This is the story of Elijah Howton (1832-1884). Historically, the surnames Howton and Houghton are often used interchangeably; and while the origins of the Howton surname is English, my Howton roots in the United States are found exclusively in the South. This is a family history account of my 3rd […]
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October 2019 saw new Ancestry ethnicity estimates rolled out. This article will show you how to understand and interpret them with precision. What you most likely have noticed between your past results and your current results are either NEW categories that were not there or OLD categories that have disappeared.
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August 23, 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of “The Baltic Way” where over 2 million people held hands across 3 countries spanning 419.7 miles (675.5 km). This event in 1989 directly lead to freedom for the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia which were illegally occupied for over 150
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Castle Garden, aka Castle Clinton, was the very FIRST immigration processing station in the US, which predated even Ellis Island. Your records may be there! Stationed in New York harbor at the very lower tip of Manhattan Island, Castle Garden sits directly across the water from Ellis Island. What makes
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Looking for Abraham Lincoln books? I’ll show you the 4 best, essential Lincoln books without all the hassle of plodding through the literally tens of thousands of Lincoln biographies out there! Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, he was born in 1809 and was infamously shot
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More lives were lost on the Sultana Disaster in 1865 than on the Titanic in 1912, about 278 more. This makes the sinking of the Sultana the worst maritime disaster in US history, the scope and scale of this tragedy needs to be understood. Fortunately, I have cobbled together a
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A History of the Crusades, 3 Volume Box Set, published by the preeminent Folio Society in 2003, was written by Steven Runciman and is definitely a collector’s item for any serious Crusade scholar and book nerd (#booknerd). You know that you’re a book nerd when you get so excited that
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Among the names of the greatest literary minds of all time towers Dr. Samuel Johnson. Not only did he produce thousands of writings, ghost writings, sermons, and literary pieces, he also wrote the Dictionary of the English Language in the 18th century – at a time when such a notion
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This is the book I’ve been waiting for! “Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I” is akin to the perfectly faceted jewel affixed to the perfectly crafted ring: it is mesmerizing from afar yet intricately complex upon microscopic adoration. Author Kelcey Wilson-Lee examines the lives of the children
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“A History of Multicultural America” is a volume in a series comprising 8 total books: “The Great Migrations 1880s-1912” is the book I’m reviewing here. It’s a small 96 page book which covers 20 different categories of late 19th and early 20th century immigrants from Italians, to Baltics, to Japanese,
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A book about 4 Norman queens of England, “Queens of the Conquest” is a lavishly-detailed account that takes you through the Norman Dynasty into the Plantagenet Dynasty through the eyes of its medieval queens. This is a superb narrative for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes lives of the founding families
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Ron Chernow is one of my all-time favourite authors, and “Grant” is the consummate biography of one of America’s greatest heroes. Military strategist, General, and 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant was a man of stalwart nature who rose from being a somewhat misunderstood subordinate to a
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Books about Charlemagne! Here are THE 5 best books about Charlemagne that you cannot do without, plus 14 more recommendations! As someone who reads extensively, these are my recommendations with annotations. Want to know everything about King Charlemagne? Well here you go! Charlemagne, aka Charles The Great, aka Karl der
19 Books About Charlemagne (5 Reviews & 14 Recommendations) Read More »
It’s virtually a meta-book on Charlemagne! “Becoming Charlemagne” by Jeff Sypeck was an unexpected find in a bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee that totally transformed my understanding of the “Father of Europe.” Compared to “The Two Lives of Charlemagne” or Fried’s “Charlemagne,” Jeff Sypeck’s treatment of King Charlemagne was a different
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This book is a racier, sexier rebirth of “God’s War” by Christopher Tyerman! “The World of the Crusades” by the same author repackages a masterpiece in the only way it can be improved upon: load it with images, charts, graphs, and beautiful artwork. This resplendent new offering by historian Christopher
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