrine and future plans. I
had assumed they were tightly connected, but certainly a question worth asking.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">All in all, a great way to end the
first day of the conference.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For the Saturday/Sunday at the conference, look <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2023/04/society-for-military-history-2023.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></span></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-46348912139368790772023-03-24T12:53:00.000-07:002023-03-24T12:53:37.756-07:00Review: Sanctuary by Lynn Abbey<p> <i>A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-198/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table #198</a><i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-198/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> (April, 2013)</a>.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8xWpyVr_PELJfcVvN4g7g1AfGm83pR7M1uSGy4__F7JXJ8tS1UqfLeIX6aYj19R32h6CWq3ZifQ7NNSKi2JJQiZjWe9rsX7x1Uji8L86QIoFoP4PHpe3YrHoZA3Wpses68CyAIRt2DmrSBWSVrAMbgIulmEsiL9C-Uq1QrUIol9c-_iIJp3yHfBodQ/s1000/sanctuary3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="659" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP8xWpyVr_PELJfcVvN4g7g1AfGm83pR7M1uSGy4__F7JXJ8tS1UqfLeIX6aYj19R32h6CWq3ZifQ7NNSKi2JJQiZjWe9rsX7x1Uji8L86QIoFoP4PHpe3YrHoZA3Wpses68CyAIRt2DmrSBWSVrAMbgIulmEsiL9C-Uq1QrUIol9c-_iIJp3yHfBodQ/w264-h400/sanctuary3.jpg" width="264" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>All the good things of the earth flow into our city because of its greatnessâŠ</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>(Pericles' Funeral Oration, Thucydides 2.38)</i></p><p>Pericles was speaking of Athens, one of the marvels of the ancient world, a city whose institutions have<br /> come to us through the centuries and whose reputation may be tarnished but has never descended from greatness. It was literally a âcity on a hill;â the original great cosmopolis or âworld city.â Cities have long captured our imaginations, and usually there are two types. One is the great, shining city that was Athens, or if one looks at fictional cities, Supermanâs Metropolis. But it is the other sort of city, the city into which all vile things flow that this novel explores, a city ironically named Sanctuary.</p><p>Lynn Abbeyâs <i><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429969987/sanctuary" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sanctuary</a></i> is a unique novel for many reasons. It is intended as a bridge between the original incarnation of <b>Thievesâ World</b> and its second life. <b>Thievesâ World</b> was the first âshared worldâ setting, and it was primarily a fantasy short story anthology series edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey, though novels, board games, comics, and a truly excellent multi-system city RPG boxed set were also produced. Its influence on shared worlds, the fantasy genre, and roleplaying was significant, but it reached creative and sales exhaustion by the 1990s. However, fans of the series never completely disappeared and Abbey was persuaded to resurrect it in 2002. </p><p><i>Sanctuary</i> is not your normal heroâs quest tale, though it a coming of age tale. It merges the tragic history of Sanctuary with the equally tragic back story of its protagonist, Cauvin. Cauvin is the adopted son of a mason, adopted following the flaming, bloody demise of the Hand of Dyareela cult. This cult, devoted to a hermaphroditic deity of chaos, disease, madness, and death (first introduced in the second anthology of the series, <i>Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn </i>in 1980), had gained control of the city in the years following the last anthology. The Hand prefers children as followers; it gathered orphans and raised them to be corrupt, mad, and cannibalistic. Cauvin was one of the very few sane survivors, saved by those who destroyed the cult because he displayed a spark of humanity. Still a child, he is adopted by a stone mason and becomes his servant/apprentice, and he settles into the humdrum life of a Sanctuary working man. Then he discovers on his daily business a decrepit, aged, and wounded Molin Torchholder. </p><p>Torchholder appeared or was mentioned in more stories than any other character in the original series, often just a cameo or an off-screen threat, but always there, always involved. His choice as the bridge character was inspired, as was the idea that he would chose an heir to whom to pass his knowledge of the secrets and lore of the city. Cauvin, Molin, and Cauvinâs younger adopted brother, Bec, are forced to confront the demons and angels of the past while facing a new, yet familiar threat to the city. </p><p>And the city is the real hero of the story. Cauvin is endearing and the reader will certainly root for him, but the soul of <b>Thievesâ World</b> has always been the city of Sanctuary itself, and Abbey manages to show its shifts and changes over time, its many physical alterations, while holding true to the Sanctuary's soul. The city is alive and real, it attracts pain, suffering, corruption, and despair yet the city itself is neither corrupt nor wicked but rather a tough survivor battered and bruised by tragic life and yet unbroken. </p>In the past, when I've read this novel I've been very focused on the easter eggs and hints to the past, this time around I am trying very hard to focus instead on this novel as its own thing, with its own story to tell. For example, the Dyareelans make INCREDIBLE fantasy world villains, Sanctuary has never had a scarcity of evil and cruelty but the Dyareelans surpassed everything previously seen. - they make Roxanne look like a mildly difficult hedge witch of quite banal "evil" in comparison. Their focus on children as both victims and tools in their atrocities makes them feel very real and very abhorrent.<br /><br />The Molin/Cauvin relationship with reminds me a little of Merlin and Nimue in Mary Stewart's <i>The Last Enchantment</i> (obviously without the romantic element). And Molin and Cauvin's relationship with Arizak and Raith remind of Merlin's relationship with Uther and Arthur. The idea of a younger heir taking over for a lamed great king is a common Arthurian motif, but stripping it from its Faerie and British environment and instead applying it to the succession crisis for a barbarian tribe ruling a conquered desert city is inspired. Or... I've just read far too much of <b>Thieves' World</b> and the matter of Britain both and I'm seeing things that aren't there. đ<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHuUNs3A1EIsJBKgq1iw0d7T1wTDEBN_EfwRclYbQBE9w_bw889H648zjy9sJg798mn_2Q8RbAhWslFs-1Y5wPOwslyaoduE90HMcy0rpQBBs_x2MIgFB3U5chpBu5zzOVaY_fbxxD3rYofhh-wCYGbA_eA-Ow7P_G_ejPHR-I0KlfnOvk0WA6qiAbA/s1733/irrune%20era%20map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1733" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHuUNs3A1EIsJBKgq1iw0d7T1wTDEBN_EfwRclYbQBE9w_bw889H648zjy9sJg798mn_2Q8RbAhWslFs-1Y5wPOwslyaoduE90HMcy0rpQBBs_x2MIgFB3U5chpBu5zzOVaY_fbxxD3rYofhh-wCYGbA_eA-Ow7P_G_ejPHR-I0KlfnOvk0WA6qiAbA/w640-h416/irrune%20era%20map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />Gamemasters will find in Sanctuary a wonderful example for rebuilding or advancing old, stale campaigns. It is also an excellent example of city design, and the importance of forming a cohesive history for your settings. The Hand of Dyareela is a wonderful example for structuring an evil cult to oppose your players. For players, Cauvin, Bec, and Soldt all provide excellent character templates that can be altered and emulated to provide depth. Players running priests who wish to be something other than clerical healing dispensers will find Molin Torchholder inspirational as well. <br /><br />Sanctuary was followed by two new short story anthologies, <i>Turning Points</i> (2002) and <i>Enemies of Fortune</i> (2004), each structured like the original<b> Thievesâ World</b> anthologies with a stable of writers from the old series as well as new comers. <br /><br />I said earlier that Sanctuary is ironically named, yet it is aptly named as well. The city draws all that is vile to it, but also acts as a protector to it citizens, and for readers the city is a sanctuary as well, you will truly enjoy your time in <b>Thievesâ World</b>. So check your purse, loosen your sword, and give the city another chance. </p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><div><br /></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-79123958176939779652023-02-19T15:59:00.001-08:002023-02-19T15:59:22.100-08:00Review: My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir by Chris Offutt.<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga09FFZu7gdsPvfiWXp9Vekpp5wlYr17q5DSCXEYTKFgFSzjfOZmrE2L00GwkZUP9jqcZqvx162YWEDcxO91agOZWxTlbT4Vf7CeUpRNG4_wuqjm7ReJIUUvjKBQvG8FXNigWNpiNHfOzv27BhGeUjOPeedrc9uafFzXgSRHJ5O-EJfB3hdQM2sdSUUw/s500/51jy5TRC1TL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga09FFZu7gdsPvfiWXp9Vekpp5wlYr17q5DSCXEYTKFgFSzjfOZmrE2L00GwkZUP9jqcZqvx162YWEDcxO91agOZWxTlbT4Vf7CeUpRNG4_wuqjm7ReJIUUvjKBQvG8FXNigWNpiNHfOzv27BhGeUjOPeedrc9uafFzXgSRHJ5O-EJfB3hdQM2sdSUUw/s320/51jy5TRC1TL.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br />This is an odd one. I just finished <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/My-Father-the-Pornographer-Audiobook/B01F7SOMHQ?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B01F7SOMHQ&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=G8Z67V37BVZADD33YDMZ&pageLoadId=WeLr6PCPGzXQbUYv&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this audiobook</a> during my commute last week: <i><a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/My-Father-the-Pornographer/Chris-Offutt/9781501112478" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Father, the Pornographer: A Memoir</a></i> by Chris Offutt.<p></p><p>I put off reading this one for years because the father in question, Andrew Offutt, is the creator of one of my favorite fantasy characters, Hanse Shadowspawn, in the superlative <i>Thieves' World</i> shared world setting. I'd already discovered the troubling background of another of my favorite writers from my teen years (<a href="https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2020/05/it-has-been-revealed-that-fantasy.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Eddings</a>) and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/27/sff-community-marion-zimmer-bradley-daughter-accuses-abuse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Marion Zimmer Bradley</a>'s issues are also well known (thankfully, she was never a favorite of mine). </p><p>So I was apprehensive about what this would reveal about Offutt. It wasn't shocking that he had made a living writing pornography, that was common amongst many different sorts of writers in the 1960s and 1970s. It was a way to pay the bills, and many were "true believers" in the sexual revolution. But previews of the work hinted at darker revelations and Chris Offutt seemed to have a chip on his shoulder regarding his father. </p><p>It was not as bad as I had feared. First, the work really is a memoir, but its Chris Offutt's memoir. His relationship with his father was obviously troubled - emotionally abusive would seem to be the best description from the son's point of view. and that's the only point of view we really get. This father and son never seem to have quite reached a meeting of the minds. </p><p>My father was not a talker, but he was extremely supportive even when his son was following obsessions he didn't really understand. I was blessed when it came to parents, and I realize that. So I am very reluctant to judge other's views of their parents. They lived that experience, not I. I felt this was a one-sided account, but that doesn't make it wrong or inaccurate. Other readers have spoken of the empathy they felt Chris display here towards his father. I didn't really get that, but I certainly didn't get hate either. </p><p>A specific passage, about Chris being sexually abused by an older man while a teenager, abuse his parents were never aware of, illustrated how crazy people of my generation are when they extol "free range kids" as a parenting style. Chris Offutt definitely grew up "free range" and he suffered a horrific assault because of that. It certainly filled me with guilt and doubt about my own child rearing. </p><p>In general, this work made me question myself as a father. I know I have never belittled or berated my children, but passages describing how Andrew Offutt would "destroy" people in debates hit far too close to home for me. :( </p><p>This work also left me frustrated. Andrew Offutt wrote in the genres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Phonography (crossed with the other two, quite often). His son covers his porn career exhaustively, and he describes his early science fiction career, which he seems to have felt showed great promise that his father "betrayed" by turning to porn. but he doesn't discuss his fantasy writing at all. Andrew Offutt was the editor of an important <i>Sword & Sorcery</i> anthology series, Swords Against Darkness. The series was curated, not simply slapped together, and included Offutt's comments and analysis of why the tales mattered. It made the argument that S&S was not only fun, but that it could matter, and his son barely mentions this seminal work (which earned Offutt a spot on the famous Appendix N list). And in the '80s, as the porn market was drying up, Offutt was the creator of <i>Thieves' World</i>'s most popular character and one of its most consistent authors. </p><p>Offutt never even mentions Hanse in his work, and that is frustrating because the corpus of short stories about Hanse is a <i>bildungsroman</i> of uncommon clarity and insight. He may have been a poor father, but as a writer, Andrew Offutt showed in the Hanse short stories (and two novels) remarkable insight into the adolescent male, as well as a realistic view of young love. Did Chris never read any of these? Given the nature of his memoir this part of his father's writing should have been given at least a little attention. </p><p>Further, for both Andrew Offutt and his wife, in the 1970s and 1980s the fan convention culture seems to have been a big part of their lives. And their children were apparently dragged to it without being made a part of it. I understand why that would make one angry and resentful - I imagine it would provide a similar feeling in later years as those children who were forced to attend church services and bible school. But Chris Offutt's contempt for the fans at those conventions was more than a little off-putting. Of course, it was also a rather stinging indictment of "free range" parenting. </p><p>In short, Offutt seems to be shamed by his father's porn writing, but he seems to be perhaps even more ashamed, or at least contemptuous, of his "genre" writing. As a result, this memoir give us no real insight into Offutt's fantasy writing or his place in the genre's corpus. The work simply ignores the area where Offutt very likely had his biggest impact as an author and editor. </p><p>I finished this book feeling melancholy and sad, but also very lucky in my own familial relationships. On the other hand, I have to admit Chris Offutt is a brilliant writer, as other reviewers have noted. This isn't a fun read, but I am glad I read it.</p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-74991694498095916422023-01-01T15:09:00.002-08:002023-06-08T09:48:32.816-07:00What I read in 2022<p><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSWFBk6wz1JyDQy1HOl7DDgiOgsTDG97umNqQP1y0qPP64wudC7wSs8YVZ8r9ec0UFjmSmqpEhy6zL2MhtRWkUEGgMgCy5J1SS0W8bK68D_qFJCl-zjlBAbw2NSlMPW-CQKW3yyX_mIFyFZXLARvYi2pfQn7ZxQy-8Qn1Cz0disf8TaZYs_Q8P0HvPw/s500/61SblEDw8OL._SL500_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSWFBk6wz1JyDQy1HOl7DDgiOgsTDG97umNqQP1y0qPP64wudC7wSs8YVZ8r9ec0UFjmSmqpEhy6zL2MhtRWkUEGgMgCy5J1SS0W8bK68D_qFJCl-zjlBAbw2NSlMPW-CQKW3yyX_mIFyFZXLARvYi2pfQn7ZxQy-8Qn1Cz0disf8TaZYs_Q8P0HvPw/s320/61SblEDw8OL._SL500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>Four years ago, a friend of mine posted a list of the books they had read that year. I thought this was a great idea so I've been posting such a list myself, first on Facebook, now on my blog. I find it a very useful exercise in self-reflection - though I suspect it is also another example of my narcissism. đ<br /><br />If others make similar lists, I'd love to see them! đ You can read what I read in <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-i-read-in-2019.html">2019</a>, <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-i-read-in-2020.html">2020</a>, and <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2022/01/what-i-read-in-2021.html">2021</a> at the links. <br /><br />For me, the list is not about "keeping score" - if you read more books then I did, good for you but that's really not the point of reading, in my opinion. Rather, this about deep reading, considering what we've read in multiple ways, reflecting on it, and allowing us to really digest the material. The list provides a "year in review", a means for me to look back over the last year with the markers that tend to stick in my brain: the books I was reading. It also helps me to guide my reading for the next year. <br />Looking over this year's list (see below), these trends stood out:<br /><br /># of Rereads: 29 (I've marked rereads below with an *)<br /># Military History reads: 7<br /># of fantasy works: 47<br /># by or about Tolkien or Inklings: 11<br /># related to Lovecraft or the Mythos: 6<br /># Frigate Navy period reads: 5<br /># Thieves' World & related: 8<br /># of Harry Potter works: 11<br /># of holiday reads: 10<br /># historical fiction reads: 5<br /># World War II reads: 3<br /><br />So, rereads are around 50%, a bit higher then the last two years but some of those are books I haven't read in over 40 years. I also reread the entire Harry Potter series, which I haven't done since the series ended. It was very enjoyable. I also finished rereading the original Thieves' World anthologies, also super enjoyable. <br /><br />I finished pretty much all of the works by Jonathon Howard available now, which is a shame because he is such an enjoyable author. I continued my yearly hunt for holiday works that touch me, but didn't find anything new that really did so. Some enjoyable reads, but none that enthralled me in the same manner that beloved works like <i>A Christmas Carol</i> or <i>The Dark is Rising</i> did. <span><br /></span><p></p><div><div><div>I continued tracking down works from my childhood, this time finding more "We were there" books, and I read some new Tolkien and I finally read some Charles Williams, expanding my Inklings knowledge. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6ZPp0z52NADY-0wy9mWlxyBmjG2xZ7muzVznodYzyujqOy0Clxdgmh8De2MStzplKKNrQp9NA_eb1fD0k7HfQoVCDuz5Os5-_lfV9j4pJVL07-K5Lznm_ZUWAxwtHPiAtFf-J7Oy8A8OJsXSWEhfK7kp43u-5ZLjRYbS7EJ5FVb0LuaDqxkxhW9KYw/s372/fall.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="246" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6ZPp0z52NADY-0wy9mWlxyBmjG2xZ7muzVznodYzyujqOy0Clxdgmh8De2MStzplKKNrQp9NA_eb1fD0k7HfQoVCDuz5Os5-_lfV9j4pJVL07-K5Lznm_ZUWAxwtHPiAtFf-J7Oy8A8OJsXSWEhfK7kp43u-5ZLjRYbS7EJ5FVb0LuaDqxkxhW9KYw/s320/fall.jpg" width="212" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Since I'm working with a <a href="https://abbynormalmedia.com/kickstarter-announcements" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World</i> RPG publisher</a> it will continue to be part of my reading in 2023. I've also decided to start the new year by rereading some military and Marine history books. Beyond that, I'm not quite certain which way my reading will head in 2023. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am sure that I will soon long for magic, as I often do, and I will hope for something new but will probably end up rereading one of my old favorites to catch that spark. </div><div><br /></div><div>My biggest regret looking back is that I haven't published a new book myself since 2019. That year I published 2 books and 2 professional articles. But I haven't published since, and I know my current book is very unlikely to be finished soon enough to come out in 2023. I have a lot of projects in the works as a historian and one as a game designer so hopefully in the next few years I'll be able to once again talk about what I've published.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What I read in 2022:</b></div></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div>1. <a href="http://www.jonathanlhoward.com/fall.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Fall of the House of Cabal</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a><br />2. <i>Thieves World</i> #7:<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B283RN5T?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_6&storeType=ebooks&qid=1655321649&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>The Dead of Winter</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*<br />3. <a href="https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780008387921/the-nature-of-middle-earth/" target="_blank"><i>The Nature of Middle-earth</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Carl F. Hostetter</a><div>4. <a href="https://librivox.org/the-mark-of-zorro-by-johnston-mcculley/?fbclid=IwAR3gQ9C1xMef18y4NQSicZIe40-7YJJzfK3ZxIHArj3gyhNGKO8ZumssyZE" target="_blank"><i>The Mark of Zorro</i> by Johnston McCulley</a></div><div>5. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fall-of-Gondolin-Audiobook/0008302790?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=PJ68P854P0109XC08E65" target="_blank"><i>The Fall of Gondolin</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien</a>*</div><div>6. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Silmarillion-Audiobook/B016N9U1XW?qid=1647977651&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=HE90WQW2JJD8Y1B0M5JH" target="_blank"><i>The Silmarillion</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div>7. <a href="http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_War_of_the_Jewels" target="_blank"><i>The History of Middle Earth: The War of the Jewels</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien</a>*</div><div>8. