South Africa is haunted by ghosts: Ghosts of the million who died during the mfecane (The Crushing) when the rise of the Zulu Empire touched off a shockwave of indigenous warfare and migration from 1815 to 1840; ghosts of massacred Trekboers; ghosts of women and children who wasted away in British concentration camps during the Anglo Boer War of … [Read more...] about The Weird Of Deadly Hollow

I recently introduced my friend Leith Easterling to the AMC series Turn: Washington’s Spies, which is streaming on Netflix. If you can get past the liberties (sorry) taken with some of the historical figures — Captain John Simcoe and Robert Rogers especially — it’s an entertaining drama depicting the activities of the Culper Ring in New York during … [Read more...] about Jack Absolute — Frontier Partisan

I woke up this morning thinking about old-school historical potboilers. Yeah, I know. But you all know by now that my mind functions this way... Actually, there’s a straightforward explanation for why I roused from my slumbers with visions of F. van Wyck Mason dancing through my head. I hit the pillow after scrolling through a Kindle series of … [Read more...] about Lusty, Tumultuous Sagas

Last weekend, Marilyn and Ceili and I trekked over the Misty Mountains cold in the teeth of a potent winter storm. We made it through the Redhorn Gate without having to result to a detour through the Mines of Moria, and all missions on this 500-mile loop from Sisters to Portland to Eugene and back to Sisters in 48 hours were accomplished — though … [Read more...] about The Hunt For The White Whirlwind

I had planned to craft a post for December 29 on the anniversary of the daring, reckless and disastrous Jameson Raid into the Transvaal in 1895. I have decided to defer for a very good reason... * Strange to say, the Raid — which had enormous domestic and international political and strategic consequences — has not been all that deeply explored. … [Read more...] about Jameson Raid

Perhaps I was moving too fast along the trail and failed to cut the sign. Maybe it was over-tracked by other critters. Somehow I missed the 2018 publication of Unsettling the West Violence and State Building in the Ohio Valley. Well, I’m hot on its trail now. Given the near fifty-plew price tag, I ordered it up through interlibrary loan. … [Read more...] about Unsettling The West

The weather turned cold and wet over the weekend, with the snow level dropping down to about 4,000 feet. The wind whipped the rain into stinging needles, occasionally breaking up the cloud cover to allow a glorious rainbow to arch over golden meadows. In other words, it was an ideal weekend for surrounding yourself with books. The inaugural … [Read more...] about A Feast Of Books

This looks like fun. At least Emily Blunt in early 20th century adventuress kit is quite charming... Getting a Mummy vibe? Me, too. That’s no bad thing. Ceili and I have watched that movie about a thousand times. “I’m a... librarian...” Always up for a pulp adventure, so we are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydnzilTiBcY From The … [Read more...] about Welcome To The Jungle

I mean, hell: In the song “Copperhead Road,” Steve Earle tells the story of three generations of the Pettimore family in less than five minutes. A writer doing the same thing would need hundreds of pages. That’s sorcery. — Alex Bledsoe * Sisters Folk Festival 2019 is in the books — and a fine one it was. As I anticipated, the highlight of the … [Read more...] about Shiver And Hum