As I write this post, the sun is setting over the River Somme in northern France. One hundred years ago today, in the middle of World War I, nightfall hid the grisly sight of nearly 20,000 dead British and Commonwealth soldiers. One of them was a twenty-year old officer named John Sherwin Engall, who had written to his parents … More The Somme at 100
Regular readers know both that World War I is one of my favorite topics and Books & Culture one of my favorite publications. So it was a joy to write the essay that went up on the B&C website this morning, “We Will Remember Them.” The title comes from one of the war’s most-quoted poems, and refers back to the … More My Essay on WWI Commemoration in Books and Culture
It’s December 1st, time to share our annual round-up of historical works that have cracked various “Best Books of 2015” lists, for any reader who might be looking for gifts for the history buff in their life. (Key: G = The Guardian; NYT = New York Times; PW = Publishers Weekly; WP = Washington Post; Philip Ball, Invisible: … More The Top Histories of 2015?
It took me the better part of a week to start writing an analysis of what happened last Monday in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU): when it was announced that Goshen and Eastern Mennonite had elected to withdraw from that group rather than stay on as affiliate members, a move that may … More Christian Higher Ed is Not the CCCU
His encyclical Laudato Si’ has received such enormous (and justifiable) attention this month that I wonder how many people have noticed two smaller events involving Pope Francis: • On June 15th, the pope met with Czech Christians whose churches descend from the 15th century renewal movement led by Jan Hus, a key precursor to the Protestant Reformation … More Christian Unity as “Reconciled Diversity”
5/6/15 – The penultimate episode of Past & Presence revolves around the relationship of historians to the church. In addition to a conversation on that topic with my colleague Amy Poppinga, I interview a Bethel History alum who serves as an Anglican pastor here in the Twin Cities. And the whole episode is hosted from three great European cathedrals — … More Past and Presence: Historians and the Church
Last week at AC 2nd, our department blog, I posted a four-part photo essay about our January travel course on the history of World War I. For those who may not want to see quite that many photos but are interested in our trip… My attempt to sum up our twenty-one days in only eleven photos: Our course began … More Our WWI Travel Course in Eleven Photos
It was a week ago tonight that we returned to the States after spending three weeks in Europe, studying the history of World War I with a group of Bethel University students: Near the end of the last day of our #WWI travel course. Couldn't have asked for a better group of @BethelU students! pic.twitter.com/TQY70S4dEq — … More Recapping Our World War I Travel Course
The blog is going to be quiet for much of the rest of the month, as I’ll be in Europe for three weeks teaching a Bethel University travel course on the history of World War I. It’s my second time teaching this course abroad, and if it’s anything like the first trip, it’ll be memorable. (And this … More How to Follow Our Trip in Europe
10/27/14 – If you’re in the Twin Cities, you can catch me this Saturday morning, Nov. 1st, 10:00, at the Minnesota Genealogical Society. I’ll be speaking on the history of Poland in the century since 1914, with particular emphasis on the Polish experience of Communist rule. More broadly, I’ll have us think about the nature … More This Saturday: My Talk on Poland since 1914
The Pietist Schoolman 