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fellowship-of-the-Ring-Audiobook/B0099RKRTY?qid=1648066090&sr=1-2&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=0PEPGRRGBRBY5TE33DMK" target="_blank"><i>The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div>9. <a href="http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/History_of_the_hobbit" target="_blank"><i>The History of the Hobbit, Part 1: Mr. Baggins</i> by John D. Rateliff</a>*</div><div>10. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Two-Towers-Audiobook/B009ABHTF4?qid=1649863220&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=YH0RQCCGDQBQV2BM3VZQ" target="_blank"><i>The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div>11. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/History-Hobbit-Return-Bag-End-v/dp/0007250665" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The History of the Hobbit: Return to Bag-End</i> by John D. Rateliff</a>*</div><div>12. Thieves World #8: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B284RHPF?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_7&storeType=ebooks&qid=1655321649&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>Soul of the City</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div>13. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Return-of-the-King-Audiobook/B009ABIN72?ref=a_series_Th_c5_lProduct_1_5&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=GCMYQEW7BDEP8R6ENKGK" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div>14. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/War-Heaven-Novel-Charles-Williams/dp/0802812198" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>War in Heaven</i> by Charles Williams</a></div><div>15. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Carter-Lovecraft-Audiobook/B016CB1XIS?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=S2KB98YTPD9Z1F6W09PX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Carter & Lovecraft</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a></div><div>16. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/After-the-End-of-the-World-Audiobook/B076TMYY42?ref=a_series_Lo_c5_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=8EPPJMRY0ADG466E6TD1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>After the End of the World</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a></div><div>17. <a href="https://www.casematepublishers.com/echo-among-warriors.html#.YqCvf6jMKUk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Echo Among Warriors</i> by Richard Camp</a></div><div>18. <a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=storm-seed" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Storm Seed</i> by Janet & Chris Morris</a>*</div><div><div>19. Thieves World #9: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Thieves-World%C2%AE-Diana-Paxson-ebook/dp/B0B27LR5DY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3BZP8F8VS6X5S&keywords=Thieves+World+Blood+ties&qid=1655321649&s=books&sprefix=thieves+world+blood+ties%2Cstripbooks%2C33&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Blood Ties</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div>20. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Robin-Hood-Puffin-Classics/dp/0141329386" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i> by Roger Lancelyn Green</a> </div><div>21. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Feeding-Washingtons-Army-Audiobook/B09ZYSK47X?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=F860GTWNAPVZ7TTWE1CR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778</i> by Ricardo A. Herrera</a></div><div>22. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Graveyard-Book-Full-Cast-Production-Audiobook/B00LXHQO22?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=H6TZ2TPCNCX4XX3QA91K" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Graveyard Book</i> by Neil Gaiman</a></div><div>23. <a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/an-honorable-german/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>An Honorable German</i> by Charles McCain</a></div><div>24. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Sorcerers-Stone-Book-1-Audiobook/B017V4IM1G?qid=1658187665&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=0S4DAGKQDNPF573KP4MD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div><div>25. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Chamber-of-Secrets-Book-2-Audiobook/B017V4IWVG?ref=a_series_Ha_c5_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=CCEKNJX9YP1SPHF7GWY5" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>26. Thieves World #10: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B28736BN?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_cl_1&storeType=ebooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Aftermath</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div></div><div>27. <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253017048/other-pasts-different-presents-alternative-futures/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Other Pasts, Different Presents, Alternative Futures</i> by Jeremy Black</a></div><div>28.<b> </b><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-Book-3-Audiobook/B017V4JA2Q?ref=a_series_Ha_c5_lProduct_1_3&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=SWEC3XFQS23H6QAZ9ZVG" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>29. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Goblet-of-Fire-Book-4-Audiobook/B017V4NUPO?ref=a_series_Ha_c5_lProduct_1_4&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=V40E7DVXBTXFNDDWMTB3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>30. <a href="https://www.oupress.com/9780806144580/the-war-of-1812-in-the-age-of-napoleon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The War of 1812 in the Age of Napoleon</i> by Jeremy Black</a></div><div>31. <a href="https://david-drake.com/2002/dagger/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Dagger</i> by David Drake</a>*</div><div>32. <a href="https://www.noahchinnbooks.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Lost Souls</i> by Noah Chinn</a></div><div>33. <a href="https://www.exodusbooks.com/we-were-there-at-the-battle-of-britain/knight/41313/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>We Were There at the Battle of Britain</i> by Clayton Knight & Katherine Sturges Knight</a>*</div><div>34. <a href="https://www.exodusbooks.com/we-were-there-at-the-battle-for-bataan/appel/41305/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>We Were There at the Battle for Bataan </i>by Benjamin Appel</a></div><div>35. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Order-of-the-Phoenix-Book-5-Audiobook/B017V4NMX4?ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&qid=b9h9NvrjsM&sr=1-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>36. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Half-Blood-Prince-Book-6-Audiobook/B017V4NOZ0?ref=a_author_JK_c19_lProduct_1_6&pf_rd_p=1ae0e65e-ad09-4aa7-aa73-772cefb1b5e1&pf_rd_r=PQNVW4D5MZ2QYZFNZKCA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>37. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Fantastic-Beasts-and-Where-to-Find-Them-Audiobook/B01N4S7VVP?ref=a_series_Wi_c5_lProduct_1_8&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=1BC43EF1M430726JKZXN" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</i> by J.K. Rowling</a></div><div>38. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Quidditch-Through-the-Ages-Audiobook/B079822Q7P?ref=a_series_Wi_c5_lProduct_1_9&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=1BC43EF1M430726JKZXN" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Quidditch Through the Ages</i> by J.K. Rowling</a></div><div>39. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Night-in-the-Lonesome-October-Audiobook/B09WJP61YZ?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=MGMP10Q3BKPZ5ED2SSGN" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Night in the Lonesome October</i> by Roger Zelazny</a>*</div><div>40. <a href="https://www.jkrowling.com/book/harry-potter-cursed-child/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</i> by J.K. Rowling</a></div><div>41. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0099556243?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Kronos</i> by Guy Adams</a> </div><div>42. Thieves World #11: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Uneasy-Alliances-Thieves-World%C2%AE-Cherryh-ebook/dp/B0B27ZSRBK/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3E0G8E7V9A7UA&keywords=Uneasy+Alliances&qid=1666809092&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjQ0IiwicXNhIjoiMC45MiIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&s=books&sprefix=uneasy+alliances%2Cstripbooks%2C55&sr=1-3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Uneasy Alliances</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*</div><div>43. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Tales-of-Beedle-the-Bard-Audiobook/1781103798?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=36E3068FPN4JAD036289" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Tales of Beedle the Bard</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>44. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Book-7-Audiobook/B017WJ5ZK6?ref=a_author_JK_c19_lProduct_1_7&pf_rd_p=1ae0e65e-ad09-4aa7-aa73-772cefb1b5e1&pf_rd_r=B44C5DFVHHP6SP42FEMQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</i> by J.K. Rowling</a>*</div><div>45. <a href="https://www.usni.org/press/books/most-fortunate-ship" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Most Fortunate Ship: A Narrative History of Old Ironsides</i> by Tyrone G. Martin</a> </div><div>46. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Africa-Squadron-Slave-Trade-1842-1861/dp/B005Q7AXFE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Africa SquadronâŻ: the U.S. Navy and the Slave Trade, 1842-1861</i> by Donald L. Canney</a></div><div>47. <a href="https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/ce2.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Collected Essays of H. P. Lovecraft: Literary Criticism</i> by H. P. Lovecraft & S. T. Joshi (Editor)</a></div><div>48. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Bambi-Classic-Tales-Edition-Audiobook/1950524558?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_1950524558&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=E9WA661EBVNZA3SXJZ1Y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Bambi, a Life in the Woods</i> by Felix Salten</a></div><div>49. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Hiddensee-Audiobook/B0742PD91S?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0742PD91S&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=KEY48792Q26BRS0ZER2E&pageLoadId=DD0JH6nEYe8Y4ZrO&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Hiddensee: A Tale of the Once and Future Nutcracker</i> by Gregory Maguire</a></div><div>50. Thieves World #12: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B27SJTBK?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_cl_1&storeType=ebooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Stealers' Sky</i> edited by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey</a>*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4RZG9x48lc9gYMpTxVinIx7y9HOPJfvG8b__cnCBvtXF-t1I0-KDV_3VdG0_f2X1z1YRx998O4xfCeF4fWPCnce8-zo4lHvRGW_APRudFB3NeEjZYW6SkiLMYlNt73Xj-J1-LOt8bAIGi3Dl87ZYJq8CQmEUFLtlHAX4ClFgIAHJ4zIvY2mD3VhgCQ/s500/mazeofperil.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr4RZG9x48lc9gYMpTxVinIx7y9HOPJfvG8b__cnCBvtXF-t1I0-KDV_3VdG0_f2X1z1YRx998O4xfCeF4fWPCnce8-zo4lHvRGW_APRudFB3NeEjZYW6SkiLMYlNt73Xj-J1-LOt8bAIGi3Dl87ZYJq8CQmEUFLtlHAX4ClFgIAHJ4zIvY2mD3VhgCQ/s320/mazeofperil.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /></div><div>51. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Holidays-Display-William-L-Bird/dp/1568986955#:~:text=Holidays%20on%20Display%20is%20a,the%20form%20of%20parade%20floats." rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Holidays on Display</i> by William L. Bird</a></div><div>52. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738733342?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Old Magic of Christmas: Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year</i> by Linda Raedisch</a></div><div>53. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Glad-Yule-Audiobook/B00FP3072S?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B00FP3072S&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=BCTT5MW2P8QDD5ZED55M&pageLoadId=z5UMFDTj1ZfIt1SL&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Glad Yule</i> by Pati Nagle</a></div><div>54. <i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Legend-of-the-Christmas-Witch-Audiobook/0593455703?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_0593455703&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=C19TPY7GRVMWKYE9FWWY&pageLoadId=CqTuLw7ZKV4TINxW&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Legend of the Christmas Witch</a></i> and <i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Return-of-the-Christmas-Witch-Audiobook/B09YMQF38Q?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B09YMQF38Q&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=C19TPY7GRVMWKYE9FWWY&pageLoadId=CqTuLw7ZKV4TINxW&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Return of the Christmas Witch</a></i> by Aubrey Plaza & Dan Murphy</div><div>55. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Letters from Father Christmas</i> by JRR Tolkien</a>*</div><div>56. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-Charles-Dickens/dp/1400086035" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens (read by Jim Dale)</a>*</div><div>57. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Christmas-Story-Audiobook/B002V57PEQ?qid=1578249669&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=WW4XFWGCYGMHTAARV2KV&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>A Christmas Story</i> by Jean Shepherd</a>*</div><div>58. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Christmas-Chronicles-Audiobook/B0049WNK9S?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_B0049WNK9S&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=V26DN9X7DA8V1NQGYV8Q&pageLoadId=rRdIKkPG47AE05VQ&creativeId=4ee810cf-ac8e-4eeb-8b79-40e176d0a225" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus</i> by Tim Slover</a></div><div>59. <a href="http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/07/pulp-fantasy-library-maze-of-peril.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Maze of Peril</i> by J. Eric Holmes</a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-84501090843207690782022-12-24T14:19:00.002-08:002022-12-27T12:41:59.767-08:00Yule Review: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus<p> <i>A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-170/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table #170</a><i> (December, 2010).</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWy6ov3zjne9NxbKfMfaBmLMLlLujtKMciYJqth411JAv6j2oQzpXbFD0WRv_cRZerqPorsmeYB4mjK96TMX6oP6i-OGZi3rCDgDoREpJoXxchD08y5UqwsZ5vEnWk84jVSGbxlQtKD7sDOpWSbh8zDFCqVL1V4gpaBx0tNAPYXCXTxjgUPumzaj70A/s389/LifeAndAdventuresOfSantaClaus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWy6ov3zjne9NxbKfMfaBmLMLlLujtKMciYJqth411JAv6j2oQzpXbFD0WRv_cRZerqPorsmeYB4mjK96TMX6oP6i-OGZi3rCDgDoREpJoXxchD08y5UqwsZ5vEnWk84jVSGbxlQtKD7sDOpWSbh8zDFCqVL1V4gpaBx0tNAPYXCXTxjgUPumzaj70A/s320/LifeAndAdventuresOfSantaClaus.jpg" width="247" /></a></i></div><i><br /></i><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The circle of the world has turned and Yule is come again.
In the Northern Hemisphere the light has slowly been declining until the
shortest day of the year arrives, and the longest night. Bells tinkle and magic
is in the air as so much of the Western World again descends into fantasy and
childhood.</p><p class="MsoNormal">It's Christmas Eve! </p><p class="MsoNormal">Despite the obvious links to
fantasy inherent in so many Christmas traditions and tales, the holiday is
stubbornly difficult for fantasy writers to handle successfully. Perhaps it is the broad, mass appeal of
Christmas stories, its religious overtones, or its economic importance.
Whatever the reason, precious few good, modern fantasy genre stories are set
during the holidays, and even fewer successfully tackle its themes. The topic
is generally abandoned to the authors of childrenâs book. In the 19<sup>th</sup> century, however, it
was a common topic for prolific writers whose longevity and popularity have
elevated them to icon status today.</p><p class="MsoNormal">L. Frank Baum is a prime example. Because he wrote for children and enjoyed
mass appeal, the author of <i>The Wizard of
Oz</i> is seldom thought of as a fantasy author, a status he shares with <i>Peter Pan</i>âs J.M. Barrie and <i>Alice in Wonderland</i>âs Lewis Carroll. Of
course, all three <b>were</b> fantasy
writers who built fantastical imaginary worlds that have directly influenced
much modern fantasy, and fantasy roleplaying.</p><p class="MsoNormal">In 1902 Baum wrote <i>The
Life and Adventures of Santa Claus</i>, which purported to provide Santaâs
origin story, creating an elaborate and original mythology that includes
traditional creatures such as nymphs, gnomes, and elves as well as original creations such as Ryls and Knooks. The story is set in the Forest of Burzee, described memorably
by Baum:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Have you heard of the
great Forest of Burzee? Nurse used to sing of it when I was a child. She sang
of the big tree-trunks, standing close together, with their roots intertwining
below the earth and their branches intertwining above it; of their rough
coating of bark and queer, gnarled limbs; of the bushy foliage that roofed the
entire forest, save where the sunbeams found a path through which to touch the
ground in little spots and to cast weird and curious shadows over the mosses,
the lichens and the drifts of dried leaves.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Forest of Burzee
is mighty and grand and awesome to those who steal beneath its shade. Coming
from the sunlit meadows into its mazes it seems at first gloomy, then pleasant,
and afterward filled with never-ending delights.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">Baum carefully describes the ways in which all of the
different aspects of the Santa tradition come into being, from reindeer to the
first Christmas Tree. Itâs all fanciful, and differs significantly from todayâs
better known traditions: for example Santaâs deer number ten rather than eight
and are named <span lang="EN">Glossie, Flossie, Racer, Pacer, Fearless, Peerless,
Ready, Steady, Feckless, and Speckless</span>, When Baum wrote Christmas traditions
were less calcified, and he made full use of this creative freedom. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMa9xGEq4OLYSSDP-sL9qIsBMOJo_TxmCx_i6CvMZmzosjKvJfddPaFPItJj-QbxEtiyaq15NoExF5HjGhJpySOto-y8FEC8wxDP-7f00rfT3oZfvV6Xuvq_Hml964F1eIiCxOXKwxGZMpYIqxzDEOtHZ5w7eu9I0TVvqhcoMgmGjqXka6I6c9aMHERQ/s600/life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-1985-great-ak-battle-axe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="600" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMa9xGEq4OLYSSDP-sL9qIsBMOJo_TxmCx_i6CvMZmzosjKvJfddPaFPItJj-QbxEtiyaq15NoExF5HjGhJpySOto-y8FEC8wxDP-7f00rfT3oZfvV6Xuvq_Hml964F1eIiCxOXKwxGZMpYIqxzDEOtHZ5w7eu9I0TVvqhcoMgmGjqXka6I6c9aMHERQ/s320/life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-1985-great-ak-battle-axe.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Santaâs rise to greatness is not unopposed; a great battle
is fought between the evil Awgwas and the immortals, Santaâs patrons. Santa
himself is not involved in the battle, Baum is careful to maintain his
essential purity and goodness, established firmly when the young Claus, finally
exposed to the evils that so many children suffer after his own happy childhood
in the Forest of Burzee, embarks upon his great quest to bring children
happiness.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The Forest of Burzee, and Santa himself, are connected to Baumâs
Oz legendarium in the 1909 novel <i>The Road
to Oz </i>(the fifth Oz book), when Santa and his entourage come to Princess
Ozmaâs birthday party. The Forest, and Santa, appear in some of Baumâs short
stories, especially âA Kidnapped Santa Clausâ from 1904, a slightly darker tale
which featured the <span lang="EN">Daemons of
Selfishness, Envy, Hatred, Malice, and Repentance.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYsaPK2M9Kncm-EKY2t5c2hkoo5c9SpbOdMdum73zJ_QECHCYAFxVSj1o4swWy_kN5A_SYpWCcpM0Fiklr-gWEgPDDtlyVGfKlrJxN_2xgC8k6tpvLIuUCj7zhgVG4g4L5hXFmf8GVN4jwBvi9j5NxumRR4equYFBnzNS0NofrfDbrbsik7aG_24mZJQ/s600/life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-1985-monster-review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYsaPK2M9Kncm-EKY2t5c2hkoo5c9SpbOdMdum73zJ_QECHCYAFxVSj1o4swWy_kN5A_SYpWCcpM0Fiklr-gWEgPDDtlyVGfKlrJxN_2xgC8k6tpvLIuUCj7zhgVG4g4L5hXFmf8GVN4jwBvi9j5NxumRR4equYFBnzNS0NofrfDbrbsik7aG_24mZJQ/s320/life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-1985-monster-review.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN">The fairy tale
style of <i>Life and Adventures of Santa
Claus</i> might put off players and game-masters from seeking inspiration in
the tale, but in fact the mythology is a rich vein to mine for gaming nuggets.
One limitation of the Christmas mythology, from a gaming perspective, has
always been its close ties to the Christian religion. Baumâs tale presents a
well reason Santa Claus figure in a mythology divorced from Christianity
(though not hostile to it). A game-master
can thus introduce Santa and his accompanying mythology to a pagan campaign
world without violating either logic or insulting a real world religion.
