Sparks Commentary

Back in 2001, Ken Burns released a television history of  jazz music . I was a big fan of that series when it first came out. I never imag...

In 1969, the BBC released a classic television series called  “Civilisation”  (spelled in the British way). This prior series was presented...

Why one should consider watching classic black-and-white movies This might seem a strange way to start this post, but there is a decades-lon...

“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writ...

He had more influence upon the  English language  than any other individual – perhaps even more than the Biblical translator William Tyndale...

The difficulties of learning about Greek and Roman art from textbooks For many years now, I’ve been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome . ...

The Early Middle Ages are today remembered as the  “Dark Ages.”  The art historian Kenneth Clark made this argument in his landmark docum...

A modern series inspired by Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation” (which aired in 1969) … Before watching this program, I knew next to nothi...

“We're not trying to entertain the critics … I'll take my chances with the public.” – Walter Elias Disney It's not often t...

“I was sorry to have my name mentioned as one of the great authors, because they have a sad habit of dying off. Chaucer is dead, Spencer i...

“To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici : Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come befo...

"Jazz is the assassination, the murdering, the slaying of syncopation. I would even go so far as to confess that we are musical anarc...

"Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of th...