Ibn Battuta an imposter?

So thinks a German scholar as  reported here:But just how credible is this report? In his epilogue, Ralf Elger writes that there are numerous indications that Ibn Battuta's travel account is not based on his own observations – for example in the case of descriptions of rulers...

Walking the land, September 2012

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Eeyorism, or the Perfect as the Enemy of the Good

A very good essay by Rebecca Solnit at TomDispatch.com:Dear Allies,Forgive me if I briefly take my eyes off the prize to brush away some flies, but the buzzing has gone on for some time. I have a grand goal, and that is to counter the Republican right with its deep desire to...

Philip Marlowe reflects on life and chivalry

From The Big Sleep: I looked down at the chessboard. The move with the knight was wrong. I put it back where I had moved it from.  Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn't a game for knigh...

Maurice Keen's obituary in the New York Times

The obituary emphasizes his importance as a (or "the") historian  of chivalry:Mr. Keen wrote or edited almost a dozen books on the Middle Ages. But “Chivalry,” published in 1984, was his most influential because it so sharply redefined medieval court life, challenging a view...

Enjoying life in the future

Will McLean says it true: the real desert of Burning  Man has proved far preferable to the dystopian desert of Mad M...

Real, scary politics

Tom Englehart:By now, Obama and his savvy campaign staff should really be home free, having run political circles around their Republican opponent as he was running circles around himself.  There's only one problem: the world.  These days it’s threatening to be a bizarrely uncooperative place for a president who wants to rest on his Osama-killing foreign-policy...

Anne Clendinning speaks on the aftermath of the Titanic

The History Seminar Series presentsAnne Clendinning speaking on:Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and the “Money Boat”:  Class and Cowardice at the Board of Trade Titanic Inquiry Friday, September 21, 2012 2:30–4:00 pm A226 Everyone welcome Refreshments provided Contact: Derek Neal derekn@nipissingu.ca...

Compliments scholars savor

Getting two requests in one day to write, or at least propose, an article.After speaking in a public venue, having a student ask what courses you teach that he might take.Finding out that a scholar you respect has called one of your books "fundamental."UPDATE:  And having a former fellow student write out of the blue to say that she's using an old article for teaching purposes,...

Provocative films, angry riots: the downside of new media

Doug Saunders at the Globe and Mail has been writing some really good stuff on the Middle East for a while now.  See this for clear-eyed clear thinking, clearly expressed  (my emphases):After this week’s violence in the Middle East, two things are apparent. First, a lot of Arabs in the region believe that “the United States” created a video mocking the Prophet Mohammed....

Historical maps, their meaning and their uses

Last night's round table on the War of 1812 attracted an audience of 35, not bad for a rainy Friday night opposite a hockey game.  We had faculty, students and people from town, and they were interested enough to stick around right up to 10 pm.One of the most interesting discussions...

Geography and history

We were just talking about the importance of geographical factors in Middle Eastern and Islamic history in a class today when sure enough, Robert Kaplan comes down the pike flogging a new book pushing a geographical analysis of world politics. Maybe he's taking it a bit far, but some readers may find this interview of intere...

The War of 1812: A Round Table at Nipissing University

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Martial art

For the last 20 years (!), My wife and I have been hosting an SCA medieval re-creation event on our rural property. Because it takes place on Labor Day weekend, and because we have 95 acres of land, there is time and space for a lot of different things to happen, or for people just...