Indeed, the Immortals make an excellent pantheon that a game-master could drop
ready-made into any campaign with a strong element of faerie in its makeup.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Baum wrote the
tale for children, but his prose is skillful if minimalist. It is filled with evocative images and
memorable if quickly drawn characters. Discerning, open-minded adults should
enjoy the pleasant tale and younger truly may truly love it. The novel has been
adapted to the screen in two cartoons, and handles the transition well, Baum
laved the theater and his writing retained a theatrical sense that encouraged
such adaption.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Finally, like
most of Baumâs work the tale is in the public domain. It can be found readily
enough in various new editions, and is also available as a <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/520" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">free download at Project Gutenberg</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">The work was adapted into an interesting stop-motion animation <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089488/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">holiday special by Rankin-Bass</a> in 1985. It never attained the popularity of the other Rankin-Bass shows, but it has some remarkable images, the Great Ak especially is really dignified and impressive. And Universal produced a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_%26_Adventures_of_Santa_Claus_(2000_film)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cartoon version as well in 2000</a>, but I've never had an opportunity to watch it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Any figure as pervasive and influential as Santa Claus
can carry the weight of multiple origin tales. Baumâs is a worthy contribution
to the legend, and an excellent way to add a hint of mistletoe and holly to
your fantasy gaming.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpV9lNDNxEcxdjnPPwiDsZTHCA63c448OEh4S6iWSpqStmIYLPbO6Y9kqe_vfKx1Cv1hPnM8n1feaH0voTZfD0thikbchIz5dMQGE9Q7HYeXjZOSRFzQUYyzdoVKemMg-TTAytKbx-G5_UGF1nvuIaDYS2ZEifafcnwU1n8z0AYQhrPTfh31_EtXnSIg/s700/the-life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-ss3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="700" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpV9lNDNxEcxdjnPPwiDsZTHCA63c448OEh4S6iWSpqStmIYLPbO6Y9kqe_vfKx1Cv1hPnM8n1feaH0voTZfD0thikbchIz5dMQGE9Q7HYeXjZOSRFzQUYyzdoVKemMg-TTAytKbx-G5_UGF1nvuIaDYS2ZEifafcnwU1n8z0AYQhrPTfh31_EtXnSIg/s320/the-life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-ss3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></span></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-83999067180425664672022-11-03T12:45:00.001-07:002022-12-27T12:39:21.874-08:00My "Off the Shelf" book reviews<p> <i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p>And yet more crass self-promotion. From May 2006 through April 2013 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for <i>Knights of the Dinner Table </i>(aka KoDT), a comic book/game magazine published by <b><a href="https://kenzerco.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kenzer & Company</a></b>. I wrote most of these columns during that period, but there were a handful, roughly one a year, written by others. Most of the columns were straight forward reviews, but I also wrote several as review essays on several topics.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxADLLL93dseqy9WqrP_wu0CPKP4esVRMlFWi6JeyLvJVNXwuoRc2QWvZvkUKvuKpXCyUjncurYx03RcsBGAPhWhwsb-zh0-nRINqUsizE29BVP6gSlM1R0Z2ZTlPMxfNNu5Yf0EAVCLYFMe4eDGGiu4weigZ0Wpz82_qe-JJorNXY3qsW1rbBS_6D8g/s1395/kodt179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1395" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxADLLL93dseqy9WqrP_wu0CPKP4esVRMlFWi6JeyLvJVNXwuoRc2QWvZvkUKvuKpXCyUjncurYx03RcsBGAPhWhwsb-zh0-nRINqUsizE29BVP6gSlM1R0Z2ZTlPMxfNNu5Yf0EAVCLYFMe4eDGGiu4weigZ0Wpz82_qe-JJorNXY3qsW1rbBS_6D8g/s320/kodt179.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I felt that having a column like this was a privilege not to take lightly, and so I generally only reviewed works that I felt comfortable recommending to readers. I wanted to direct people to books worth reading rather then warn them from books that I may not have liked. After all, just because a work wasn't to my taste didn't mean others would not enjoy it. </p><p>Because <i>Knights of the Dinner Table</i> was a comic and magazine aimed at table top roleplayers, I tried to include at least a paragraph in each review on what a gamer or gamemaster could pull from the work regarding inspiration and ideas for their games. </p><p>One of my long term goals for âOff the Shelfâ was to work my way through the authors listed as âinspirational and educational readingâ in <a href="http://www.digital-eel.com/blog/ADnD_reading_list.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Appendix N</a> of the 1st edition <i>AD&D </i><i>Dungeon Masterâs Guide</i> (p224, Gary Gygax, TSR (c) 1979). I didn't manage to get to them all, but I got to most of them. I wasn't always able or willing to review the books listed for the authors (some of them are fairly obscure today) so in some cases the author was listed but not the specific work I reviewed. I've marked works by Appendix N authors with a * at the end of the entry. In the years since I wrote my column, Appendix N has inspired many blogs and at least one rather bad IMO, book. A quick google search will turn all of these up, here is <a href="https://goodman-games.com/blog/2018/03/26/what-is-appendix-n/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">one example</a>. </p>The 1981 Tom Moldvay <i>Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set</i> included, on page 62, a bibliography of <a href="https://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/160519392817/inspirational-source-material-listed-in-moldvays" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Inspirational Source Material."</a> I think it is actually a better, more comprehensive list than the more famous Appendix N (<a href="https://thesilverkey.blogspot.com/2020/12/tom-moldvaybasic-d-inspirational-source.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">as do some others</a>). I have indicated authors from that list with a # mark at the end of the entry.<div><br /></div><div>In 2013 the editors brought on Noah Chinn to take over the column. Noah is an <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/noah-chinn?fbclid=IwAR2E6u9pHaDypyJB2I6tcEalvRiaj8c6Vsf5cvri1BwQxODQztac2VYcI7Y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">excellent author</a> in his <a href="https://www.noahchinnbooks.com/?fbclid=IwAR2QTyzwB5WST1xaFwM6T0f258mQyRO7faCYYu0HO2zvE_XsODcKRpHi8Xs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">own right</a> (I reviewed two of his books in the column) and a good friend of mine, he was an excellent choice to keep the column going. Noah has also been <a href="https://www.noahchinnbooks.com/articles/off-the-shelf/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">posting about his reviews</a> since he took over the column. I encourage you to check out his work. <br /><br /></div><div>Individual back issues of <i>Knights of the Dinner Table</i> magazine, including all of those listed below, can be found <a href="https://kenzerco.com/product-category/knights-of-the-dinner-table/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> for purchase.<p>KoDT #115 May 2006 <i>Thievesâ World</i> anthology series edited by Asprin and Abbey*# (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2019/04/thieves-world.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.) </p><p>KoDT #117 July 2006 The Lankhmar aka Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series by Fritz Leiber*#</p><p>KoDT #118 August 2006 The Corum Saga by Michael Moorcock*# (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/03/elric-corum-eternal-champions.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #119 September 2006 <i>The History of Middle Earth</i> and <i>Unfinished Tales</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien*#</p><p>KoDT #120 October 2006 <i>Conan of Cimmeria</i> by Robert E. Howard*# </p><p>KoDT #121 November 2006 The Barsoom Series by Edgar Rice Burroughs*#</p><p>KoDT #122 December 2006 <i>Black Seas of Infinity: The Best of H.P. Lovecraft</i> *#</p><p>KoDT #123 January 2007 <i>The King Must Die</i> and <i>The Bull from the Sea</i> by Mary Renault#</p><p>KoDT #124 February 2007 <i>The King of Elfland's Daughter</i> by Lord Dunsany*#</p><p>KoDT #125 March 2007 <i>Quag Keep</i> by Andre Norton*#</p><p>KoDT #126 April 2007 <i>Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell</i> by Susanna Clarke </p><p>KoDT #127 May 2007 <i>Three Hearts and Three Lions</i> by Poul Anderson*#</p><p>KoDT #128 June 2007 <i>The Children of HĂșrin</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien*#</p><p>KoDT #129 July 2007 The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander#</p><p>KoDT #130 August 2007 <i>A Rendezvous in Averoigne</i> by Clark Ashton Smith#</p><p>KoDT #131 September 2007 <i>Goblin Quest</i> and <i>Goblin Hero</i> by Jim C. Hines </p><p>KoDT #132 October 2007 <i>The Historian</i> by Elizabeth Kostova </p><p>KoDT #133 November 2007 <i>The Face in the Frost</i> by John Bellairs*#</p><p>KoDT #135 January 2008 <i>Tales of the Dying Earth</i> (aka <i>the Compleat Dying Earth</i>) by Jack Vance </p><p>KoDT #136 February 2008 <i>His Majesty's Dragon</i> by Naomi Novik </p><p>KoDT #137 March 2008 <i>The Dresden Files</i> by Jim Butcher (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-dresden-files.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.</a>)</p><p>KoDT #138 April 2008 Medieval Romances by Howard Pyle </p><p>KoDT #139 May 2008 <i>The Wardstone Chronicles</i> aka <i>The Last Apprentice</i> by Joseph Delaney (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-wardstone-chronicles-review.html">here.</a>)</p><p>KoDT #141 July 2008 <i>That Hideous Strength</i> by C.S. Lewis# (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/some-works-of-cs-lewis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #142 August 2008 <i>Flashman and the Redskins</i> by George MacDonald Fraser </p><p>KoDT #143 September 2008 <i>The Last Mythal</i> by Richard Baker </p><p>KoDT #144 October 2008 <i>Dracula</i> by Bram Stoker# (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-halloween-review-dracula-by-bram.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #145 November 2008 <i>Game Night</i> by Jonny Nexus </p><p>KoDT #146 December 2008 <i>The Compleat Enchanter</i> by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt*# </p><p>KoDT #147 January 2009 <i>The Club Dumas</i> by Arturo Perez-Reverte </p><p>KoDT #148 February 2009 The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart# (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2021/05/arthurian-authorial-romance-and-mary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #149 March 2009 <i>Lankhmar Book 8: Swords Against the Shadowland</i> by Robin Wayne Bailey </p><p>KoDT #150 April 2009 "Important Fantasy Writers" (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/10/fantasy-authors-and-list-making.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #151 May 2009 <i>The Han Solo Adventures</i> by Brian Daley </p><p>KoDT #152 June 2009 <i>The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen</i> by Alan Moore</p><p>KoDT #153 July 2009 <i>The Wyvern's Spur </i>by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb </p><p>KoDT #154 August 2009 <i>The White Company</i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle </p><p>KoDT #155 September 2009 <i>She</i> by H. Rider Haggard# </p><p>KoDT #156 October 2009 <i>The Werewolf of Paris</i> by Guy Endore </p><p>KoDT #157 November 2009 <i>The Ranger's Apprentice</i> series by John Flanagan </p><p>KoDT #158 December 2009 <i>The Dark Is Rising</i> series by Susan Cooper </p><p>KoDT #159 January 2010 <i>Peter & Max</i> by Bill Willingham </p><p>KoDT #160 February 2010 <i>The Corps</i> series by W.E.B. Griffin</p><p>KoDT #161 March 2010 <i>The Legend of Sigrid and Gudrun</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien*#</p><p>KoDT #163 May 2010 <i>Shadow Hawk</i> by Andre Norton*# </p><p>KoDT #164 June 2010 <i>The Moon Pool</i> by Abraham Merritt*# </p><p>KoDT #165 July 2010 <i>The Last Seal</i> by Richard Denning </p><p>KoDT #166 August 2010 <i>The Broken Sword </i>by Poul Anderson*#</p><p>KoDT #167 September 2010 <i>Wolf Brother</i> by Michelle Paver </p><p>KoDT #168 October 2010 <i>Frankenstein</i> by Mary Shelley </p><p>KoDT #169 November 2010 <i>Johannes Cabal: the Necromancer</i> by Jonathan L. Howard </p><p>KoDT #170 December 2010 <i>The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus</i> by L. Frank Baum#</p><p>KoDT #171 January 2011 Evermeet: Island of the Elves by Elaine Cunningham </p><p>KoDT #172 February 2011 <i>Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith</i> by Matthew Stover and <i>Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker</i> by George Lucas and Alan Dean Foster </p><p>KoDT #173 March 2011 <i>The Magicians</i> by Lev Grossman</p><p>KoDT #174 April 2011 The Original <i>Shannara</i> Trilogy by Terry Brooks </p><p>KoDT #175 May 2011 "AD&D Player's Handbook by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Players Handbook"</p><p>KoDT #176 June 2011 "AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual by Gary Gygax and others in a Genre Genesis article" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the Dungeon Masterâs Guide & Monster Manual"</p><p>KoDT #178 August 2011 "Genre Genesis III" aka "Genre Genesis: The Literary Foundations of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in the early AD&D Modules"</p><p>KoDT #179 September 2011 <i>The Twilight Saga </i>by Stephenie Meyer</p><p>KoDT #180 October 2011 Master of the Macabre (lesser works of Edgar Allan Poe) (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-halloween-treat-edgar-allen-poe.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #181 November 2011 <i>Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things</i> and <i>In Ghostly Japan</i> by Lafcadio Hearn </p><p>KoDT #182 December 2011 "Santa Claus in Fantasy Fiction" </p><p>KoDT #183 January 2012 <i>Bleeding Heart Yard</i> aka <i>A G**damned Love Story: The Curious Case of Bleeding Heart Yard</i> by Noah Chinn</p><p>KoDT #184 February 2012 <i>The Belgariad</i> by David and Leigh Eddings</p><p>KoDT #185 March 2012 <i>Swords Against the Darkness III</i> edited by Andrew Offutt</p><p>KoDT #186 April 2012 <i>The Doctor and the Kid</i> by Mike Resnick</p><p>KoDT #187 May 2012 <i>A Tale of the House of the Wolfings, and All the Kindreds of the Mark Written in Prose and in Verse </i>by William Morris</p><p>KoDT #188 June 2012 <i>Black Amazon of Mars</i> by Leigh Brackett*#</p><p>KoDT #189 July 2012 <i>Ready One Player</i> by Ernest Cline</p><p>KoDT #190 August 2012 <i>The White Raven</i> by Diana L. Paxson</p><p>KoDT #191 September 2012 The <i>Tempus</i> novels aka the <i>Sacred Band</i> series by Janet Morris (revised and expanded<a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-sacred-band-tales-of-janet-chris.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #192 October 2012 <i>A Guile of Dragons</i> by James Enge</p><p>KoDT #193 November 2012 <i>The Jewel of the Seven Stars</i> by Bram Stoker#</p><p>KoDT #194 December 2012 <i>Trooper #4</i> by Noah Chinn</p><p>KoDT #195 January 2013 <i>The Lancashire Witches </i>by William Harrison Ainsworth (revised and expanded <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-lancashire-witches.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p>KoDT #196 February 2013 <i>The Express Diaries</i> by Nick Marsh</p><p>KoDT #198 April 2013 <i>Sanctuary</i> by Lynn Abbey</p><p>It does seem fitting to me that I started and ended my tenure reviewing works from the <i>Thieves' World</i> setting.</p><div> <i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-14581011031737206302022-10-20T11:56:00.003-07:002022-12-27T12:39:39.324-08:00A Halloween Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker <p> <i>A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/product/knights-of-the-dinner-table-144/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table #144</a><i> (October, 2008).</i></p><p><i>From 2006 through 2012 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for </i><a href="https://kenzerco.com/knights-of-the-dinner-table/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table</a>, a<i> magazine and comic book devoted to tabletop fantasy role paying games. I reviewed classic and modern fantasy, horror, and science fiction novels. Every October I tried to review a work of classic horror in honor of Halloween. I am trying to restart that tradition with my blog.</i></p><p><i></i></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYalcQxA2-ywHreoOUdX8W0pNjcs-1JfRMz4hFc-BqBv91jU8BX5t9BcNaKyFnkbQsf1qH5-6wZJ7L8y9XWNg1klfODlvfby7LeWQo7enQLLK4FNma5Q9eO7L015_v0WhGaDf5vIzIDBh7cVAPOa8Gtvtyh5T3FIT_LgvZgacaFquqVPFF3SPaSl7nGQ/s2000/stoker-bram-front-B20137-20.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1374" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYalcQxA2-ywHreoOUdX8W0pNjcs-1JfRMz4hFc-BqBv91jU8BX5t9BcNaKyFnkbQsf1qH5-6wZJ7L8y9XWNg1klfODlvfby7LeWQo7enQLLK4FNma5Q9eO7L015_v0WhGaDf5vIzIDBh7cVAPOa8Gtvtyh5T3FIT_LgvZgacaFquqVPFF3SPaSl7nGQ/w275-h400/stoker-bram-front-B20137-20.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of <i>Dracula</i>, 13th Edition, 1919<br />Held by the <a href="https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/front-cover-for-1919-edition-of-dracula" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">British Library</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /></i><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The air is cool and pumpkins again litter the countryside. As the leaves turn and fall, a young manâs thoughts naturally turn to witches, ghosts, and vampires. And, of course, one considers the grand-daddy of all vampire tales, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dracula</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The Count is one of the most pervasive characters in popular culture, appearing again and again in books, movies, music, even poetry. What remains to be said about a fictional figure over whom so much ink has already been spilled?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Little, perhaps, but one can always find value in the original sources of cultural icons. Though many folks know the broad outlines of Stokerâs novel, the many movie and stage versions have been far from faithful adaptations. The classicâs original impact may be rediscovered and understood more deeply against the backdrop of so many variations on its themes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bram Stoker</a> was an Irish novelist and playwright of modest success</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> His primary occupation was business manager of actor Henry Irvingâs Lyceum Theater, but he produced many novels both before the 1897 publication of </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dracula</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and after. Perhaps the best known of these later works are the horror tales: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jewel_of_Seven_Stars" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Jewel of Seven Stars</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1903), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lair_of_the_White_Worm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Lair of the White Worm</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1911), </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_the_Shroud" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Lady of the Shroud</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_the_Shroud" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a>(1909), and the posthumous short story collection, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Guest_and_Other_Weird_Stories" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1914). Sadly, none of these later attempts match the power or style of his masterpiece.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dracula</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> may be examined as a work of three parts, though Stoker does not clearly organize it so. Each part is defined by Draculaâs victim, or prey. In the first, he preys on Jonathon Harker, determined to drain him of his knowledge of London, and more. The next phase shifts, so suddenly that Harkerâs final fate remains unknown, to Lucy, Draculaâs most tragic victim. Within this long section all of the principle characters are fully introduced as Lucyâs friends and suitors struggle to save her from the diabolical count. In the final part of the novel, the victim is now Mina, and action revolves around the struggle to free her, and destroy the Count. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The novel is written in an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel" target="_blank">unusual style</a>, as it purports to be merely a collection of letters, newspaper clippings, and journal entries written or collected by the participants in order to record the terrible, fateful events they observed. It is an extremely effective literary device, which allows the authorial point of view to shift smoothly from character to character while increasing the sense of tension and the importance of time. And Stoker is quite aware of time, carefully knitting his plot together so that dates match up exactly. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet the device does not lessen the power of Stokerâs prose. Consider the following passage:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote>On the bed beside the window lay Jonathan Harker, his face flushed and breathing heavily as though in a stupor. Kneeling on the near edge of the bed facing outwards was the white-clad figure of his wife. By her side stood a tall, thin man, clad in black. His face was turned from us, but the instant we saw we all recognized the Count, in every way, even to the scar on his forehead. With his left hand he held both Mrs. Harkerâs hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension. His right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the manâs bare chest which was shown by his torn-open dress. The attitude of the two had a terrible resemblance to a child forcing a kittenâs nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink. </blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The impact of Draculaâs appearance is heightened by the first person account, yet it is clear that unlike later writers, Stoker sees the vampire as a dangerous predator, a rapist. The love story between Mina and Dracula found in so many adaptations is completely missing from Stokerâs original tale, yet the novel is filled with love stories. First those between Lucy and her three suitors: Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Quincy Morris, then later the love between Jonathon and Mina Harker. But these loves are the talisman against Draculaâs evil, not a means for his seductions.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Draculaâs mysteries, and subsequently his aura of fear and horror, are heightened by the literary device as well. Dracula leaves no journal entries, no record of his thoughts or feelings. We see him as the protagonists see him: a malevolent force of unfathomable evil. He appears rarely, aside from his initial introduction when Jonathon Harker spends considerable time in conversation with the Count. Then, when the introductory meetings have concluded, he becomes a shadowy figure of unknown whereabouts and means. The reader never knows more than the protagonists, and the tension increases accordingly. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">For gamers, Stokerâs novel is a must read. The characters are well formed and provide potent archetypes for players in horror campaigns. Dracula himself is the icon of the âbig badâ or main villain in a campaign and Stokerâs masterful handling of his villain provides a GM with both inspiration and specific ideas. And the lessons do not only apply to running vampire villains. Finally, the literary device of journals and letters can be gainfully borrowed by role playing campaigns regardless of genre. Having your players write letters or journal entries between sessions is a certain way to increase roleplaying and atmosphere.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stoker's novel has long been in the public domain and can be found in many places. Several versions are available on <a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Dracula&submit_search=Search" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Project Gutenberg</a> and on <a href="https://librivox.org/search?q=Dracula&search_form=advanced" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LibriVox</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stokerâs original novel is a lush cornucopia of fear, lust, courage, and love. A rainy October day spent reading </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dracula</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is time horrifically well spent. </span></p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-84412851645022860752022-09-19T08:23:00.002-07:002023-09-12T12:58:23.327-07:00My History Talks<p> <i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">This is more crass self-promotion, but if I don't promote myself my voice just dies unheard in the wilderness. Perhaps its proper fate but anyway... I thought a post letting people know where to find my talks and interviews might be of interest. I'll up date this as I give more talks and interviews. </p><p class="MsoNormal">These are all talks on historical subjects, that were recorded and have been preserved on the web, I've given many talks over the years that were unrecorded. </p><h3>Presentations:</h3><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viWAmNnspAI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">âMountain Storm: Counter-insurgency and the Marine Air-Ground Task Forceâ</a> Presented at <i>Landpower Conference</i> sponsored by the US Army War College, December 2-4, 2015</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">The following three talks were all given at the </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.hmgs.org/mpage/HconHome" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Historicon</a></b></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;"> War College in July 2019. Videos of most of the other presentations can be found </span><a href="https://www.hmgs.org/page/warcollege" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: medium;">. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/436777749?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=108533608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Firepower & Mobility - </a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/436777749?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=108533608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Archery in Ancient Warfare"</a> - </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Examining the role of archery in ancient warfare in the Mediterranean and Europe, including the factors that encouraged, and discouraged, missile warfare in societies.