The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “history”

Why War: Einstein and Freud’s Little-Known Correspondence on Violence, Peace, and Human Nature
Why War: Einstein and Freud’s Little-Known Correspondence on Violence, Peace, and Human Nature

“Every man has a right over his own life and war destroys lives that were full of promise.”

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Who Invented Writing? An Animated Historical Detective Story
Who Invented Writing? An Animated Historical Detective Story

From Sumerian cuneiform to hieroglyphics to Chinese script, a tale of simultaneous invention.

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How One of Literature’s Greatest Loves Began: The Fateful Meeting of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein
How One of Literature’s Greatest Loves Began: The Fateful Meeting of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein

“She had remarkable eyes, very large and lively, the kind that seem to send off sparks, that sometimes look glowing with an inner fire.”

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On Craftsmanship: The Only Surviving Recording of Virginia Woolf’s Voice, 1937
On Craftsmanship: The Only Surviving Recording of Virginia Woolf’s Voice, 1937

“Words belong to each other.”

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Ancient Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs
Ancient Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs

The erotic lives of gladiators, or why pomegranate juice is the opposite of fresh lettuce.

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How to Pack Like Pioneering Journalist Nellie Bly, Who Circumnavigated the Globe in 1889 with Just a Small Duffle Bag
How to Pack Like Pioneering Journalist Nellie Bly, Who Circumnavigated the Globe in 1889 with Just a Small Duffle Bag

Two Victorian women race against each other around the world, countering the cultural inertia of their era.

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Gun Control Fail, 1944 Edition
Gun Control Fail, 1944 Edition

“Lady, we can’t do anything about a threat. We have to wait until he acts.” “You mean after I am shot?”

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April 30, 1945: Mussolini Executed
April 30, 1945: Mussolini Executed

Fifty-four seconds on the outermost fringes of our moral comfort zone.

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Literary Pets: The Cats, Dogs, and Birds Famous Authors Loved
Literary Pets: The Cats, Dogs, and Birds Famous Authors Loved

Twain and Bambino, Browning and Flush, Dickens and Grip, Hemingway and Uncle Willie, and more.

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Proust’s Previously Unknown Illustrated Poems
Proust’s Previously Unknown Illustrated Poems

“As you read the poems, the lapidary wall of Great Writer dissolves and the person expands horizontally.”

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