August 9, 2023 is the 78th anniversary of the destruction of the oldest, largest and most historic Catholic community in Japan, that of the Urakami District of Nagasaki, whose Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception lay 1,650 feet beneath the airburst … Continue reading
Category: History
Triumph and the Quandary of American Conservatism
In the past few weeks, some very kind individual put all ten years’ worth of Triumph magazine online. For many reasons, this is an incredible breakthrough. In the decade of its existence (1966-1976), Triumph put out excellent work from some … Continue reading
July Pilgrimages
Once Independence Day comes and goes, July stretches forward into seeming infinity. If you have the time and the money, it is a perfect month to take a road trip and see something of the United States, Canada, or whatever … Continue reading
What If the Glorious Fourth Hadn’t Happened?
One of the most enjoyable if ultimately frustrating games an historian can play is “what if?” Enjoyable, because everyone has episodes of history — personal or general — he wishes had worked out differently. Frustrating, because while one can imagine … Continue reading
What So Proudly We Hail: Flag Day in 2023
When I was a boy in Los Angeles, school opened with our pledging allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stood, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for … Continue reading
The Curious Case of Marshal Suchet: A Gentleman in a Villain’s War
It is no secret that the Iberian Peninsula has, within its borders, played host to many of the most dramatic martial and moral clashes in the entirety of Western history. One can find no less than three major wars fought … Continue reading
The New Year: 1923 Versus 2023
Despite December 25th having passed, the season is still very much with us — and even secular folk usually keep up their trees and so forth until New Year’s Day. But what a difference for most of that week makes! … Continue reading
Reflections on the Second Elizabethan Age
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the Accession of King Charles III, much has, and will be, written and discussed about the profound, far-reaching, and wide-ranging changes, both societal and geopolitical, which marked the seven decades of the … Continue reading
Amakusa Shiro and the Holocaust at Shimabara
National Catholic Register, Luke O’Hara:That spring day must have dawned on Hara Castle like any other — sparrows chirping in the boughs above as soft waves lapped on the shore far below, and the doves thrumming their morning song as … Continue reading
The Long Defeat: Christendom and Its Defenders, 1789 to the Present. Part 6: France
Since it was in France, “the Oldest Daughter of the Church,” that the Revolution began in 1789, it should be no surprise that it was in France that the Counter-Revolution began. In the Vendee, Brittany, Normandy, Auvergne, and throughout the … Continue reading
The Long Defeat: Christendom and Its Defenders, 1789 to the Present. Part 5: Italy
When the French Revolution broke out, the Italian Peninsula was divided among several rulers. Piedmont and Sardinia were the domain of the ancient House of Savoy, as a Kingdom named after the large island. But Sardinia was not the Savoys’ … Continue reading
The Choctaw Indians Came to the Aid of the Starving Irish Victims of the Potato Famine
History Hustle: Only 14 years after most of the Choctaw people were forcibly relocated in the Trail of Tears, the tribe, though they had little to give, donated $170 (over $5,000 today), to victims of the Potato Famine in Ireland. The … Continue reading
The Long Defeat: Christendom and Its Defenders, 1789 to the Present. Part 4: The ‘Other’ Empire
Together with Austria, Slovenia, and Czechia, what is now Germany made up the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire, which — as we have seen — was for a long time ruled by the Habsburgs. Unlike their hereditary domains, most … Continue reading
The Conversion of Stalin’s Daughter
National Catholic Register, Matt Archbold: [His daughter] Svetlana, with the guidance of Father Garbolino, read books by Catholic authors and on Dec. 13, 1982, she converted to the Catholic faith. Svetlana wrote about her conversion: “Only now I understand the … Continue reading
The Long Defeat: Christendom and Its Defenders, 1789 to the Present. Part 3: The Eagle Has Two Heads
As we saw in our last instalment, the House of Habsburg carried on the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire into the 20th century, via the relatively new political construction called Austria-Hungary. Shepherded through the last half of the 19th … Continue reading