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/390873055?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=108533608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"</a></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/390873055?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=108533608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The History of War Gaming"</a> - The history of war gaming from its earliest days in the ancient world through computer simulations, focusing on the ways commercial wargames and military training wargames have inspired each other.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/436777592?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=108533608" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Ethical War gaming: A Discussion"</a> - A discussion on how best to deal with ethical âlandminesâ; such as wargaming groups like the SS; or, when is it âtoo soonâ to wargame a conflict?</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Interviews & Podcasts:</span></h3><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7G4KQO34GQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">125th Anniversary of the Battle of Cuzco Well</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I provided the narration and historical content for this Marine Corps video commemorating the Battle of Cuzco Well. </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSidYUbobBE&list=PL8kuV_0VXfnhkZXdYrWSlQjuic2UyfCg3&index=5&t=2s" target="_blank">"Giants Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Transforming the Marine Corps"</a></span></div><div><div><br /></div><div>A talk about the transition of the Marine Corps from colonial infantry at the end of World War I in 1918 to an amphibious force at the start of World War II on Dec. 7, 1941. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFSeRX7Bp4&list=PL8kuV_0VXfnhkZXdYrWSlQjuic2UyfCg3&index=6" target="_blank">"Remembering Marine Valor at Pearl Harbor"</a></div><p class="MsoNormal">A short talk on Maj. Alan Shapley and 1st Lt. George Cannon, two officers among the many Marines cited for gallantry during the surprise attacks at Pearl Harbor and Midway on Dec. 7, 1941.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eagles-globes-and-anchors-20-maritime-strategic-thought/id1445051974?i=1000456744982&fbclid=IwAR0mds3ulx5ZsFyLqZ7Q5y6AAKPq8iFqwg6L9MEMBvBw0os8BIPRdGr1Cic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Eagles, Globes, and Anchors â 20.Maritime Strategic Thought"</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breanne Robertson and I were interviewed about the book we co-edited, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Legacy of American Naval Power: Reinvigorating Maritime Strategic Thought, an Anthology </i>(2019). </p><p class="MsoNormal">I was interviewed for the <i><a href="https://seminolewars.podbean.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seminole Wars</a></i> podcast about the Marine corps' involvement in those conflicts. The long interview was split into two podcasts:</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://seminolewars.podbean.com/e/sw096-marines-gain-sea-legs-in-the-us-frigate-navy-engaged-british-pirates-creeks-and-seminole-on-florida-s-early-1800s-gulf-coast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"SW0106 Marines Earned Sea Legs in the US Frigate Navy; Engaged British, Pirates, Creeks and Seminole on Floridaâs Early 1800s Gulf Coast"</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://seminolewars.podbean.com/e/sw097marines-escapeandrew-jacksons-wrath-with-timelyflorida-war-deploymentshowgreatvalue-onlandand-in-swamps-of-second-seminole-war-battle-sites/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"SW0107 Marines Escape Andrew Jacksonâs Wrath with Timely Florida War Deployment; Show Great Value on Land/Swamps in Second Seminole War"</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-39091501349257590022022-09-04T14:27:00.004-07:002023-10-14T14:00:09.372-07:00The Rings of Power & Understanding Tolkien's works<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pod.museoteca.com/oxford/api_getimage.jsp?pic_origin_id=00402&w=2000&h=2000" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="603" height="400" src="https://pod.museoteca.com/oxford/api_getimage.jsp?pic_origin_id=00402&w=2000&h=2000" width="302" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://museoteca.com/r/en/work/7367/j_r_r_tolkien/halls_of_manwe_on_the_mountains_of_the_world_above_faerie/!/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Halls of Manwe on the Mountains <br />of the World above Faerie"<br /> by J.R.R. Tolkien</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div> Well, I tried to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. I had to give up after about ten minutes, because it was very clear that the series was not based on Tolkien's work in any meaningful name.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wanted to like this show. I was open to the idea of it. I think a good show telling the story of how Sauron created the Rings and corrupted Numenor could be told based on the outline Tolkien provided. Unfortunately, that isn't going to be this show. <br /><p>I want to be clear, I have no comments or complaints on the casting and the race of the actors involved is inconsequential. Discussion of the skin tone of dwarves or elves is simply a distraction. </p><p>The show rewrites vast amounts of the back story of Middle Earth, and that fundamentally changes the nature of Middle Earth and the tales told of it. The journey of the elves from Valinor to Middle Earth has different motives and backgrounds, and the background and history of the elves themselves is clearly different. The personal histories of Galadriel and her brother were altered dramatically. And the Valar, who give their name to Valinor, were not mentioned at all. </p><p>In short, within ten minutes the producers showed quickly that they had no respect for Tolkien's work, nor did they feel any obligation to remain true to it, whatever they might claim while promoting their series. </p><p>This has been common for Tolkien adaptions over the years. In the 1960s an obscure loophole in U.S. copyright law at the time allowed <a href="https://wearethemutants.com/2016/09/23/and-in-the-darkness-bind-them/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an American publisher to print unauthorized copies of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> in paperback.</a> Tolkien and his publishers responded in various ways, most famously, Tolkien wrote the following for the covers of the authorized, newly copyrighted editions they rushed into print: "This paperback edition, and no other, has been published with my consent and cooperation. Those who approve of courtesy (at least) to living authors will purchase it and no other." The situations are not completely analogous but they are similar enough, in my opinion, that I shall apply the same remedy.</p><p>I will not watch any more of this show. </p><p>In his forward to the second edition of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, Tolkien said, "Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.â I find I cannot take Tolkien's even-handed approach. Frankly, I wish it didn't exist. Whether it is a success or a failure, it will prevent other Tolkien adaptions from being made. I see no positives from this, only a furtherance of the mediocrity of thought and art which characterizes so much corporate media these days. </p><p>For those who wish to understand more of Tolkien's vision away from the show, I do have some suggestions. You should start by reading <i>The Hobbit</i>, <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>, and <i>The Silmarillion</i>. There is no substitute for reading his works, of course. I have always found them life changing. </p><p>However, there is an overwhelming amount of material by Tolkien and about Tolkien, Middle Earth criticism can be a very confusing field. I'm a Tolkien enthusiast rather then a true expert by my own estimation, but there are three shorter works of his that I believe are the key to really understanding what he was trying to do. </p><p>Two of these are his two landmark scholarly lectures, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Fairy-Stories" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"On Fairy-Stories"</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf:_The_Monsters_and_the_Critics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics"</a>. They explain Tolkien's views on the purpose of fantasy writing and fiction in general. The third work is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_by_Niggle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Leaf by Niggle"</a>, a short story that is the closest thing to a deliberate allegory which Tolkien ever wrote, and is his most autobiographical work. These three, relatively short works will help anyone who is interested and willing to put some work into it to understand not only Tolkien's own works, but it will help them understand all fiction, drama, and literature.</p><p>Reading Tolkien's original works is a soul-enriching activity in my opinion. Read some of his works rather then watching this new show. It is time much better spent.</p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-23520251364033624272022-02-28T21:02:00.001-08:002022-04-09T06:12:34.360-07:00Introduction to The Nations at War & the Russo-Ukrainian War<p> I mentioned in an earlier <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/04/blogging-nations-at-war-i.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">post</a> that <i>The Nations at War </i>by Willis John Abbot (New York, Leslie-Judge Co., 1917) had a profound impact on my early development as a historian. And I began blogging the work chapter by chapter, but sadly I have not kept up with that and haven't written about it in well over a year. The current conflict brought the work to mind again, however. Not only because the roots of the conflict go back to the First World War and beyond, but because I have always found the introduction to be particularly interesting, and it seems relevant today. </p><p>It is hard for us to recall now, but there had not been a major land war in Europe in four decades when the first World War broke out. The continent had been at peace for a remarkably long period. Many thinkers claimed that war between modern, industrialized nations was impossible. The war surprised many people (though many others had expected, even craved, a conflict).</p><p>In his introduction Willis Abbot, the journalist author of the work, explained why so many thought a major war impossible in 1914:</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNOeCcGH48bY_mGJYjOG4tTGhYqoP6OefZkFLdF4pPFnnAYBdR_HP4L4CGHgkNKYzkyCxP9CeYVnMyMAIMcsbAx_xZAyXz6w3N-Bu2RhKaC-qt6HnHHPlgsKrImnyoEfaCIVa5d9d4czEymCS6kTU6g4Ei9d0ct5cDI8RpsC25SsrRswoRIllOaXuF8g=s565" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="410" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNOeCcGH48bY_mGJYjOG4tTGhYqoP6OefZkFLdF4pPFnnAYBdR_HP4L4CGHgkNKYzkyCxP9CeYVnMyMAIMcsbAx_xZAyXz6w3N-Bu2RhKaC-qt6HnHHPlgsKrImnyoEfaCIVa5d9d4czEymCS6kTU6g4Ei9d0ct5cDI8RpsC25SsrRswoRIllOaXuF8g=w290-h400" width="290" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: start;">The Nations at War: A Current History <br /></i><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: small; text-align: start;">by Willis John Abbot<br />(New York, Leslie-Judge Co., 1917)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><i>"FOR YEARS wise men had said that there could be no general European war. Despite the menace of<br /> rival armaments they thought that the financial ties which bound all nations together were stronger than the political differences which tended to bring them into conflict. The tremendous power of international capital and credit exerted in every land and operating as a unit would certainly check any wasteful war. The bankers controlling the money and credit of the world would suppress the war-like ambitions of the crowned heads by locking up their strong-boxes.</i><p></p><p><i>So the wise men thought. But the event showed the bankers bowing low to the will of Kaiser, King, Emperor, and President. Not only did they lend more than twenty billions to the belligerents in the first two years of the war, but stood ready to lend more and moreâfor a price.</i></p><p><i>The world thought public opinion would check the war at the outset. Nobody wanted warâexcept those in high place who alone had the power to make or to avert it. But before public opinion could be expressed the invading columns were on the march, the guns were thundering and the heavy hand of military authority stilled any sound of public protest.</i></p><p><i>Men thought there would be no war because International Socialism would reduce the belligerent governments to impotence. For years the world had been told that the cause of labor was international, that the workingman's struggle against capitalism was the same in France as in Germany, in Italy as in Austria. With this greater warfare in progress, involving the well-being of the workingmen of all the world, no working man would be deluded into taking up arms against his fellows who happened to speak a different tongue or render fealty to a foreign state.</i></p><p><i>But at the test the internationalism of labor vanished as had the internationalism of capital.</i></p><p><i>A long war was impossible, we were told, because the greater destructiveness of modern weapons would make it impossible for human beings to sustain the shock of conflict. Every inventor of a new and peculiarly effective device for wholesale murder, for long time past, had been assuring the world that his first thought in inventing it had been to make war so horrible, so ruinous, that it would be abandoned in horror.</i></p><p><i>War, thereupon, responded to this theory by stimulating the invention of, and eagerly using asphyxiating gas, liquid fire, lachrymal bombs, armored tractors that crushed the wounded in their path while mowing down platoons of men with their perfectly protected machine guns. Aircraft were perfectedâ mainly that they might rain bombs upon inoffensive civilians; hospitals and schools being favorite targets. The submarine was developed to a point that outdid the imagination of Jules Verne and was employed largely to sink helpless merchantmen, often with utter disregard for the lives of their passengers whether belligerent or neutral.</i></p><p><i>One by one the forces which the world had relied upon to avert the calamity of a general war were swept away. The ties of finance, of commerce, of mutual interest, of common humanity, even of a common religion were broken. One War Lord, most vociferous of all in the claim that God was especially enlisted under his eagles, did not scruple to ally his Christian nation with the Turk, and exerted every influence to stir up all Islam to waging a Holy War on the Christian peoples of the world.</i></p><p><i>The lessons of this war should be political, not military. The world should learn not how to make perfect the art of devastating countries and slaughtering enemies but how to prevent the need, or the excuse for either."</i></p><p>The implied horror that Germany would side with an Islamic state and turn a jihad upon other "Christian" nations is a sign of those times. But sadly many of the reasons he gives for the failure of peace seem sadly appropriate today. It would be easy to read this, and look at the last few weeks and despair. But I hope people do not do so.</p><p>Because people did try to learn the lessons Abbot is talking about. They tried to put practical plans into effect, first with the League of Nations, and when that failed they tried again with the United Nations. And humans have tried again and again to add more frameworks for talk instead of war for resolving national differences. And there has been progress. The world has become more and more peaceful over the past decades. The shock of this invasion highlights that - it seems impossible to us all, because we have succeeded in reducing war. </p><p> Not everywhere or for everyone, sadly. And it is very easy, when one sees the dead children of the Ukraine, or Syria, or Iraq, or Afghanistan... well, it is so easy to despair. </p><p>Please do not despair. Yes, we have failed to end war. That is not because man is inherently weak or wicked, it is because the problem is very, very hard. It requires humans to understand one another, and understanding another mind is the most difficult thing in the world. It requires trust and empathy, and those have always been in short supply. It has always been easier to destroy then to build.</p><p>After the First World War we tried to fix things, and made them just a bit better. And after the Second World War we did the same. When the Cold War ended we took another step, and the world improved again just a bit. </p><p>I don't like to make predictions, the minds that are directing events are closed to me. But I do predict this, this war will end, and then we will again work to make things better. And eventually we will succeed at that. </p><p>Just do not despair. </p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-67316525368085151532022-02-27T08:15:00.002-08:002022-02-28T20:24:32.152-08:00Today's Thoughts on Russia's Invasion of the Ukraine<p>My Phd advisor and mentor, Dr John F Guilmartin (one of the wisest military historians I have ever known), often said there is no such thing as an unwinnable war, nor is there such a thing as an unlosable war. Many expect the Ukraine to fall within days despite their fierce defense to date. I make no predictions either way, there are simply too many variables. </p><p>Russia's aggression of the Ukraine has been predictable for many years, though I can't think of any foreign policy pundits who thought it would get this aggressive and this dangerous. In large part because the slow, methodical hybrid war the Russians have practiced under Putin has been very successful. With this one move, Putin has gambled all of his successes over the past decades.</p><p>Now, he seems to be escalating to the nuclear option in response to sanctions. I think we need to dust off some of our WWIII escalation models of the 1980s - I'm seeing some disturbing parallels here. </p><p>This is why I prefer history. It is far less terrifying to analyze cause and effect when the outcome is already known, and the dead are already dead. </p><p>God, save the Ukraine and the rest of us. </p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-59227432245329911222022-01-17T15:28:00.003-08:002022-12-12T10:44:48.010-08:00Some thoughts on Socrates & Plato<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/The_Debate_Of_Socrates_And_Aspasia_(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="787" height="325" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/The_Debate_Of_Socrates_And_Aspasia_(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Debate_Of_Socrates_And_Aspasia_(2).jpg" target="_blank"><i>The Debate of Socrates and Aspasia</i> by Nicolas-AndrĂ© Monsiau.</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><i><br /></i></div><div><i>We cannot help but see Socrates as the turning-point, the vortex of world history.</i></div><div>âFriedrich Nietzsche, in <i>The Birth of Tragedy </i>(1872), p. 73</div>
<br />
I really enjoyed my <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/some-works-of-cs-lewis.html" target="_blank">'deep dive' into CS Lewis</a> and his fiction during the summer of 2019. I decided to do something similar in the summer of 2020, looking at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates" target="_blank">Socrates</a> & <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" target="_blank">Plato</a>. It turned out to be a more difficult project, not in terms of reading but in terms of getting my head around the subject. In the end, I limited myself to Socrates, looking at Plato beyond his role as Socrates' recorder was just too much for a summer. My plan was to read some of the dialogues, some of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes" target="_blank">Aristophanes</a>' plays in which they appear, and some biographies. I intended to focus on Socrates and Plato as people, their thinking on rhetoric, and reexamining my past in-depth readings in the dialogues, which were 30 years ago. <br />
<br /><div>I started my Summer of Socrates by reading Rosamond K Sprague's edition of <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Laches-Charmides-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/087220135X/ref=sr_1_3?qid=1641823666&refinements=p_27%3ARosamond+Kent+Sprague&s=books&sr=1-3&text=Rosamond+Kent+Sprague" target="_blank">Plato: Laches and Charmides</a></b></i>, which I still had from my days as an undergrad. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed <i>Laches.</i> <i>Charmides</i> was more shocking, as I had forgotten how blatant it is about Socrates' <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>homosexuality (the dialogue is framed as Socrates trying to seduce a young man noted for his beauty - but note other sources argue Socrates restrained himself from sex). Also, it takes place at a <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaestra" target="_blank">palaestra</a></i>, reminding me that, somewhat ironically, Socrates and Plato were both jocks.</div><div><br /></div><div>[Edit: The homosexuality isn't shocking. What shocked me was how bawdy and blatant it was, the "locker room" of it. It would have been equally shocking if Socrates was drooling over a young woman. This level of bawdiness wouldn't be out of place in one of Aristophanes' plays, but just felt odd in a Socratic dialogue - which undoubtedly says something about me, because I had read this dialogue before and I should not have been surprised by it.]</div><div><div><br /></div><div>Rereading these really highlighted a couple things for me. One, is that language impacts this even more then usual. I compared two different translations, an old, 19th century translation and Sprague's much newer one. There were definite differences that impacted Plato's meaning. The modern translation made the sexual connotations of Socrates' interest in Charmides more apparent. I would like to know more about the exact Greek word used for 'courage' and what shades of meaning it has. In <i>Charmides</i>, the virtue being defined is usually translated as 'temperance', but the actual Greek word is '<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophrosyne" target="_blank">sophrosyne</a></i>' which clearly means much more then temperance or even moderation. In both cases it is clear the goal is not to define that one virtue, but to define Virtue itself. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was also struck by how much lack of context left the works untethered historically. The 'characters' in the dialogues are all historical personages, prominent Athenians whose reputations are supposed to inform our understanding of the dialogue. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicias" target="_blank">Nicias</a> was one of the commanders of the infamous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Expedition" target="_blank">Sicilian expedition</a> renowned for his caution. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches_(general)" target="_blank">Laches</a> was one of the commanders who lost the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mantinea_(418_BC)" target="_blank">Battle of Mantinea</a>. In <i>Charmides</i>, both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmides" target="_blank">Charmides</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critias" target="_blank">Critias</a> were infamous as members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Tyrants" target="_blank">30 Tyrants</a>. None of this is mentioned in either dialogue. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>I then turned to another of my old undergrad works, <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lysistrata-Acharnians-Clouds-Aristophanes/dp/B001KMEB8Y?fbclid=IwAR0wWTWt_rsKF_KvwioHHNf_czPz9jVDvjyD_7Sck5OpAabK7kbknbTHBmg" target="_blank">Aristophanes: Lysistrata/The Archanians/The Clouds</a></b></i>, translated by Alan Sommerstein. I love Aristophanes' plays, which are earthy, funny, and really help you see how the Athenians were real people (who liked dirty jokes), humanizing them in ways that are often needed as our study of the past can transform them into metaphorical marble statues. Only <i>The Clouds</i> dealt specifically with Socrates, and I'd forgotten how annoyed The Clouds made me, because the Socrates who appears within that work is so utterly different from the Socrates we find in Plato's dialogues, literally espousing opposite opinions. But it is important to see how his contemporaries viewed him.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I turned next to <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Why-Socrates-Died-Dispelling-Myths/dp/0393065278/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR24Kq6j0RQka_P1DYaPWim-BsmrCzsqmUYJ4T0g6BrBDQpPvHeCCVjho2c" target="_blank">Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths</a></b></i> by Robin Waterfield. This work challenged by preconceptions of Socrates and helped me put him firmly back into the context of his life, within Athenian history. It was well written and often convincing. For example, his description of Athenian religion placed the impiety charge of which Socrates was convicted in its proper context, reminding us that religion and patriotism were linked in Athens (it is still dominating our political thought today). </div><div><br /></div><div>The weakest section of the book was a long digression into Athenian politics and Alcibiades where Socrates barely appears at all. It provides context, but a work on Socrates should not have long stretches with no mention of the philosopher. Waterfield's interesting twist is that he makes a case that Socrates' conviction and execution were, by Athenian standards of the day, justified. It boils down to what one thinks of Socrates' role, if any, in the rule of the the 30 Tyrants. Plato, <a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/seventh_letter.html" target="_blank">writing long after the fact</a>, positioned Socrates as a foe of the Tyrants, but in the same source he mentions that many of them were friends and relatives of Plato (and friends and students of Socrates as well). As Waterfield points out, that is hardly a convincing case, and it is easy to see how Socrates could be associated with Tyrants. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then Waterfield pivots again at the very end, this time to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thargelia" target="_blank">Thargelia</a>. This reminds us that not only was Athenian society steeped in religion in ways we find difficult to understand (as permeated by religion as modern America is by commercialism) but also that ancient religion was literally blood soaked, even "rational" Athens still practiced essentially human sacrifice (though perhaps it was ceremonial). This ends the work with the idea that Socrates is just a scapegoat, that his trial is similar to the Thargelia if less ritualized. </div><div><br /></div><div>I found myself with new questions after reading Waterfield's work, I wondered if Socrates SHOULD bear some blame for Alcibiades, Critias, and the Thirty Tyrants. Did his teachings lead some to mass murder? His defenders, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon" target="_blank">Xenophon</a> and Plato, argued after the fact he was not connected to their excesses but obviously biased defenses long after the fact should not be wholly convincing. I tried to deeply rethink my understanding of Socrates -- perhaps he drank the hemlock cup because he knew he deserved it. But perhaps not, as a friend pointed out to me, Socrates' teachings do not really support their actions. In the <span style="font-style: italic;">Meno</span>, for example, he "shows that the non-citizen slave - with the right training - is just as capable of the Socratic method as a free citizen." The more I consider it, the less convinced I am of any of Waterfield's arguments. </div><div><br /></div><div>The next book in my deep dive didn't help much. