Sparks Commentary
Part history, part politics, and part random other stuff.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
How decades of conflicts sucked Europe into the Great War
›
Germans annex the Alsace-Lorraine region, and Germany becomes a unified nation In 1870, France declared war on Prussia , in an attempt to a...
Thursday, June 25, 2026
A review of “The Korean War” (audiobook)
›
In 1950, the Cold War suddenly became hot. North Korea launched a full-scale invasion of South Korea . The Korean War would soon draw ...
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
A review of Andrew Marr’s “History of the World” (BBC)
›
Before watching this film, I had enjoyed watching Andrew Marr’s “Modern Britain” series , which covered the period from 1901 to 2007. More ...
The American Revolutionary War was fought on four different continents
›
Even many British histories of the war tend (understandably) to gloss over this subject In the eighteenth century , the British Empire was...
Saturday, June 6, 2026
How historical context can shed light on World War II
›
World War II was the largest conflict in history . It tore the continent of Europe apart, both during the war and in its immediate aftermat...
A review of “World War II” (audiobook)
›
I should preface this review by saying that I’ve seen a number of other great histories of World War II . For example, I’ve seen the Ameri...
Sunday, May 24, 2026
What was the “Hundred Years’ War”? (Depends on which one you mean)
›
There are a few candidates for this name, all of them involving Britain and France You might already know that the Normans invaded England ...
‹
›
Home
View web version