Sparks Commentary

Note: This post covers a number of conflicts in various parts of the world. But all of them are arguably part of a larger pattern of Europea...

“The chiefs of the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the seperate and independent chiefs who have not become members of ...

Note: The “War of the Austrian Succession” included several different conflicts within it. Thus, many of my blog’s mentions of these related...

“When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village [Hannibal, Missouri] on the west bank of the Missis...

Many pirate movies take place in this general time period, and so do many history movies I grew up on pirate movies like “Treasure Island,” ...

World War II has been depicted in countless books , documentaries , and Hollywood movies . Some of these movies are basically action films o...

German U-boats were once the terror of the high seas, and this was true during both world wars. In the  First World War , this campaign had ...

In the 1970s, a British television network made a series called  “The World at War,”  possibly the most comprehensive television history ev...

“There are a lot of people who say that bombing can never win a war. Well, my answer to that is that it has never been tried yet, and we sha...

“An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America …” – Long title of the “Quebec Ac...

Note: This is a collection of several BBC documentaries about World War II. That is to say, it is not a unified history like  “The World at ...

The  Crusades  are one of the most infamous episodes in all of  medieval history . More than 700 years later, they are still extremely contr...

The Arab Revolt against the rule of the Ottoman Turks … When people hear the phrase  “World War One,”  they usually think of Europe . But it...

“ We the people of Indonesia hereby declare the independence of Indonesia . Matters which concern the transfer of power and other things w...

To say that the relationship between  Islam  and  the West  is sometimes troubled would be something of an understatement. Since the  rise...

“Is this a game, or is it real?” – Quote from “WarGames” (1983) , a fictional movie about a close call with nuclear war, which came out ...

“... That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the ...

"Since the English have in their power an officer and two cadets, and, in general all the prisoners whom they took when [they] assas...

"No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave , And the star-spangled banner in...