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Platos-Republic-Audiobook/B002V1NXDW?qid=1598563217&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=7KRQ2BNRG5W2511MQ7K2" target="_blank"><i>Plato's Republic</i> by Simon Blackburn</a> was not a<br /> history at all, but an analysis of Plato's ideas by someone who doesn't really like Plato very much. A useful corrective, as Plato does get more then his share of hero worship but he allowed his own real-world politics into the mix too often.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>My final book for the project was <a href="https://www.bettanyhughes.co.uk/the-hemlock-cup" target="_blank"><i>The Hemlock Cup</i> by Bettany Hughes</a>. It is the best of the works I've read to date. It is a detailed history that frames the tale with his trial and execution (apparently that is irresistible to his biographers) but what Hughes highlights that Socrates is really 'donut' subject - tons of information available on the people and world around Socrates, but he himself is absent because he left no writings (the parallels with Jesus are striking). In order to counter this absence, Hughes focuses on the archaeology, recreating Athens at each stage of Socrates' life as he would have seen and interacted with it, while inserting the documentary evidence we do have. It is brilliant, a technique I shall have to remember if faced with a similar donut subject myself in the future. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>The Hemlock Cup</b></i> was a very good read, I definitely think I understand Socrates better having read it. It certainly gave me a better perspective and understanding when I turned to the final book in my Socratic 'deep dive': <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335" target="_blank"><i>Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo</i> translated by G.M.A. Grube</a>. This is another reread of my undergrad textbooks, and it was interesting reading these dialogue translations after my previous readings. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>I was particularly struck by this bit: "Finally, I went to the craftsmen. For I was conscious of knowing practically nothing and I knew that I would find they had knowledge of many fine things. In this I was not mistaken ⊠the good craftsmen seemed to me to have the same fault as the poets: each of them, because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits, and this error overshadowed the wisdom they had." (Plato, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apology_(Plato)" target="_blank">Apology</a></i>, 22.D) This reminds me a great deal of STEM types who assume history or other Humanities are 'easy' and blithely make pronouncements about those areas of studies despite their own relative ignorance.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest takeaway I have from this "deep dive" is a better understanding of my personal ignorance regarding Socrates and Plato, as well our collective ignorance of Socrates character and thoughts. This is known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_problem" target="_blank">Socratic Problem</a>, and it has dogged scholars and philosophers for hundreds of years. Socrates left us no writings of his own, nor any hints of things he wrote that other writers mention. All we have are the writings of a few people who knew him personally. Of these, Aristophanes' comedies are the only contemporary writings. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, wrote extensively about him, but they wrote long after he was dead. Thus the "donut" status mentioned above. The broad consensus is that earlier Platonic dialogues are close to Socrates' authentic thoughts, especially when the match what is said of him in other sources. In later writings, like <i>The Republic</i>, Plato is using Socrates as a character to express his own philosophies. </div><div><br /></div><div>My "deep dive" into Socrates and Plato had shifted quite a bit as I delved into it. First, it was immediately clear the topic was way too huge for one summer of study, even for a cursory examination. So I abandoned Plato to focus on Socrates, who had always fascinated me more. But even Socrates on his own was far to large of a subject, and in the end, after a perfunctory look at his wider views, I was led by the books I read to focus on his place in Athenian politics and society. I didn't come to many firm conclusions -- like so many of mankind's most influential thinkers much of his life remains shrouded in the unknowable -- but I learned a great deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Considering that many of mankind's greatest minds have grappled with Socrates and come to no firmer conclusions then I did after my light summer reading exploration, I'm fairly content with my conclusions. </div><div><br /></div><div>Last summer I was too buried in research and writing to do a "deep dive" on any subject other then my work. But I certainly hope I have an opportunity to do one this summer. </div>
<br />
<i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-79142360537054306072022-01-01T22:41:00.004-08:002022-11-03T06:17:00.362-07:00What I read in 2021<p>Three years ago, a friend of mine posted a list of the books they had read in 2018, I thought it was a great idea so I've been posting such a list myself, first on Facebook, now on my blog. I find it a very useful exercise in self-reflection - though I suspect my kids see it as another example of my narcissism. đ</p><p>Also, if anyone else makes such lists, I'd love to see them. Feel free to share the lists, or links to your lists, in the comments.đ</p><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/tomorrow-world-john-biggins.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="500" src="https://historicalnovelsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/tomorrow-world-john-biggins.jpg" width="324" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking over this year's list (see below), these trends stood out:<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Rereads: 23 (I've marked rereads below with an *)</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Military History reads: 9 </span></div><div># of fantasy works: 30<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># by or about Tolkien: 4</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Forgotten Realms: 4</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Marine reads: 3</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Frigate Navy period reads: 12</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Thieves' World & related: 1</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"># Matter of Britain works: 1</span></div><div>#Moorcock works: 7</div><div># of Flashman & Prohaska reads: 6<br /><div># of holiday reads: 7<br /><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Some negative trends I noticed - far less Tolkien, <i>Thieves World</i>, and Matter of Britain (King Arthur) then has been usual for me and really no mythology works. I went especially hard on all of those the past two years, so I suppose that is why there are fewer reads here. My "deep dive" into Socrates and Plato in Summer 2020 wasn't matched with a similar deep dive of any sort this past summer, in part because I took over a year to post <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/05/some-thoughts-on-socrates-plato.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the blog entry on Socrates and Plato</a>. I might do another of those deep dives in the future though, especially if work and family life calm down. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>I have fewer books here, just like last year, I think that is primarily due to the pandemic, I get a lot of reading down on the train when I commute, and I have been working at home more. I kinda hope that regular office hours will be back soon so my reading will again increase. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I expected to read a lot of Mexican War and Seminole War, as well as other Frigate Navy periods works for my ongoing book project and I did. Of course, I actually read far more books then are listed here for that (easily 100+ separate books not counting articles and primary sources will be cited in its notes) but I didn't include "graduate student reads" here, only books that I sat and read cover to cover and fully digested. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also finished the full Prohaska series, which I adored. I wish there were more of those books. I also finished </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">the Elric series, and the first Corum trilogy, rereading both decades later was interesting. I finally read the two latest volumes from Jim Butcher's <i>Dresden Files</i> as well. The best surprise was the <i>Johannes Cabal</i> series, I still have one more book in that series which will help me kick off 2022. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking forward, I still want to read Ken Follett's Century trilogy, but it is going to be very time consuming so </span>I've<span style="font-family: inherit;"> been putting it off. I expect to do some travelling in the spring, that might be a good time to start. I've also had a yearning to reread the Harry Potter series, but I've been resisting because there are so many new works to read. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also want to reread the latter <i>Thieves World</i> books. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">More historical fiction, along the lines of Flashman and Prohaska are almost certainly in my future. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div>I reread the exact same number of books this year, 23, as last. I'm fairly comfortable with that number, especially since many were books I had read 20, 30, or even 40 years ago. I have slipped in my annual Tolkien rereads a bit, and I am comfortable with that, since I am still reading at least one of his works a year. I do want to read more new books, but I think this year's balance was about right. Rereading always reveals new details that didn't connect the first time through, but I also love being surprised by new stories.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond that, I have fewer plans for my reading next year then this year. My current book project will be in the stage where the writing is refined, and I don't want to get locked in yet on what my next book will be, I don't want to get focused on one subject when I might need to get myself excited about a different subject and time period.</div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b>What I read in 2021:</b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>1. </span><a href="http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight,_Pearl_and_Sir_Orfeo" target="_blank">JRR Tolkien, <i>Sir Gawain and the Green Knight</i></a>*</div><div>2. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/1812-The-Navys-War-Audiobook/B005S1A7K4?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=ACD42YWPYECSAGE7KTR0" target="_blank"><i>1812: The Navy's War</i>, George C. Daughan</a></div><div>3. <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Rising_Tide" target="_blank"><i>Rising Tide: The Threat from the Sea Book I</i> by Mel Odom</a>* </div><div>4. <i><a href="https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/collect/wo1812-bseries.html" target="_blank">The U.S. Army Campaigns of the War of 1812</a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://history.army.mil/html/books/074/74-2/cmhPub_74-2_Lg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="300" height="460" src="https://history.army.mil/html/books/074/74-2/cmhPub_74-2_Lg.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /></i></div><div>5. <i><a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Under_Fallen_Stars" target="_blank">Under Fallen Stars: The Threat from the Sea Book II</a></i> by Mel Odom</div><div>6. <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Realms_of_the_Deep" target="_blank"><i>Realms of the Deep: The Threat from the Sea</i>, edited by Philip Athans</a>*</div><div>7. <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sea_Devil%27s_Eye" target="_blank"><i>The Sea Devil's Eye: The Threat from the Sea</i></a> by Mel Odom*</div><div>8. <a href="https://www.tor.com/2013/08/23/elric-reread-weird-of-the-white-wolf/" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The Weird of the White Wolf</i></a>*</div><div>9. <a href="https://www.tor.com/2013/09/06/elric-reread-sleeping-sorceress-vanishing-tower/" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The Vanishing Tower</i></a>*</div><div>10. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Flashman-and-Madisons-War-Audiobook/B07MR63DPY?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=A7WY39C97WYN60KYZKFK" target="_blank">Robert Brightwell, <i>Flashman and Madison's War</i></a></div><div>11. <a href="https://www.tor.com/2013/10/04/elric-reread-bane-of-the-black-sword/" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The Bane of the Black Sword</i></a>*</div><div>12. <a href="https://www.tor.com/2013/10/18/elric-reread-stormbringer/" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>Stormbringer</i></a>*</div><div><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Knight-of-the-Swords-Dramatized-Adaptation-Audiobook/1648816797?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=JEHWT5X7PR8AP45XZCB4" target="_blank">13. Michael Moorcock, <i>The Knight of Swords</i>*</a></div><div>14. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Queen-of-the-Swords-Dramatized-Adaptation-Audiobook/1648816800?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=JEHWT5X7PR8AP45XZCB4" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The Queen of Swords</i>*</a></div><div>15. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-King-of-the-Swords-Dramatized-Adaptation-Audiobook/1648816819?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=JEHWT5X7PR8AP45XZCB4" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The King of Swords</i>*</a></div><div>16. <a href="https://www.americanheritage.com/artist-treason-extraordinary-double-life-general-james-wilkinson-andro-linklater" target="_blank">Andros Linklater, <i>An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Life of General James Wilkinson</i></a></div><div>17. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lightning-night-Fred-Allhoff/dp/0135365570" target="_blank">Fred Allhoff, <i>Lightning in the Night</i></a></div><div>18. <a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/ru-emerson/against-giants.htm" target="_blank">Ru Emerson, </a><i><a href="https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/ru-emerson/against-giants.htm" target="_blank">Against the Giants</a>* </i></div><div>19.<i> </i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Unfinished-Tales-Audiobook/0008371113?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=EW8RWPFEB1GK259YWHDJ" target="_blank">JRR Tolkien.<i> Unfinished Tales</i></a>*</div><div>20. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Peace-Talks-Audiobook/0593290704?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=X95HJHS0V9GMZF423QJE" target="_blank"><i>Peace Talks</i>, Jim Butcher</a></div><div>21. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Battle-Ground-Audiobook/0593343050?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=J4ENWHJDPVE5MQ2FMZ70" target="_blank"><i>Battle Ground</i>, Jim Butcher</a></div><div>22. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_with_a_Clock_in_Its_Walls" target="_blank"><i>The House with a Clock in its Walls</i>, John Bellairs</a></div><div>23. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Wish" target="_blank"><i>The Last Wish</i>, Andrzej Sapkowski</a></div><div>24. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Life-and-Times-of-the-Thunderbolt-Kid-Audiobook/B002V57Z3C?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=fd324a4f-488e-4a24-a1a8-462a3e819d7b&pf_rd_r=SQMEQTP3XX18HSNSAKGZ" target="_blank"><i>The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir</i>, Bill Bryson</a></div><div>25. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1847679196?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details" target="_blank"><i>The Complete Brigadier Gerard Stories</i> by Arthur Conan Doyle</a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9780316362832.jpg?fit=434%2C675" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="434" height="320" src="https://www.littlebrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/9780316362832.jpg?fit=434%2C675" width="206" /></a></div><br />26. <a href="https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/maximilian-uriarte/the-white-donkey-terminal-lance/9780316362832/" target="_blank"><i>The White Donkey: Terminal Lance</i>, Maximilian Uriarte</a></div><div>27. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Horatio-Hornblower-Biography-ebook/dp/B06WRV61YD/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Biography%20horatio%20hornblower&qid=1626796181&sr=8-3&fbclid=IwAR3UCtFFvUiTDv_mRhE6PdcRqz1yQoPGBLU3PzUOKvfb-CiwYYVYNQ2B5LQ" target="_blank"><i>The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower</i> by C. Northcote Parkinson</a></div><div>28. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Sailor-of-Austria-Audiobook/B073NV55S9?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=fd324a4f-488e-4a24-a1a8-462a3e819d7b&pf_rd_r=7GZE6FFR4DNM01DV2FV4&fbclid=IwAR0npWf1tcIIGzVbV-kxPMlNwrVrDd2mHJoVvuTA0Rncb09kAGFf9KZzn2o" target="_blank"><i>A Sailor of Austria</i> by John Biggins</a></div><div>29. <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Achtung-Schweinehund-Harry-Pearson/dp/0349115680/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g4368549507?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR3ur_R-5r4fEOyDStKswhs4EURSpD2Ydx282n0MDGr3dgIIOVh2EWQ1l1k" target="_blank"><i>Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat</i> by Harry Pearson</a></div><div>30. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Two-Headed-Eagle-Audiobook/B07DNGQ4XZ?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=PYJTPFR309JGJTCXG2FG" target="_blank"><i>The Two-Headed Eagle</i> by John Biggins</a>*</div><div>31. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Man-and-His-God-Audiobook/B00BEJ7LI0?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=Y8Q6NMVG5Q0CBMG8JHCG" target="_blank">"A Man and His God" by Janet Morris</a>*</div><div>32.<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Training-Ground-Sherman-Mexican-1846-1848/dp/0803228120/ref=asc_df_0803228120/?tag=&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343242926153&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11890054291881120968&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1027027&hvtargid=pla-420243257662&psc=1&ref=&adgrpid=67797265423&fbclid=IwAR2JNTtjftxYBosHPgLU_oCikXiWwJjtz9qWywUjbDW47gqq_BaU1YnULxE" target="_blank"><i>The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848</i> by Martin Dugard </a></div><div>33. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Flash-for-Freedom-Audiobook/B00A28T0K6?qid=1630182806&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=83218cca-c308-412f-bfcf-90198b687a2f&pf_rd_r=R15111ES93VGAZPGM6C2" target="_blank"><i>Flash for Freedom</i> by George MacDonald Fraser</a>*</div><div>34. <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674244740&fbclid=IwAR1E1ovmxeWtFfQB_tuoIEZZ7z1fB-bd61B6bmxO6d4WP-v0yHzT4wG7lE8" target="_blank"><i>The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War</i> by Peter Guardino</a></div><div>35. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Messenger-Destiny-California-Adventures-1846-1847/dp/B000YYPTVC?fbclid=IwAR3AyU9M7tdMJaT24fi0VY3CADmYdGO9w7QBkfYkULs-DHOMJxNzc96RjWk" target="_blank"><i>Messenger of Destiny: The California Adventures, 1846-1847 of Archibald H. Gillespie, U. S. Marine Corps</i> by Werner H. Marti</a></div><div>36. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_and_the_Redskins" target="_blank"><i>Flashman and the Redskins</i> by George MacDonald Fraser</a>*</div><div>37. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Sandman-Audiobook/B086WP794Z?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=V01NNR99EDXVSYV3DXRN&fbclid=IwAR3PVUiMR6Sj3GrJLsxmxGp_S1AeeCNryS7FyBzg1AfKC4nsfJKn0JqKkNw" target="_blank"><i>The Sandman: Book 1</i> by Neil Gaimen</a></div><div>38. <a href="https://librivox.org/ghost-stories-of-an-antiquary-by-m-r-james/" target="_blank"><i>Ghost Stories of an Antiquary</i> by M. R. James</a>*</div><div>39. <a href="https://www.johnbiggins.net/books/tomorrow-the-world/" target="_blank">John Biggins, <i>Tomorrow The World</i></a></div><div>40. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Johannes-Cabal-and-the-Blustery-Day-Audiobook/B00ZGOQEZ0?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=1E4N6GYA76RZ445SA1ZQ" target="_blank"><i>Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day: And Other Tales of the Necromancer</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a></div><div>41. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_J._R._R._Tolkien_Companion_and_Guide" target="_blank">"Reader's Guide" <i>The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide</i> by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull</a></div><div>42. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Johannes-Cabal-The-Necromancer-Audiobook/B002V8OCR6?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=WJRJ8NH2BCS5GV7JFB8S" target="_blank"><i>Johannes Cabal The Necromancer</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a>*</div><div>43.<a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Johannes-Cabal-the-Detective-Audiobook/B003U70Y9W?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=WJRJ8NH2BCS5GV7JFB8S" target="_blank"> <i>Johannes Cabal the Detective</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Johannes-Cabal-the-Detective-Audiobook/B003U70Y9W?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=WJRJ8NH2BCS5GV7JFB8S" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61r68v2li1L._SL500_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61r68v2li1L._SL500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>44. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Fear-Institute-Audiobook/B00P81KW5O?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=6W4BFYCHTRERPGNBA154" target="_blank"><i>The Fear Institute </i>by Jonathan L. Howard</a></div><div>45. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24441047"><i>Surfboats and Horse Marines: U.S. Naval Operations in the Mexican War, 1846-1848</i> by K. Jack Bauer</a></div><div><div>46. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters" target="_blank"><i>Letters from Father Christmas</i> by JRR Tolkien</a>*</div><div>47. <a href="http://www.audiobooks.org/bookDesc.php?id=a_christmas_carol" target="_blank"><i>A Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens (read by Jim Dale)</a>*</div><div>48. <a href="https://librivox.org/group/637?primary_key=637&search_category=group&search_page=1&search_form=get_results" target="_blank"><i>Christmas Short Works,</i> 2016 & 2017, by various</a></div><div>49. <a href="https://librivox.org/the-life-and-adventures-of-santa-claus-by-l-frank-baum" target="_blank"><i>The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus</i> by L. Frank Baum</a>*</div><div>50. <i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Krampus-The-History-and-Legacy-of-the-Mythological-Figure-Who-Punishes-Children-During-the-Christmas-Season-Audiobook/B07N33NQNW?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=YZK48RCHK0RJZ0753N3P" target="_blank">Krampus: The History and Legacy of the Mythological Figure Who Punishes Children During the Christmas Season</a></i></div><div>51. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Frau-Perchta-The-Christmas-Belly-Slitter-A-Concise-History-of-the-Legend-Audiobook/B07KKP7CPB?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=80765e81-b10a-4f33-b1d3-ffb87793d047&pf_rd_r=YZK48RCHK0RJZ0753N3P" target="_blank"><i>Frau Perchta: The Christmas Belly-Slitter </i>by Edmund Breckin</a></div><div>52. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Brothers-Cabal-Audiobook/B00NP8KK0E?ref=a_series_Jo_c5_lProduct_1_8&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=J7SFQDNAX1433THKQK8F" target="_blank"><i>The Brothers Cabal</i> by Jonathan L. Howard</a></div><div>53. <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-club-dumas/" target="_blank"><i>The Club Dumas</i> by Arturo Perez-Reverte</a>*</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-12384948201378329462021-11-02T17:15:00.003-07:002022-12-27T12:40:30.494-08:00A Halloween Review: The Lancashire Witches<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://ia600707.us.archive.org/19/items/LibrivoxCdCoverArt/Lancashire_Witches_1003.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://ia600707.us.archive.org/19/items/LibrivoxCdCoverArt/Lancashire_Witches_1003.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br />A version of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://www.kenzerco.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_24&products_id=932" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table #195</a><i> (September, 2013).</i><p></p><p>One of my greatest joys as a reader is discovering a good book that I have not read before. When it is an old book, an antique book, which I have not only not read but not even heard of, this joy is much greater. Back in 2013, I found that joy while searching for books about witches when I discovered <i>The Lancashire Witches: A Romance of Pendle Forest </i>(1848), a novel written by William Harrison Ainsworth.</p><p>Ainsworth was trained as a lawyer in London, but never pursued the profession, instead entering into publishing with his first novel, <i>Rookwood</i>, in 1839. His work was popular, and he was extremely prolific; taking English history as his source he went on to write forty or so historical novels covering centuries of English history. He was a friend and contemporary of Charles Dickens, as well as popular writer whose works sold very well, but his novels have generally not stood the test of time well and he is often forgotten by all but literary historians these days.</p><p><i>The Lancashire Witches</i>, first published in serial form in 1848, is Ainsworthâs best known novel and the</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15493/images/illus07_lg.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="399" height="600" src="https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15493/images/illus07_lg.jpg" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Incantation." Illustration by John Gilbert.