History

Learning from the past

Super Women Take To the Trenches!

By Ian Michael / 8 Comments / 25 October 2020 25 October 2020

A 2015 Russian WWI flick features woman warriors marching to the front lines, bayonets fixed, ready to charge into no man’s land! As I watched the drama unfold, another movie came to mind; Wonder Woman (2017) charging the German lines. How do the two movies compare? Uhh… different would be putting it mildly. Yet, despite being so different, they go hand in hand. They offer insights on their own, but when put side by side, create a whole picture. Wonder Woman and Battalion are polar opposites and teach opposite lessons. But they both serve the same purpose; to overwrite a dark moment in history, replacing it with a fantasy that’s both inspirational and comforting.

Polikarpov Po-2

The Swallow – a story of the WWII Night Witches

By Ian Michael / 14 Comments / 10 May 2020 27 September 2020

A skeptical Soviet aircraft mechanic has a surprise encounter with a Night Witch, one of the legendary female bomber pilots of the Great Patriotic War. It does not go the way as he expected.

Man in depression looking at graph of economy crashing

What comes after COVID-19 might be worse

By Larry Kummer, Editor / 29 Comments / 23 April 2020 24 April 2020

Every week more nations get COVID-19 under control, slowing its growth rate. After COVID-19 comes the hit to the world economies. Will it be a deep or shallow decline? Of long or short duration? Will we handle it well or poorly?

Statue of man with horse-AdobeStock-110535745

Historical fiction becomes fact, hiding useful lessons

By Ian Michael / 10 Comments / 28 March 2020 27 September 2020

Summary: Historical fiction often blurs into real history. Too many historical facts are fabrications. We must learn to better distinguish between the two, and gather useful lessons from each.

Stained Glass of the First Crusade in the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral.

Birth of a holy war

By Ian Michael / 10 Comments / 8 March 2020 13 April 2020

The great Pope Urban II sought to unite the Christians of Europe and unleash them against Moors in Spain. He got his wish by accident. The result was bloody and tragic. This is historical fiction, rich with insights for us.