Monthly Archives: January 2009

  There’s some corner of an English field that is forever Australia. This almost century-old chalk map of Oz, carved into a Wiltshire hillside, seems to validate the above variation on war poet Rupert Brooke’s most famous line. That quote, … Continue reading →

On 27 October 1951, the US magazine Collier’s devoted an entire 130-page issue to the theme of “Russia’s Defeat and Occupation, 1952-1960; Preview of the War We Do Not Want.” The cover showed an American soldier in a helmet emblazoned … Continue reading →

  (click map to enlarge) The temple-choked city of Varanasi (1) is the most sacred place in the world for hindus – comparable to what Jerusalem means for christians, or Mecca for muslims. It is located on the Ganges River … Continue reading →

(click map to enlarge) A truism in geopolitics holds that “geography is destiny.” Maps don’t have to be so dramatically laden with meaning, though. In this case, geography is mere typography. This map of the world shows the names of … Continue reading →

  West Virginia is the state that seceded where others failed. When in 1861 the South broke away from the US to form the Confederacy, the Mountain State in its turn left Virginia to remain within the Union. The electoral process … Continue reading →

In 1938, Germany was not a good place to be a Jew. While some German Jews might still have hoped the anti-semitism of the Nazi regime would somehow blow over, those who had the means to flee the country did … Continue reading →

The US goes by the motto In God We Trust (but only since 1956, when it replaced the ‘unofficial’ motto, E pluribus unum). A motto (from the Italian word for pledge, plural mottos or mottoes) describes a quality or intention … Continue reading →