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> one which has remained in print the longest. It is a fascinating work which tells a fantastical version of the historical trial of the Pendle Witches. Ainsworth begins the tale with a Catholic uprising against Henry the VIII a couple generations before the Pendle Witch trials, using a conflicted bishop and a fallen priest as a fascinating back drop to the tale, encompassing a quite long introduction. The plot of the novel proper is then contained in three books. Ainsworth builds his plot around a historical account of the trials, <i>The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster</i> by Thomas Potts, and makes Thomas Potts himself a wonderfully slimy character in the work. Many of the characters names come from the historical event, but their relationships, roles, characters, and actions are not remotely historical; magic is distinctly real, devils and ghosts make regular appearances.<p></p><p>The novelâs protagonists are the tragic lovers, Richard Asheton and Alizon Device. The witches are quite real, and quite devoted to the devil, yet the witch hunters (save the king, James I) are depicted as venal money-grubbers, anxious to accuse others in order to gain benefits. Alizonâs purity is never in doubt, but her unfortunate relationships to witches make her a target of the witch hunters, even as the witches themselves try to sacrifice her to the devil for her purity. </p><p>The novelâs presentations of Lancashire country life in the 1600s may not be perfectly historically accurate, but it is quite enjoyable, and anyone who has attended a Renaissance Fair will quickly recognize it as the source of so many tropes of Elizabethan games, it is self-consciously a depiction of âMerry Olde England.â</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15493/images/illus10_lg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="392" src="https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15493/images/illus10_lg.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Ride Through the Murky Air." <br />Illustration by John Gilbert.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />For gamers, this book is chock full of excellent examples and characters to steal. All of the various witches can be lifted whole-cloth for use as village healers, villains, or hedge witches in most roleplaying campaigns. Wonderful examples of spells and material components abound, as well as a great example of the internal politics of a witches' coven. Gamemasters can also see the workings of local versus national political leadership when the king visits in the last book of the novel, as well as some excellent plot ideas and concepts for properly using ghosts to push characters along. But the best steal from the novel is Nicholas Asheton, Richardâs cousin and a splendid character that gamemasters can lift whole-cloth and place in their campaigns as a local squire or other minor nobleman. Most of the funniest scenes in the novel center on his exploits.<p></p><p>Ainsworth was a friend of Dickens, but I found myself constantly comparing his work to a French contemporary, Alexandre Dumas. <i>The Three Musketeers</i> depicts the life of impoverished minor gentry in 16th century Paris, <i>The Lancashire Witches</i> does the same for 17th century rural England: both romanticize the time and place, but do so charmingly. </p><p><i>The Lancashire Witches</i> is still in print, you can find several reasonably priced paper editions easily, and it is also available for free from <a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/15493" target="_blank">Project Gutenberg</a> and as an <a href="https://librivox.org/the-lancashire-witches-by-harrison-ainsworth/" target="_blank">audiobook from Librivox</a>. If you ind a printed version, be sure to get one that includes the original illustrations by John Gilbert, they add immensely to the tale and are just plain fun. </p><p>If you enjoy a touch of comedy in your melodrama, and some historical spice in your tragedy, or if you just love witches, give this old book a read. It is rather remarkable. </p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p><p><br /></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-33241965214700270802021-07-27T21:12:00.001-07:002022-02-01T18:23:23.517-08:00Spelljammer Reviews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQaflsuXh0A/YQDYrbFsFCI/AAAAAAAAFfw/v8kK1Oki0JUW86fzoP9pwFeg_cw3jOwMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s450/sjnetlogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="450" height="121" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pQaflsuXh0A/YQDYrbFsFCI/AAAAAAAAFfw/v8kK1Oki0JUW86fzoP9pwFeg_cw3jOwMwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h121/sjnetlogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I have many interests, one of my most enduring is <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>, which I've been playing since 1980. I've played in most of the various campaign settings that have come out for the game, but one of my favorites is <i>Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space</i>. I love the idea of fantastical wooden ships flying through space, and I love that <i>Spelljammer</i> potentially connected all of the AD&D campaign settings. </p><p>In fact, I love <i>Spelljammer</i> so much its the only <i>D&D</i> campaign for which I have had some of my writings published - I co-authored the <i>Hackmaster</i> 4e conversion of the setting, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IV52YA/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i11" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Hackjammer</a> (sadly long out of print and difficult to find).<i> </i></p><p>So, along with that published work, I wrote a great deal of material for <i>Spelljammer</i> that was "published" on the web, mostly on what was the official <i>Spelljammer</i> fan site, <a href="http://www.spelljammer.org/" target="_blank">Beyond the Moons</a>. It's all still there, but the site is a bit harder to link to these days. And I have been converting old works and adding new material to create unofficial <i>Spelljammer</i> 'netbook' pdfs. Mostly these are reference works of various sorts to the <i>Spelljammer</i> products.</p><p>I recently completed another of these. Long ago Beyond the Moons put up my <a href="http://www.spelljammer.org/misc/products/" target="_blank">"Spelljammer product reviews"</a> (scroll down to the bottom of the page), I decide to reedit these, add new ones for material i missed the first time, and add images of the various product covers to produce an annotated and illustrated <i>Spelljammer</i> bibliography. </p><p>So, here it is:</p><p><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sUdnVfur2tonEB4Y_V0DPlltmgkpJB33/view?usp=sharing" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Spelljammer in Review: An annotated and illustrated bibliography of the Spelljammer campaign setting and related products and articles</a><i>. </i></p><p>If you wish to distribute this work, please contact me first.</p><p>I hope <i>Spelljammer</i> fans find it useful.</p><p><br /></p><p>N.B. I recently came across <a href="https://d20pirates.blogspot.com/2016/10/throwback-thursday-spelljammer-reviews.html?fbclid=IwAR1muVKKTxaVCoRhnADReXbTBmls0pstYWJ-7e-JrF_PYNX-GIaMwjlKg0k" target="_blank">this blog entry</a> with reviews of the <i>Cloakmaster</i> cycle of <i>Spelljammer</i> novels. It's a bit kinder on the later novels in the series then I am, but it is an excellent set of reviews anyway. </p><p><br /></p><p><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-20060959273187120162021-07-25T21:40:00.003-07:002022-12-27T12:40:44.806-08:00The Sacred Band tales of Janet & Chris Morris<i>Portions of this article appeared in </i><a href="https://www.kenzerco.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_23_24&products_id=860">Knights of the Dinner Table #191</a><i> (September, 2012).</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZTAYXDXkWfA/YP44dEFp2BI/AAAAAAAAFeE/QRFib02aOKQKe5xg_qSXBtacZJlG6yJYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s416/Tempus-416p.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZTAYXDXkWfA/YP44dEFp2BI/AAAAAAAAFeE/QRFib02aOKQKe5xg_qSXBtacZJlG6yJYgCLcBGAsYHQ/w139-h200/Tempus-416p.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><br />One of fantasyâs enduring motifs is the concept of the multiverse, the idea of different worlds and times that co-exist, and which the unwary or wise can travel between via various extraordinary devices or phenomenon. <i>Dungeons and Dragons</i> famously made great use of the concept of the multiverse, it was particularly useful in allowing travel between the various home campaign worlds of gamemasters but also between TSRâs commercially published settings. I dare say most gamers and many fantasy fans find the concept fascinating and enticing, who doesnât want to see Conan take Elric down a peg? And for writers the multiverse is a wonderful tool, Janet and Chris Morris employed the multiverse motif to free Tempus, Janet Morrisâ most famous character, and his followers from the constraints of the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves%27_World" target="_blank">Thievesâ World</a></i> shared universe series.<br />
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Janet Morris is a prolific author who got her start in the late â70s with <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Couch_of_Silistra" target="_blank">High Couch of Silistra</a></i>, an old<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cpAhX-7S2J0/YP44nBZ1jWI/AAAAAAAAFeI/dT_4wE1IkPQF4hl00cWWnBnsHOMetqM2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s410/High_Couch_of_Silistra_front_cover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cpAhX-7S2J0/YP44nBZ1jWI/AAAAAAAAFeI/dT_4wE1IkPQF4hl00cWWnBnsHOMetqM2ACLcBGAsYHQ/w117-h200/High_Couch_of_Silistra_front_cover.jpg" width="117" /></a></div><br /> school science fiction novel that reads like a cross between Leigh Brackett and early John Norman. In fantasy fiction, she is best known for her participation in the <i>Thievesâ World</i> anthologies and as the editor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_in_Hell" target="_blank"><i>Heroes in Hell</i></a> Bangsian shared world anthologies.<div><br /></div><div>I think her best work, however, is <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=i-the-sun" target="_blank">I, the Sun</a>, </i>biographical historical ficton novel about Hittite king <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0uppiluliuma_I" target="_blank">Ć uppiluliuma I</a>. It is a powerful work, extremely well done. It is far better, IMO, than any of her <i>Thieves' World</i> stories. In fact, it is on par with Mary Renault's works, and there is no higher praise from me. Told in the first person, the tale is riveting from beginning to end, in a subtle manner. The relationships are believable, the angst is minimal, and religion is handled just right for the period.<div><span><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2I9MSU9Kes/YP44xmpVtlI/AAAAAAAAFeQ/ANSppdw0nxE7LbZSFOQl6IdOdmRbPsRMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s416/ItheSun-416p.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2I9MSU9Kes/YP44xmpVtlI/AAAAAAAAFeQ/ANSppdw0nxE7LbZSFOQl6IdOdmRbPsRMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w139-h200/ItheSun-416p.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><br /></span>The only real weakness is the military aspects and battle scenes. Morris is obviously fascinated by warfare, but she just doesn't seem to understand it very well. As a military historian I was hoping for some imaginative insights into Hittite military culture and tactics, but those aspects of the novel were minimal.<br /><br />As with any work on antiquity, especially on a subject like the Hittites, she has to make some things up, and the scholarship is from the 1970s,so there have likely been quite a few changes in how we view the Hittites and the nations around them. So be sure to look to newer works for actual Hittite history. But this one is very fun. I especially love how she deals with the women interacting with the protagonist and the internal politics. This is Janet Morris' best work and the audiobook is also quite well read. </div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZspGi_dHQ28/YP45CL-LaSI/AAAAAAAAFec/40c5slt9V0wA-lkYsfWC2ITLelvh4VrpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s380/4a2b2948e87f07883020e0ea494abd45.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZspGi_dHQ28/YP45CL-LaSI/AAAAAAAAFec/40c5slt9V0wA-lkYsfWC2ITLelvh4VrpgCLcBGAsYHQ/w124-h200/4a2b2948e87f07883020e0ea494abd45.jpg" /></a>Based on publication dates, it appears that she wrote <i>I, the Sun</i> contemporaneously with her <i>Thieves' World</i> work, there is some obvious connections with <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Father Enlil</a> and later Shepherd, from <i>I, the Sun</i>, appears in a couple late <i>Thieves' World</i> stories. Her depictions of religious observances are clearly influenced by her Hittite research, and several characters from the series were likely inspired by, or at least named after, individuals from Greek history, notably <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/225016758717140844/2006095927318712016#">Critias</a>.<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
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Her most enduring character in <i>Thievesâ World</i> was Tempus, a tortured immortal mercenary who regenerates any wounds he takes and is the chosen avatar of the storm god. Tempus quickly became one of the most popular characters in the series, what teen-age boy could resist a character who takes women when he wants them, constantly insults the god rumbling in his head, is preternaturally strong, swift, and healthy, never sleeps, and is generally feared by all? And, of course, he battles demons and wizards who also fear him. Of course, such a character creates balance problems in a shared world setting, and Tempus and his followers, the Stepson mercenary band, certainly led to the power glut that oozed through the middle volumes of that series.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9pCUKPktp3g/YP45LHkhVqI/AAAAAAAAFeg/x-mdEe6d0CUV_rE-rtL-eE3-Im3UsT5qQCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Beyond-the-Veil-Janet-Morris.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="284" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9pCUKPktp3g/YP45LHkhVqI/AAAAAAAAFeg/x-mdEe6d0CUV_rE-rtL-eE3-Im3UsT5qQCLcBGAsYHQ/w119-h200/Beyond-the-Veil-Janet-Morris.jpg" width="119" /></a></div><br />In addition to short stories, Morris wrote the first three novels for <i>Thieves' World</i>: <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=beyond-sanctuary" target="_blank">Beyond Sanctuary</a></i>, <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=beyond-the-veil" target="_blank">Beyond the Veil</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=beyond-wizardwall" target="_blank">Beyond Wizard Wall</a></i>. In the <i>Thieves' World</i> chronology they fell between <i>Face of Chaos</i> and <i>Wings of Omen </i>and they introduced an 'epic fantasy' storyline involving the Nisibisi globes of power that roiled <i>Thieves' World</i> through out the rest of the series. Though they had many interesting scenes and vignettes, these novels were somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow. These novels have some cool ideas - especially the Nisibisi cultures and the basic northern politics. it's a shame they remained so underdeveloped.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were also very focused focused on Nikodemos, a junior Stepson who gradually took over as the primary protagonist from Tempus. Niko became a problematic character in<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a4OfMIVJXwc/YP45Rl0O7NI/AAAAAAAAFeo/xN4kfIJBWoIkZ5lRqYj_r3nl4TYMEQflgCLcBGAsYHQ/s494/Beyond-Wizardwall-Ace-paperback.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="298" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a4OfMIVJXwc/YP45Rl0O7NI/AAAAAAAAFeo/xN4kfIJBWoIkZ5lRqYj_r3nl4TYMEQflgCLcBGAsYHQ/w121-h200/Beyond-Wizardwall-Ace-paperback.jpg" width="121" /></a></div><br /> the series. the plots all seemed to revolve around witches and gods desiring Niko, but why anyone should want to spend time with Niko is an open question. Sulking angst is his most common attitude, and he never shows any particular intelligence, empathy, or any other desirable trait. He prefers to prey on young girls - criminally young in the modern world. Most damning of all, he is a point of view character, so we see inside his mind often, which means it is clear that Niko is nearly always wrong about what is going on around him. He fails to value wiser, braver, and more ethical characters about him, such as the wizard Randal. Yet we spend nearly all of the remaining tales in his company, following the same storyline repeated over and over - the Nisibisi witch Roxane wants Niko, and so do the gods, and Tempus wants to protect Niko. </div><div><br /></div><div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0Kj4sMtuFg/YP45eukDcfI/AAAAAAAAFew/ZkESlaJ7RB4hpLVM06al9vWTP4zhj1RtACLcBGAsYHQ/s416/CityEdgeofTime-416p.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0Kj4sMtuFg/YP45eukDcfI/AAAAAAAAFew/ZkESlaJ7RB4hpLVM06al9vWTP4zhj1RtACLcBGAsYHQ/w139-h200/CityEdgeofTime-416p.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><br />When <i>Thievesâ World</i> ended Morris published a series of novels furthering the tales of he and his followers, since she had the rights to the characters but not the setting, Tempus and his band were soon travelling the multiverse. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is interesting to see how Janet Morris' handling of time and the multiverse differs from Michael Moorcock's, The two authors come from very different backgrounds, and I don't see any evidence that either was aware of or influenced by the other. Nonetheless, in many ways Tempus closest analog in fantasy fiction is Elric of Melnibone, right down to the predilections for philosophy, incest, gods and the cursed destinies that bedevil them. However, Morris' multiverse is far more heavily influenced by the philosophy and mythologies of the Ancient Mediterranean.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first novel in this follow-on series, <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=tempus" target="_blank">Tempus</a></i>, merely collected the most relevant of the old <i>Thievesâ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--UkWaCbUn38/YP45shsgZGI/AAAAAAAAFe4/IppB3GWvK60GXqcDhTJpuFIM6VhpLDm9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Tempus%2BUnbound.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="312" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--UkWaCbUn38/YP45shsgZGI/AAAAAAAAFe4/IppB3GWvK60GXqcDhTJpuFIM6VhpLDm9QCLcBGAsYHQ/w125-h200/Tempus%2BUnbound.jpg" width="125" /></a></div><br /> World</i> stories to provide suitable background for the later works, interspersed with a framing tale. In <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=city-at-the-edge-of-time" target="_blank">City at the Edge of Time</a></i>, the first post-<i>Thievesâ World</i> tale of Tempus, the city in questioned is saved from âevilâ and Tempusâ protĂ©gĂ© becomes its ruler. In <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=tempus-unbound" target="_blank">Tempus Unbound</a></i>, the immortal comes to fabled Lemuria, and is soon drawn into a demon war across time that is centered in modern New York â a tale that reads far better then one would expect from its summary. In <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=storm-seed" target="_blank">Storm Seed</a></i>, Tempus, now ruler of Lemuria, brings his scattered forces home, seemingly set to begin a new series of adventures across time and the planes.<br />
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Instead, the Morrises (Chris Morris being a co-author since the late â80s) abandoned Tempus and his Stepsons for twenty years, not coming out with a sequel to <i>Storm Seed</i> until 2010, with <i><a href="https://theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=the-sacred-band" target="_blank">The Sacred Band</a></i>. Working with a new publisher, Perseid Press, the Morris' tied <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sacred_Band_of_Stepsons" target="_blank">the Stepsons</a> directly into the legend of the historical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Band_of_Thebes" target="_blank">Sacred Band of Thebes</a>. Most of the tale takes place in Sanctuary, set between the conclusion of the original 12 <i>Thieves' World</i> anthologies, and the setting's 2002 revival.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HccOD_E6g7w/YP4550xbjEI/AAAAAAAAFfA/76_Hq3wJtpQggchmsuSPF0eMveP6mNDWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s416/StormSeed-416p.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HccOD_E6g7w/YP4550xbjEI/AAAAAAAAFfA/76_Hq3wJtpQggchmsuSPF0eMveP6mNDWwCLcBGAsYHQ/w139-h200/StormSeed-416p.jpg" width="139" /></a></div>Returning to an overt connection with antiquity allowed this tale to play directly to the strengths Morris exhibited in <i>I, the Sun</i>. The opening of the tale is very promising, the merger of the Thebans and the Stepsons introduces new characters and we get to see Arton and Gyskouras, the Storm children of Sanctuary's most turbulent story line as young men. And finally we see some actual battles, rather then mere skirmishes, something which was strangely lacking in the previous Tempus stories - for someone fascinated by warriors, Morris appears uninterested in fight scenes.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But there is a great deal that is less good. Too soon the novel shifts focus and once again Nikodemos becomes the center of the same repetitive story lines of the previous tales. Although published 8 years after the 2002 revival, and set between the original series and the revival chronologically, there is no sign that Morris read the linking novel by Lynn Abbey, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><i>Sanctuary</i></a> - how any of this fits into the known history of Sanctuary between the series is a huge puzzle. And one of Morris weakness' as a shared world author stands out in particular in this work, she handles the characters borrowed from other writers poorly. Molin is almost unrecognizable, as is Arton's mother, Ilyra. The relationship between Gyskouras and Arton doesn't seem at all what one would expect after the original series. And Straton and Ischade simply repeat the storyline they were in at the closing of the original series, despite already receiving a proper ending in those tales. <span style="background-color: white;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6_AseYZ5GM0/YP46JQo5YQI/AAAAAAAAFfM/411tFWA7BFoY0xoY-09AG_avruzEljKFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/sacred-band-cover.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="392" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6_AseYZ5GM0/YP46JQo5YQI/AAAAAAAAFfM/411tFWA7BFoY0xoY-09AG_avruzEljKFwCLcBGAsYHQ/w157-h200/sacred-band-cover.jpg" width="157" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span>The final work in the series is <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><i>The Fish, The Fighters, and the Song-girl</i></a>. This is another short story collection, although this time it does include a few tales not previously published. As with previous <i>Sacred Band</i> story collections there is a 'framing' story meant to put the tales into context, but it is confusing and doesn't seem to have much of a resolution. I don't know if this is intended to be the last work in the series but it felt open-ended, o perhaps we can expect more Tempus and the Sacred Band tales down the road. <br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;"><br /></span><div><div>Over all, in the <i>Sacred Band</i> series the prose is typically lush, and too dependent on repetitive internal character dialogue, but Morris has a knack for implying a level of complexity and insight that leads the reader to seek more. This is also disquieting; I canât shake the feeling that if I finally figure out the meaning of her works I will discover a reprehensible philosophy reminiscent of the worst parts of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Ayn Rand</a> or <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>. But then I think surely not, both are far too modern for antiquarian Morris. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8HCQ_u_EMA/YP46ScQF4FI/AAAAAAAAFfQ/GkUJd2CsD18gselHADDKP7N68gxuJlK_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s416/FishFightersSongGirl-416p.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="288" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8HCQ_u_EMA/YP46ScQF4FI/AAAAAAAAFfQ/GkUJd2CsD18gselHADDKP7N68gxuJlK_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w139-h200/FishFightersSongGirl-416p.jpg" width="139" /></a></div><br />Nonetheless, she explores the multiverse in a unique manner, and the dynamics of the mercenary band she describes are fascinating. The <i>Sacred Band</i> series novels are not to everyoneâs taste, but if you like dark military fantasy they are well worth a read. <br />
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<i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i><br />
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</div></div></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-28831955724745289482021-07-24T21:28:00.008-07:002022-09-19T08:25:53.298-07:00My professional works<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal">This is crass self-promotion, but I thought a couple posts letting people know where to find my writing might be of interest. After all, if no one reads any of this it is sort of useless. So here is a short bibliography of my professional history work. I did leave out some shorter articles and my book reviews, but this is the bulk of my professional historical writing.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Thesis:</h3> âThe development and decline of Romano-Byzantine archery
from the fourth to the eleventh centuriesâ, Masterâs Thesis, Ohio State
University (1996) <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I'd like to expand on this, as a journal article, a book, or a dissertation some day. It's my oldest work, I think I've grown as a writer and historian quite a bit since. It can be down loaded <a href="https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?p10_etd_subid=64911&clear=10" target="_blank">here</a>, at the <a href="https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/1" target="_blank">OhioLink Thesis & dissertation center</a>. It can also be found on <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2010/12/the-development-and-decline-of-romano-byzantine-archery-from-the-fourth-to-the-eleventh-centuries/" target="_blank">Medievalist.net here</a>. </p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc10030116">Books:</a></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Khafji%20Battle%20Study_Page_01.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="150" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Khafji%20Battle%20Study_Page_01.jpg" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />U.S. Marines in
Battle: Al-Khafji, 28 January - 1 February 1991 </i>History Division, U.S.
