Showing posts with label the French Revolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the French Revolution. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2026

How our Founding Fathers fought the Barbary Pirates

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“[The Congress shall have the power] To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas , and offences against the law of...
Tuesday, July 7, 2026

The “Quasi-War”: The only war between France and the United States

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“There shall be a firm inviolable and universal peace , and a true and sincere friendship between His Britannick Majesty , his heirs and suc...
Monday, February 9, 2026

A review of Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man” (audiobook)

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In the United States , Thomas Paine is primarily remembered for his work “Common Sense,” and for some other stirring words written in his ...
Friday, August 15, 2025

Great naval conflicts: From the Seven Years’ War to the Napoleonic Wars

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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,” ...
Monday, July 14, 2025

The “French Revolutionary Wars”: A great European cataclysm

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“Do you hear in the fields The howling of those fearsome soldiers? They are coming into your midst To slit the throats of your sons and con...
Tuesday, June 18, 2024

The British Empire: From the Acts of Union to the Battle of Waterloo

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The eighteenth century was a crucial period for the  British Empire . It saw the birth of the “Kingdom of Great Britain” itself , in the 17...
Monday, September 5, 2022

A review of “Versailles” (French documentary)

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“ L’état, c’est moi. ” (“I am the State.”) – A line attributed to King Louis XIV of France – a line that he may or may not have actually sa...
Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Actually, Rousseau did NOT influence the Founding Fathers (sorry Wikipedia)

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Wikipedia argues that Rousseau influenced the Founding Fathers … I have often heard people claim that Rousseau “influenced” the Founding Fa...
Monday, June 28, 2021

A review of Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” (audiobook)

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I’ve read  Rousseau’s “The Social Contract” itself  in the original French . Thus, you might expect me to be something of a “fan” of this wo...
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Saturday, November 21, 2020

A review of “Voltaire and Rousseau” (audiobook)

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Voltaire and Rousseau disagreed with each other on many issues. Nonetheless, they do have at least one thing in common, which is that they w...
Sunday, September 6, 2020

A review of “Lafayette: The Lost Hero” (PBS)

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“If War should break out between France and Great Britain, during the continuance of the present War between the United States and England...
Sunday, June 28, 2020

A few problems with Rousseau’s “The Social Contract”

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“Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. H...
Friday, June 28, 2019

Rousseau's “Discourse on Inequality” is long on detail, but short on evidence …

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“The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, 'This is mine,' and found people simple eno...
Monday, November 2, 2015

A review of PBS's “Marie Antoinette” movie

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" Qu'ils mangent de la brioche ." ("Let them eat cakes.") - The infamous Marie Antoinette line that Marie Antoinette...
Tuesday, July 14, 2015

A review of “The French Revolution” (History Channel)

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"There is therefore a purely civil profession of faith of which the Sovereign should fix the articles, not exactly as religious dogma...
Friday, August 15, 2014

A review of PBS Empires “Napoleon”

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" Glory is fleeting , but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte He was the ruler of  France , but learned French as a...