Tag Archives: Italy

From Raiders to Kings

Posted on October 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

I can still remember being scandalized in seventh grade when I opened the next chapter in our western civ text to discover we would be studying THE CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. England, conquered? At that age, for whatever reason, I had … Continue reading →

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The Day of Battle

Posted on September 29, 2025 by smellincoffee

Although I’ve been reading about World War 2 for most of my life at this point, beginning in middle school, the scope of my reading has never broached the Italian campaign. This is probably due to the huge role D-Day … Continue reading →

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Operation Underworld

Posted on August 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

In New York harbor,  one of the largest and fastest passenger ships ever built lies on its side, a victim of fire. French-built, the United States seized the Normandie after France fell to Hitler and renamed it the Lafayette, intending … Continue reading →

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The Mature Flâneur

Posted on February 21, 2025 by smellincoffee

While rooting around for books for The Grand Tour, I spotted ‘flâneur’ and immediately went for the bait. I know this word from back in 2012 when I was an ardent Francophile and was reading books like French Women Don’t … Continue reading →

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Devil’s Pact

Posted on November 15, 2023 by smellincoffee

Jack Tanner is just a working class lad from the west country. He doesn’t belong aboard a transport plane, waiting for his turn to jump into the darkness with an aim of landing somewhere in Sicily, hopefully to meet the … Continue reading →

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Purgatorio

Posted on March 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

Purgatorio© 14th century Dante Alighieri, translated 2004 by Anthony Esolen544 pages, including appendices and notes Seven years ago I descended into hell with Dante and his guide, Virgil,   and after that arduous descent into a valley of desolation and … Continue reading →

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Pompey and Caesar

Posted on March 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

And do you now strew flowers in his wayThat comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? Be gone! The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare The narrative of Julius Caesar and the fall of Rome that we get in elementary school … Continue reading →

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The War that Made the Roman Empire

Posted on October 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

The War that Made the Roman Empire: Anthony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium© 2022 Bary Strauss368 pages Rome, at the death of Julius Caesar, was no stranger to internal war.  A functioning, healthy republic had long vanished,  torn in pieces … Continue reading →

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Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants

Posted on September 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans© Garrett Ryan 288 pages For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an … Continue reading →

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Farewell to Arms

Posted on July 10, 2019 by smellincoffee

A Farewell to Arms © 1929 Ernest Hemingway 355 pages Beyond The Old Man and the Sea and his short story “The Snows of Kilamanjaro”, I haven’t read very much of Hemingway at all.  A Farewell to Arms seemed like … Continue reading →

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