Marine Corps, (2008)<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> This work can be downloaded for free at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Khafji%20Battle%20Study.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be found in various book sellers on the web. </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Liberating%20Kuwait_Page_001.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="150" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Liberating%20Kuwait_Page_001.jpg" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />U.S. Marines in the
Gulf War, 1990â1991: Liberating Kuwait </i>History Division, U.S. Marine Corps,
(2014)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This is my most significant work to date. It can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Liberating%20Kuwait.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be found in various book sellers on the web. I was awarded the <a href="https://www.marineheritage.org/pastawardwinners.html" target="_blank">2015 Brigadier General Edwin Simmons-Henry I. Shaw Award</a> by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. A scholarly review of the work on H-War can be found <a href="https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/reviews/151755/venable-westermeyer-us-marines-gulf-war-1990-1991-liberating-kuwait" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Desert_20Voices_20Cover_jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="150" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/Desert_20Voices_20Cover_jpg.jpg" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />Desert Voices: An Oral
History Anthology of Marines in the Gulf War, 1990-1991 </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with Alexander Hinman</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>History Division,
U.S. Marine Corps, (2016) <o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Conducting oral history interviews was one of my favorite parts of researching <i>Liberating Kuwait</i>. I wanted to let the Marines we interviewed speak more directly to readers, hence this work. It can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Desert%20Voices.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be found in various book sellers on the web.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/AfghanAnthologyII_Page_1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="200" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/AfghanAnthologyII_Page_1.jpg" width="155" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />U.S. Marines in
Afghanistan, 2010â2014: Anthology and Annotated Bibliography </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with Christopher Blaker</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>History
Division, U.S. Marine Corps, (2017)<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Intended as a first look and primer for Marines in Afghanistan during the period noted. It can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/AfghanAnthologyII_web.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be found in various book sellers on the web.</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/LegacyBelleauWood_FINAL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="609" height="200" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/LegacyBelleauWood_FINAL.jpg" width="152" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />The Legacy of Belleau
Wood: 100 years of making Marines and winning battles, an anthology </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Edited by Paul Westermeyer and Breanne Robertson</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>History
Division, U.S. Marine Corps, (2018)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>It can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Legacy%20of%20Belleau%20Wood_WEB.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be purchased through the <a href="https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/legacy-belleau-wood-100-years-making-marines-and-winning-battles-anthology" target="_blank">GPO here</a>, or in various book sellers on the web. In 2018 this work was chosen as a <a href="https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=Making-Digital-Progress-Notable-Government-Documents-2018" target="_blank">Notable Government Publication</a> by the American Libraries Association (ALA) Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) Publications Committee.</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/AmericanNavalPower_cover.jpg?ver=2019-03-04-084310-270" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="609" height="200" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/portals/218/AmericanNavalPower_cover.jpg?ver=2019-03-04-084310-270" width="152" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />The Legacy of American
Naval Power: Reinvigorating Maritime Strategic Thought, an Anthology </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Edited by Paul Westermeyer and Breanne Robertson</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>History
Division, U.S. Marine Corps, (2019)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>I worked on both of these Legacy anthologies with Breanne Robertson, together we did a podcast about the book for the Marine Corps War College's podcast, <i>Eagles, Globes, and Anchors</i>. You can download that <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eagles-globes-and-anchors-20-maritime-strategic-thought/id1445051974?i=1000456744982&fbclid=IwAR0mds3ulx5ZsFyLqZ7Q5y6AAKPq8iFqwg6L9MEMBvBw0os8BIPRdGr1Cic" target="_blank">podcast here</a>. This work can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/LegacyAmericanNavalPower_WEB2.pdf?ver=2019-03-05-063634-230" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be purchased through the <a href="https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/legacy-american-naval-power-reinvigorating-maritime-strategic-thought-anthology" target="_blank">GPO here</a>, or in various book sellers on the web.</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjziJcBGQHTTMgwer7m02O2yPMISOy_UHZ8xGNw-4N6ppQIZHewaL8hGQJYzGgobeEHqpcMXZiPmA-Ad780wZjTQYPdDLCRDDumm9IueHXcpqN_6saUnAI7CJ7bH6zR0g4Gf988hYxJzbBKGs53KhzQ9NC9K8U9vVakdn5Iq7HMFcfp8404EEzv_aMVJQ=s449" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjziJcBGQHTTMgwer7m02O2yPMISOy_UHZ8xGNw-4N6ppQIZHewaL8hGQJYzGgobeEHqpcMXZiPmA-Ad780wZjTQYPdDLCRDDumm9IueHXcpqN_6saUnAI7CJ7bH6zR0g4Gf988hYxJzbBKGs53KhzQ9NC9K8U9vVakdn5Iq7HMFcfp8404EEzv_aMVJQ=w119-h200" width="119" /></a></div>The United States
Marine Corps: The Expeditionary Force at War</i>, Casemate Publishers, (2019)<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /> I wrote this for <a href="https://www.casematepublishers.com/distributed-publishers/casemate/the-united-states-marine-corps.html#.YPzXpKZKipp" target="_blank">Casemate's Short History series</a>, it is intended as an introduction to Marine Corps history rather than a scholarly work. I am very happy with the reception it has received, especially the reviews from <i>Leatherneck</i> & <i>Wargames Illustrated </i>magazines. It is available on Kindle and in hardback, and can be found <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S49QCZG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0" target="_blank">here on Amazon</a>. </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><a name="_Toc10030117">Articles:</a></h3><h2><o:p></o:p></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Marine%20Corps%20History%20Vol%203%20No%202.jpg?ver=2018-10-16-115451-307" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Marine%20Corps%20History%20Vol%203%20No%202.jpg?ver=2018-10-16-115451-307" width="155" /></a></div><br />âShattered Amphibious Dreams: The Decision Not to Make an
Amphibious Landing during Operation Desert Stormâ <i><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;">Marine Corps History</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>Vol. 3, No. 2 <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">(2018)</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p>My last work on the Marines in the Gulf War, I really wanted to use that title, and I wanted to highlight the value of the Corps' amphibious feint. </o:p></span>It can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/MCH%20Vol%203%20No%202.pdf?ver=2018-10-16-115605-247" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/InvestigatingIwo_Thumbnail.jpg?ver=2019-10-17-113818-447" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/InvestigatingIwo_Thumbnail.jpg?ver=2019-10-17-113818-447" width="155" /></a></div><br />âEvery Marine a Flag
Raiser: The Legacy and Meaning of the Iwo Jima Flag Raisingsâ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Investigating Iwo: The Flag Raisings in
Myth, Memory, & Esprit de Corps</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History
Division, U.S. Marine Corps, (2019) Co-author Dr Breanne Robertson</div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Dr Breanne Robertson's book on the Iwo Jima flag raising is one of History Division's 3 best books (out of over 200), in my opinion, so I'm very glad to have co-authored its concluding article with her. This work can be downloaded as a free pdf at the MCU website <a href="https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Investigating%20Iwo_WEB3.pdf?ver=2019-10-22-085649-137" target="_blank">here</a>. It can also be purchased through the <a href="https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/investigating-iwo-flag-raisings-myth-memory-esprit-de-corps" target="_blank">GPO here</a>, or in various book sellers on the web.</o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LMirmuefMfg/YPzmnEl7rpI/AAAAAAAAFdk/1pPxRjvKH3wKcMZPJ0o2VPydLTz1k41ugCLcBGAsYHQ/s742/Picture1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="548" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LMirmuefMfg/YPzmnEl7rpI/AAAAAAAAFdk/1pPxRjvKH3wKcMZPJ0o2VPydLTz1k41ugCLcBGAsYHQ/w148-h200/Picture1.jpg" width="148" /></a></span></div><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span>âHistoriography for
Marines: How Marines should read and understand historiesâ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marine Corps Gazette</i> (November, 2019 Volume 103, Number 11, p78-82)<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This article is something I planned for years, and I always hoped it would be published in the <i>Gazette</i>. I'm not sure it made the impact I hoped, but this article is near and dear to my heart. It can be downloaded <a href="https://mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/MCG-November-2019-sm.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-2332574432322255542021-05-17T13:32:00.001-07:002022-12-27T07:07:15.494-08:00Arthurian (Authorial?) Romance and Mary Stewart<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">The original version of
this article appeared in </i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/225016758717140844/233257443232225554" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue;">Knights of the Dinner Table #148</span></a><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> (February,
2009).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OyBcOufPcHg/YKLRZcxiFjI/AAAAAAAAFWg/Og9OISJ5e3ATXBaCRT_OgBeQhajWl4D2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Merlin%2BTrilogy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OyBcOufPcHg/YKLRZcxiFjI/AAAAAAAAFWg/Og9OISJ5e3ATXBaCRT_OgBeQhajWl4D2wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Merlin%2BTrilogy.jpg" /></a></div><br /></i></div>
I have loved King Arthur tales since I was a small child, and as I grew older I became somewhat obsessed with the Matter of Britain. By far my favorite Arthurian author is Mary Stewart, whose first person account of Merlin' childhood, The Crystal Cave was a wonder. I have reread her works many times over the years, always finding new delights and insights.
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">English author Mary Stewart has
written over a score of novels, many of them romance or mystery books, but she
is best known for her magnum opus, the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/225016758717140844/233257443232225554"><span style="color: blue;">Merlin Trilogy</span></a>, comprising <i>The Crystal
Cave</i> (1970), <i>The Hollow Hills</i> (1973), and <i>The
Last Enchantment</i> (1979). Armed with exhaustive research and a
vivid imagination she broke through the extremely crowded field of Arthurian
fiction with a series that ranks as among the very best, indeed possibly the
best, modern work in that field. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The conceit of Stewartâs work is
that she takes Merlin, the perennial background character and plot device of
Arthurian legend and transforms him into a dynamic and fascinating leading man.
Her research is thorough, and she traces the threads of Merlinâs story through
myth and legend while placing <br />him firmly within the context of the post-Roman
Northern European world. Specifically, she shows an understanding of the
historical phenomenon of the âholy manâ or âholy hermitâ that allows her to
create a believable, approachable Merlin, beginning with his youth in Wales and
closing with his slow fade into obscurity at the height of Arthurâs
reign. All narrated by the ancient wizard himself, to an unknown listener
(a precursor, if you will, of the modern "documentary" sitcom style
found in shows like <i>The Office</i> or <i>Modern Family</i>). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87ZCXxP12ho/YKLPwoG8roI/AAAAAAAAFV0/faqNSZn9gAIpmB6IuWrU9VLiRqgFA653QCLcBGAsYHQ/s470/Crystal%2BCave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="316" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87ZCXxP12ho/YKLPwoG8roI/AAAAAAAAFV0/faqNSZn9gAIpmB6IuWrU9VLiRqgFA653QCLcBGAsYHQ/w134-h200/Crystal%2BCave.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>In fact her use of
the âholy hermitâ really struck me when I first began to study the history of
Late Antiquity under Dr Gregory at Ohio State in the early 1990s. When
reading "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity"
(1971) by Peter Brown I immediately noticed was how well Merlin in Stewart's
trilogy fit the mold. I don't believe Brown influenced Stewart; <i>The
Crystal Cave</i> was out in 1970 after all! But I do think she
tapped into the same sources and threads in the jumbled, chaotic, partially
destroyed records of late Antiquity that Brown was using as a historian.
Or perhaps as I slowly transformed theologically from a fairly conservative,
orthodox Roman Catholic into a broad minded theist I was exceptionally
sensitive to the comparison. I know my primary attraction to Late Antiquity was
the holiness that I sensed in the tales from that period. This is a
typically long-winded way of saying that as I get older, I recognize Stewartâs
Arthurian novels as some of the works that shaped me theologically. (Susan
Cooper's The Dark is Rising series was also influential.)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Cave" target="_blank">The Crystal Cave</a></i> the
story of Merlinâs origin and early life is told, as Britain suffers from Romeâs abandonment, treacherously weak kings, and the onslaughts of Saxon
invaders. Each of the famous legends of Merlinâs childhood life are
addressed and explained in a highly plausible manner, and life in 5th century
Britain is depicted vividly. But at its heart this is a <i>bildungsroman</i>,
or âcoming of ageâ story</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qgl5FJxTn78/YKLP4-pk2fI/AAAAAAAAFV4/-3U0X0koIO0hGUgf6O5g9kSER-P0oE7rwCLcBGAsYHQ/s404/MaryStewart_TheHollowHills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="247" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qgl5FJxTn78/YKLP4-pk2fI/AAAAAAAAFV4/-3U0X0koIO0hGUgf6O5g9kSER-P0oE7rwCLcBGAsYHQ/w123-h200/MaryStewart_TheHollowHills.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>and the supernal maturity and knowledge of Merlin does
not lessen its impact. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hollow_Hills" target="_blank">The Hollow Hills</a></span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> presents the story of Arthurâs rise to power, from
Merlinâs point of view. Again the legendary events are followed and explained,
and Stewart takes great care in presenting a believable âhistoricalâ foundation
for the legends. It is quite clear how much fatherly love Merlin has for
Arthur, an aspect of the story that I find touches me more now that I am a
father myself than it did when I first read these books years ago. The
great battles and politics that mark the opening of Arthurâs reign create a
dramatic, compelling story and Merlin is the perfect guide to these events.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIqAAJidVD0/YKLQJohvB_I/AAAAAAAAFWE/NTf1wI0VadoguB7NZz0de4yMSbangUAWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s390/MaryStewart_TheLastEnchantment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="253" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIqAAJidVD0/YKLQJohvB_I/AAAAAAAAFWE/NTf1wI0VadoguB7NZz0de4yMSbangUAWgCLcBGAsYHQ/w130-h200/MaryStewart_TheLastEnchantment.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>In <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Enchantment" target="_blank">The Last Enchantment</a></i> we
see the coming of Mordred and Merlinâs fading finale. Ironically, the closer
Merlin the narrator gets to his present situation the less clear the story
becomes. In this later reign Merlin has truly stepped to the side of most
events, and the climatic battles and bright hopes of the earlier volumes have
been replaced by the sedate meditations of age and the final follies of oneâs
antiquity. Stewart grants Merlin a measure of dignity in his downfall that
is sadly missing from so many Arthurian tales, and also removes the taint of
misogyny from NimĂŒeâs role. The volume is bitter-sweet, of course, and
does not follow Arthurâs tale to its own conclusion. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L7vGNeY7m3g/YKLQWF47g0I/AAAAAAAAFWI/1kvCX8j6-HYbPh-jMggn52O_kKjJmZeVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s499/518ztXl6c8L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L7vGNeY7m3g/YKLQWF47g0I/AAAAAAAAFWI/1kvCX8j6-HYbPh-jMggn52O_kKjJmZeVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w134-h200/518ztXl6c8L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a fourth book, <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/225016758717140844/233257443232225554"><span style="color: blue;">The Wicked Day</span></a></i>, </span>Stewart brings that portion of the tale to a close. It suffers from the loss of Merlin; he's an excellent narrator and such greatcompany for the
reader. Mordred narrates <i>The Wicked Day</i> and he is less
enjoyable, in part because he keeps part of himself hidden from the reader as
he narrates, Merlin might as well but is less obvious. This hidden aspect of
Mordred is necessary for the story, but it leaves the reader, accustomed to intimately knowing the narrator, somewhat bereft.<p></p>The last of her Arthurian works is <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/225016758717140844/233257443232225554">The Prince and the Pilgrim</a>. Certainly not to the same level as the earlier works, it feels far more like a romance, in the modern sense. It is a pleasant read about two minor characters from the Matter of Britain, but it seemed a bit rushed. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable, self-contained story from the period. I wish she had written more on the Grail Quest, she seemed to set it up in the earlier books but left that story untold. A pity. <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P32DrJIZhEE/YKLQfAJc4gI/AAAAAAAAFWQ/MM70NvMZ52EAlfXsjbX7KlLKLqZcmJIWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s396/Stewart_Mary_The_Prince_and_the_Pilgrim_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="250" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P32DrJIZhEE/YKLQfAJc4gI/AAAAAAAAFWQ/MM70NvMZ52EAlfXsjbX7KlLKLqZcmJIWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w126-h200/Stewart_Mary_The_Prince_and_the_Pilgrim_1.jpg" width="126" /></a></div>For gamers, like myself, these books
provide excellent examples of royal politics and dynastic quarrels as well an
excellent view of Britain in the 5th century, a historical period perfect for
an RPG campaign. Merlin himself serves as an excellent template for a
mystic, mage, or even a certain type of priest character. But perhaps the
most useful aspect for typical fantasy game-masters is the explanations later
pagan religious beliefs and rituals. In the modern world, surrounded by
the dominant monotheistic religions it is difficult for us to imagine living in
the sort of polytheistic and poly-religious culture of the typical fantasy
campaign. 5th century Britain was such a culture, and as imagined by
Stewart and presented through the eyes of the wise man Merlin the game-master
has an excellent example to follow while depicting his own polytheistic
cultures. <o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stewartâs prose is detailed yet
never boring, and she is often extremely moving. Merlin leaps to life
under her skilled pen. She has just the right blend of history and
legend, and creates a masterful portrait of the âMatter of Britain,â the tale
of Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot. If you love Arthurian tales, or just
enjoy solid fantasy or historical fiction, immerse yourself in these tales and
you wonât be disappointed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">All views in this blog are my own
and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-1847208041602825012021-01-01T12:35:00.001-08:002021-02-25T06:01:48.986-08:00What I read in 2020<span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6d2fd7_8f81fe55ff0444b0a82af11474896abb.jpg/v1/fill/w_347,h_524,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/6d2fd7_8f81fe55ff0444b0a82af11474896abb.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6d2fd7_8f81fe55ff0444b0a82af11474896abb.jpg/v1/fill/w_347,h_524,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/6d2fd7_8f81fe55ff0444b0a82af11474896abb.webp" width="212" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">For me, one small thing seems to have gone right in 2020, I managed to post 20 blog entries, some of which actually sparked some conversation. My goals for this blog are modest - I just want to practice my writing and occasionally say things that some folks will think about it. This past year I achieved those goals. Here's hoping I can do the same again in 2021. </span></div><br />Two years ago, a friend of mine posted a list of the books they had read in 2018, I thought it was a great idea so I posted a list myself on Facebook, and then the following year on this blog. I'm posting the list again, since I find this a very useful exercise in self-reflection. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I am reading both impacts and reflects my mood, especially active reading. Reading in and of itself is fine, but it is often simply a passive exercise. Active reading requires interrogating and questioning the material you are reading, and comparing it to what you have read in the past. It is a conversation on multiple levels between multiple speakers but with only one listener. That solitary listener can be a clarifying concept - it lays bare any given work's most valuable insights.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, once you take those insights and present them to others through reviews, essays, or criticisms on a public forum like this blog, that starts an entirely new set of conversations... with other singular listeners.</span> <div><div><br /></div><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking over this year's list (see below), these trends stood out:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Rereads: 23 (I've marked rereads below with an *)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Military History reads: 16</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># by or about Tolkien: 5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Forgotten Realms: 4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># of Marine reads: 2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Frigate Navy period reads: 10</span></div><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Thieves' World & related: 7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Matter of Britain works: 5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"># Mythology: 7</span><div># Plato/Socrates: 6</div><div># of holiday reads: 6<br />
<span><br />I read 58 works this year, a baker's dozen less then last year. There are several reasons for that, I believe. I read more non-fiction this year, for one thing, and several of the works I read required more solid thinking and digestion, primarily in philosophy and history. I often reread books, I find it useful for getting the most from a work. </span>Also, there are works I reread simply because I find comfort in doing so. Last year I reread 48 out of 71 works, 67%. The % of rereads this year was 40%, 23 out of 58 works. <span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />It is very rare that I refuse to finish a book, but it happened again this year; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Western_Philosophy?fbclid=IwAR17Ii3TVShOrVeKeIbRgwpd3wHL8A4rebhgb43dam78VrjhvfK_VDRfI6I" target="_blank">Bertrand Russell's <i>A History of Western Philosophy</i></a>. It might have improved later, but overall it showed its age and his biases were simply too obvious, greatly limiting the value of the work.</span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This list below is roughly in the same order I read the books, though I am often reading multiple books at a time. I usually have an audiobook I am reading (always unabridged if available) for commuting and walks (my audiobook reading has dropped significently this year, without a commute!), a 'bed time' book for right before I sleep, and a 'Paul time' book for bathroom breaks. I am also often reading books for work, though that varies depending if I am in research or writing mode at the moment, and if I am considering secondary literature or primary sources). I also tend to read pretty fast, one reason I enjoy audiobooks is that they slow my reading down and allow me to appreciate other aspects of a work (plus, the readers accents and inflections add a new dimension to the work). </div><div><br /></div><div>This list doesn't even begin to touch on all of the reading I do for research for my work of course. </div><div><br /></div><div>In <a href="https://historytruefeigned.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-i-read-in-2019.html">"What I read in 2019"</a>, I planned to finish rereading the <i>Thieves' World</i> series, read more of the Otto Prohaska novels by John Biggins, reread some Plato, and read more Tolkien this year. I didn't really get to finish rereading the <i>Thieves' World</i> series yet, nor did I read more of the Prohaska novels yet. But I was fairly successful on Plato and always read some Tolkien every year. <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For next year, I need to read up on the Mexican War & the Seminole Wars, and I'd still like to read more of the Prohaska novels. I'd like to reread more of the Elric series, and I have the two latest volumes from Jim Butcher's Dresden Files still to read and I also want to read Ken Follett's Century trilogy. I've also had a yearning to reread the Harry Potter series, but I've been resisting because there are so many new works to read. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What I read in 2020:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
1. Nancy Bunting, <a href="https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol9/iss1/1/?fbclid=IwAR38lgYDKJ_Nu5mg3igbTgt-MmzWGd4rHY7QeGIvS9ZXziqUXL4RrDiwPSs" target="_blank">"J.R.R. Tolkien's inspiration for LĂșthien: the âgallantâ Edith Bratt" <i>Journal of Tolkien Research</i> (Vol. 9 Iss. 1, 2020)</a> (since withdrawn from the journal) <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51T5lu37F+L._SX290_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="292" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51T5lu37F+L._SX290_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="117" /></a></div></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Shattered-Mask-Audiobook/B00BOWQNQI?pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=ERSEKN89ERWC198MZ0HF&ref=a_series_Se_c5_lProduct_1_3&fbclid=IwAR2fW-P8pUw97ZeuhjvkbDkqLOicaF7jB_yMtxweenHD5JrgQwjC-7YzLL4" target="_blank">Richard Lee Byer, <i>The Shattered Mask</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">3. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Shadows-Witness-Audiobook/B00B62EIZY?pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=ERSEKN89ERWC198MZ0HF&ref=a_series_Se_c5_lProduct_1_2&fbclid=IwAR2AMt6gaNj9L-NpiV3aybcluISVOja0o5ywRNF9766ALtgzFOaA7fk8DRM" target="_blank">Paul S. Kemp, <i>Shadow's Witness</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Halls-Stormweather-Forgotten-Realms-Sembia/dp/0786915609?fbclid=IwAR0vp7zJtPgVlogbsCUkRefeiJoeDyLl5yZebJXUKifY_uxwt3H2tcqST8Q" target="_blank">Ed Greenwood, et al, <i>The Halls of Stormweather</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">5. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Black-Wolf-Audiobook/B00BCPZTJY?ref=a_series_Se_c5_lProduct_1_4&pf_rd_p=284b47b1-a5db-4711-9667-612f2ac7458e&pf_rd_r=Q105E2F9P2PH3FQV0ANC" target="_blank">Dave Gross, <i>The Black Wolf</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">6. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Dragons-of-the-Hourglass-Mage-Audiobook/B002V9Z8ZK?pf_rd_p=6a5ce8e4-798e-4a64-8bc5-71dcf66d673f&pf_rd_r=CTPYXPPMFCMP6QDA0G82&ref=a_lib_c4_libItem_B002V9Z8ZK&fbclid=IwAR2y3-QxT8072a1RZtqK3JtvMNheP1_lnX34fWqUh1Ft1iFS2pgNdAh48iM" target="_blank">Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, <i>Dragons of the Hourglass Mage</i>: The Lost Chronicles, Volume 3</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">7. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric_of_Melnibon%C3%A9_(novel)?fbclid=IwAR2hJp8rEILVqgj8VUaxpkwtHX9m2jOYhM9IInxHIMcVGvZhpUcgPOjzLoI" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>Elric of Melniboné</i> </a>*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">8. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sailor_on_the_Seas_of_Fate" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock, <i>The Sailor on the Seas of Fate</i></a>*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">9. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Jeffersons-War-Audiobook/B002V0PSTK?qid=1584202284&sr=1-4&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_4&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=8T5FTPQ759C8GP66SR6F" target="_blank">Joseph Wheelan, <i>Jeffers</i><i>on's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801-1805</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">10. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Merlin-Prophet-History-Geoffrey-Ashe-ebook/dp/B01M6THVXF" target="_blank">Geoffrey Ashe, <i>Merlin: The Prophet & His History</i></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">11. </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shores-Tripoli-Birth-Marines-Bluejacket/dp/1557509662" target="_blank">A.B.C. Whipple, To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and Marines</a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">12. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline_Walton" target="_blank">Evangeline Walton</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Annwn" target="_blank">Prince of Annwn</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">13. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline_Walton" target="_blank">Evangeline Walton</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children_of_Llyr" target="_blank">The Children of Llyr </a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">14. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline_Walton" target="_blank">Evangeline Walton</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Rhiannon" target="_blank">The Song of Rhiannon</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">15. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline_Walton" target="_blank">Evangeline Walton</a>, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_of_the_Mighty" target="_blank">The Island of the Mighty</a></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">16. <i><a href="https://ia802702.us.archive.org/27/items/nationsatwar00abbo/nationsatwar00abbo.pdf">The Nations at War: A Current History</a> </i>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_J._Abbot" target="_blank">Willis John Abbot</a>*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">17. <i><a href="https://www.theperseidpress.com/?mbt_book=the-fish-the-fighters-and-the-song-girl">The Fish, the Fighters, and the Song-girl</a></i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Morris">Janet & Chris Morris</a></span><br />
18. <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bull_from_the_Sea">The Bull from the Sea</a></i> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Renault">Mary Renault</a>*<br />
19. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/81/3/1298/769828"><i>The Jeffersonian Gunboat Navy</i> by Spencer C. Tucker</a><br />
20. <a href="https://ugapress.org/book/9780820329215/the-other-war-of-1812/"><i>The Other War of 1812</i> by James G. Cusick</a></div><div>21. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Laches-Charmides-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/0872201341?fbclid=IwAR2tbt-4O2xyRf4MKp0brGfNgqi-9ZGCzm3NQ_sABeh-mw3dkeBNQAFj284" target="_blank"><i>Plato: Laches and Charmides</i>, Rosamond K Sprague trans.</a>*</div><div>22. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Blood-Lou-Cameron/dp/B003031H9M" target="_blank"><i>The First Blood</i> by Lou Cameron</a>*<br />
23. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lysistrata-Acharnians-Clouds-Aristophanes/dp/B001KMEB8Y" target="_blank">Aristophanes: Lysistrata/The Archanians/The Clouds</a></i>, Alan Sommerstein, trans.*<br />
24. <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/85gqh8cq9780252078378.html" target="_blank"><i>The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict</i> by Donald Hickey</a></div><div>25. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_The_Lord_of_the_Rings" target="_blank"><i>Sauron Defeated: The History of Middle-earth IX</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien</a>.*</div><div>26. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epic-History-Founding/dp/039333032X" target="_blank"><i>Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy</i> by Ian Toll</a></div><div>27. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Beren-and-Luthien-Audiobook/0008214239?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=592f90bd-7f7b-4bfc-afa2-b002e52e7228&pf_rd_r=VBP8T6EABK3Q782NGSF2" target="_blank"><i>Beren and LĂșthien</i> by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien</a>*<br />
28. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Why-Socrates-Died-Dispelling-Myths/dp/0393065278/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&fbclid=IwAR0H3jMD-TIzc2RyjJG5-6Hkx2c9xji-bCrbY4L9E8r0PpshT2FbZaGl2Ss" target="_blank"><i>Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths</i> by Robin Waterfield</a></div><div>29. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_on_the_March" target="_blank"><i>Flashman on the March</i> by George MacDonald Fraser</a>*</div><div>30. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Platos-Republic-Audiobook/B002V1NXDW?qid=1598563217&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=7KRQ2BNRG5W2511MQ7K2" target="_blank"><i>Plato's Republic</i> by Simon Blackburn</a></div><div>31. <a href="https://www.bettanyhughes.co.uk/the-hemlock-cup" target="_blank"><i>The Hemlock Cup</i> by Bettany Hughes</a></div><div>32. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Roverandom-Audiobook/B0036GRN1Y?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=592f90bd-7f7b-4bfc-afa2-b002e52e7228&pf_rd_r=TG4TT0BKK1A9PQKVA45B" target="_blank"><i>Roverandom</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</a>*</div><div>33. <a href="https://www.douglasreeman.com/the-books/alexander-kent-novels-5/?fbclid=IwAR1xaRJR_H1HYBiWV83NJIjcUsTtWJz0wCSFn0arfqIaPv904yOYJAeBUwg" target="_blank">Alexander Kent, <i>For My Country's Freedom</i></a></div><div>34. <a href="https://www.douglasreeman.com/the-books/alexander-kent-novels-5/" target="_blank">Alexander Kent, <i>Sword of Honor</i></a></div><div>35. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335" target="_blank">G.M.A. Grube (trans), <i>Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo</i></a>*</div><div>36. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/First-Clash-Miraculous-Marathon-Civilization/dp/0553385755/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+First+Clash&qid=1602162215&s=books&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i>The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization</i> by James Lacey.</a></div><div>37. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sketch_Book_of_Geoffrey_Crayon,_Gent."><i>The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. </i>by Washington Irving</a>*</div><div>38. <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/5-hours-of-edgar-allan-poe-stories-read-by-vincent-price-basil-rathbone.html" target="_blank">The Edgar Allen Poe Audio Collection Read by Basil Rathbone & Vincent Price</a>*</div><div>39. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Halloween_Tree" target="_blank">Ray Bradbury's <i>The Halloween Tree</i></a>*<br />
40. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1279386.Thieves_World_Graphics" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #1</a>*</div><div>41. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/605023.Thieves_World" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #2</a>*</div><div>42. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/846425.Thieves_World_Graphics_3" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #3</a>*</div><div>43. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/846421.Thieves_World" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #4</a></div><div>44. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/846420.Thieves_World" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #5</a></div><div>45. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/483387.Thieves_World" target="_blank"><i>Thieves' World: Graphics Novel</i> #6</a></div><div>46. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9229679-the-battle-for-the-atlantic" target="_blank"><i>The Battle for the Atlantic</i> by Jay Williams</a>*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1283644319l/9229679.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1283644319l/9229679.jpg" width="137" /></a></div></div><div>47. <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300120851/battle-marathon" target="_blank"><i>The Battle of Marathon</i> by Peter Krentz</a><br />
48. <a href="https://www.casematepublishers.com/soviet-cavalry-operations-during-the-second-world-war.html#.X7qA0WVKipo" target="_blank"><i>Soviet Cavalry Operations During the Second World War</i>, John Harrel</a></div><div>49. <a href="https://archive.org/details/livesnavalofficers00cooprich" target="_blank"><i>Lives of Distinguished American Naval Officers</i> by Cooper, James Fenimore</a></div><div>50. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Navy_of_the_United_States/WK3mWOlYYNsC?hl=en" target="_blank"><i>History of the Navy of the United States of America</i> by James Fenimore Cooper</a></div><div>51. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/60815/black-powder-second-edition" target="_blank"><i>Black Powder</i>, Second Edition by Jervis Johnson, Rick Priestley, John Stallard</a></div><div>52. <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Battle-of-Lake-Erie-and-Its-Aftermath-Audiobook/B00LLLDJ46?ref=a_library_t_c5_libItem_&pf_rd_p=85df3330-9dc4-4a45-ae69-93cc2fc25ca4&pf_rd_r=AS8SPWJKS70NDTX2Z8F8" target="_blank"><i>The Battle of Lake Erie and Its Aftermath: A Reassessment</i>, by David Curtis Skaggs</a></div><div>53. <a href="https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/30640/treasure-island-by-robert-louis-stevenson/" target="_blank"><i>Treasure Island</i> by Robert Louis Stevenson</a>*</div><div>54. <a href="http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?142431" target="_blank"><i>The Silver Warriors</i> by Michael Moorcock</a></div><div>55. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters" target="_blank"><i>Letters from Father Christmas</i> by JRR Tolkien</a></div><div>56. <a href="https://www.usni.org/press/books/how-few-became-proud" target="_blank"><i>How the Few Became the Proud: Crafting the Marine Corps Mystique, 1874-1918</i> by Heather P. Venable</a></div><div>57. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Christmas-Cultural-History-Cherished/dp/0679740384" target="_blank"><i>The Battle for Christmas: A Social and Cultural History of Our Most Cherished Holiday</i> by Stephen Nissenbaum </a>*</div><div>58. <a href="http://www.audiobooks.org/bookDesc.php?id=a_christmas_carol" target="_blank"><i>A Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens (read by Jim Dale)</a>*</div><div><br /><br />
<i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></div></div></div></div>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-225016758717140844.post-23625906044583734702020-12-25T17:24:00.008-08:002022-12-16T08:43:16.296-08:00Blogging the Nations at War: Christmas<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFpuY9yxoIM/X-aQR7usieI/AAAAAAAAE7M/7gS_Xd6Y9sULFr945ADlgubJ_RX3QkP5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s817/p232.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="817" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFpuY9yxoIM/X-aQR7usieI/AAAAAAAAE7M/7gS_Xd6Y9sULFr945ADlgubJ_RX3QkP5QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h293/p232.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This image has inspired me for decades. One of my goals when I joined the Corps was to go to<br />Mountain Warfare School and learn military skiing, all because of this image from childhood. <br />(from <i>The Nations at War</i>, p232).</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span><br /> </span>Though it has been a few months since I posted on it, I plan to continue my efforts to blog, chapter by chapter, <i><a href="https://ia802702.us.archive.org/27/items/nationsatwar00abbo/nationsatwar00abbo.pdf">The Nations at War: A Current History</a> </i>by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_J._Abbot" target="_blank">Willis John Abbot</a>, one of the first books to spark my love of history. However, I thought today would be a good day to look at the World War I Christmas Truce.</p><p><span> This has become fairly well known in recent years, but I think many people would be shocked to discover that tales of the truce were told in news papers and "current affairs" books like this from the nearly the beginning, I believe this tale first appear in the 1915 edition. That is interesting in itself, but equally fascinating is the source of the information. Usually, the tale of the truce is told concerning the well documented British/German truces. But this account purports to be from an American with the French Foreign Legion, and so it discusses the truce in the French sectors. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the account. </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span> (from <i>The Nations at War</i>, pp 176-177)</span></p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span> </span>This writer, Phil Rader by name, a young San Franciscan who had enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, was prolific of graphic sketches of life in the trenches. His description of a Christmas truce and its abrupt end throws a bright light on the psychology of war:</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span> </span>"For twenty days we had faced that strip of land, forty-five feet wide, between our trench and that of the Germans, that terrible No Man's Land, dotted with dead bodies, crisscrossed by tangled masses of barbed wire. That little strip of land was as wide and as deep and as full of death as the Atlantic Ocean; as uncrossable as the spaces between stars; as terrible as human hate. And the sunshine of the bright Christmas morning fell on it as brightly as if it were a lover's lane or the aisle in some grand cathedral.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span> </span>"I don't know how the truce began in other trenches, but in our hole Nadeem began it-âNadeem, a Turk, who believes that Mohammed and not Christ was the Prophet of God. The sunshine of the morning seemed to get into Nadeem's blood. He was only an enthusiastic boy, always childishly happy, and when we noticed, at the regular morning shooting hour, that the German trenches were silent Nadeem began to make a joke of it. He drew a target on a board, fastened it on a pole, and stuck it above the trench, shouting to the Germans:</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>"'See how well you can shoot.'</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>"Within a minute the target had been bulls'-eyed. Nadeem pulled it down, pasted little bits of white paper where shots had struck, and held it up again so that the Germans could see their score. In doing so, Nadeem's head appeared above the trench, and we heard him talking across the No Man's Land. Thoughtlessly I raised my head, too. Other men did the same. We saw hundreds of German heads appearing. Shouts filled the air. What miracle had happened? Men laughed and cheered. There was Christmas light in our eyes and I know there were Christmas tears in mine.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>"There were smiles, smiles, smiles, where in days before there had been only rifle-barrels. The terror of No Man's Land fell away. The sounds of happy voices filled the air. We were all unhumanly happy for that one glorious instantâEnglish, Portuguese, Americans, and even Nadeem, the Turk â and savages we had been, cavemen as we were, the awfulness of war had not filled the corners of our hearts where love and Christmas live. I think Nadeem was first to sense what had happened. He suddenly jumped out of the trench and began waving his hands and cheering. The hatred of war had been suddenly withdrawn and it left a vacuum in which we human beings rushed into contact with each other. You felt their handshakesâdouble handshakes, with both handsâin your heart.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>"Nadeem couldn't measure human nature unerringly. He had been the first to feel the holiday spirit of Christmas Day, but, on this day after Christmas, he failed to sense the grimness of war that had fallen over the trenches during the night. Early in the morning he jumped out of the trench and began waving his hands again. John Street, an American, who had been an evangelist in St. Louis, jumped out with him, and began to shout a morning greeting to a German he had made friends with the day before.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>"There was a sudden rattle of rifle-fire and Street fell dead, with a bullet through his head. The sun was shining down again on a world gone mad."</p></blockquote></blockquote><p><span> A grim commentary on the war. </span><br /></p><p><span>Post-script, 12/16/2022:</span></p><p><span> Since I originally posted this I have done a little bit of research on Phil Rader, who turns out to have been an <a href="https://transcription.si.edu/pdf/24217/NASM-NASM.XXXX.0450-M0000265-00040" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">interesting fellow</a>. He might have been a pilot before the war, a Phil Rader was supposedly a mercenary pilot in the Mexican Revolution who participated in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfight#Mexican_Revolution" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first "dogfight."</a> He wrote, or had written from his comments, a series of articles, including the selection above, which were published in various newspapers in 1915. This specific account first appearing in March 1915 (see <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=RDP19150327.2.35&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Riverside Daily Press</i>, Volume XXX, Number 74, 27 March 1915</a>). Later he left (<a href="https://archive.org/stream/americanfighters00paul/americanfighters00paul_djvu.txt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">deserted?</a>) the Foreign Legion, <a href="https://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-72753.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">joined the Royal Flying Corps, and flew for the British</a>, before returning to the United States. He was killed in June 1918 teaching aerobatics to a student pilot in California. <br /></span></p><p><i>All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.</i></p>Paul Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620026998861471269noreply@blogger.com0