Blogging Back Ceaselessly into the Past

If you’ve ever found yourself lost in the pages of a novel set in a different era, you know the magic of historical fiction. It’s a genre that transports us to times long past, letting us walk alongside figures who shaped history or ordinary people living through extraordinary events. But how do you dive deeper into this world, especially when so much of our reading happens online? Today, I’m sharing my historical fiction online guide to help you explore this captivating gen

World War II remains one of the most compelling and complex chapters in human history. Its stories of courage, tragedy, and transformation continue to captivate readers and historians alike. But where do you turn when you want to dive deep into these narratives? Today, I want to share with you some of the best WWII narratives online that bring history to life, blending personal stories, strategic insights, and the broader sweep of global events. Whether you’re a fan of histo

Biopics are the cinematic version of biographical fiction, a subgenre of historical fiction that dramatizes real people and events. Some purists object to this mix of fact and fiction but I find the conversion of history into art to be one of the most meaningful and intellectual tasks within the storytelling art forms. Biopics also makes historical figures more intimate than just viewing them through a documentary and are an example of why Victor Hugo said all historians must

It is unwise to believe that John Quincy Adams and Dwight Eisenhower were opposites within the pantheon of American Presidents. Their differences were real but surface level and reflected their personalities but not their philosophies or policies. Adams comes to us as the quintessential intellectual President, Eisenhower as the old soldier who was an incoherent public speaker. Both envisioned America as the freest and most powerful nation in history, a multiracial republic wh

The fifteenth century is described by historians as the foundational period for modern history. Events like the Renaissance, the fall of Constantinople, and Columbus crossing the Atlantic transitioned the West from the Middle Ages to early modernity. The printing press’ invention, though less exciting and famous, presides over this era. It is deemed the millennium’s main event, and A&E famously named Johannes Gutenberg, its inventor, as the Person of the Millennium in 1999. P

Presidential history is one of my favorite topics (as can be seen in The Eisenhower Chronicles and The Middle Generation: A Novel of John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine ). But as interesting as the Presidents are to study individually, the relationships between the men who’ve held the office offer a unique and enlightening perspective on their personalities. Perhaps this is because it is one of the rare times that they are interacting with equals. Below, I’ve assembled

Author: Doyle Glass Year of Publication: 2014, 2023 (second edition) Swift Sword  by Doyle Glass is a gripping and immersive account of the Quế Sơn Valley skirmish during the Vietnam War. Modeled after Eugene Sledge's classic memoir, With the Old Breed , Glass aims to provide a similar tribute to Vietnam veterans, and he succeeds admirably. The book tracks the intense and deadly combat between American forces and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in meticulous detail. This nonf

I know, I know, this is no surprise to anyone and half of you are probably accusing me of bias. But there are reasons why Ike is my political hero and his foreign policy is the main one. I credit him with stabilizing the nuclear age, the largest and complex achievement of any President and, in all likelihood, of any leader in world history. (Image from The Spokesman) He inherited the High Cold War from Truman, which included both the stalemated Korean War and a memorandum tit

Other than Winston Churchill, FDR is likely the single most important person to Allied victory in World War II. That alone earns him one of the top spots on this list. His primary foreign policy experience was serving as Wilson’s Assistant Secretary of the Navy. As President, his Good Neighbor Policy undid his cousin’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and pledged nonintervention in Latin America. He also diplomatically recognized the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, he also refus

In the 1790s, the United States faced challenges in foreign relations unsurpassed in gravity until World War II. Britain and Spain still blocked access to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, thwarting America’s westward expansion. The French Revolution, which began in 1789, ignited a war in Europe in 1792. The revolutionary ideology turned this European power struggle into a total war where entire populations were mobilized for conflict. President Washington assembled

I had always respected Monroe and considered him a top 10 President, but my appreciation for his presidency rose exponentially while researching and writing The Middle Generation . Like with Eisenhower, I learned that because Monroe presided over peace and prosperity (nicknamed the Era of Good Feelings) people assume that he faced less challenges than most Presidents and his reign was uneventful. That was not the case. Monroe’s era was in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat. S

1. What inspired you to write this book? I have wanted to write biographical fiction since watching Lincoln in theaters in 2012. I wrote The Eisenhower Chronicles while in law school. That book was structured like an HBO miniseries, allowing me to experiment and grow as a writer with each episode. Upon completing it, I wanted my next book to be of a similar topic so I could push what I’d learned even further. I chose John Quincy Adams because, like Eisenhower, he had a bril

Few presidencies have been as uniformly dominated by foreign affairs as Truman’s but that’s expected when assuming office during history’s largest war and the birth of a new global order. He oversaw the final weeks of the European war and Nazi Germany’s surrender. He then became the only leader in world history to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in warfare, the main reason for Japan’s surrender. At the time, estimates for expected American casualties from invading Japan

I am not an FDR hater. I rank him as one of the five best Presidents and like his foreign policy even more than his domestic. He was an excellent Commander-in-Chief during WWII and the Atlantic Charter and United Nations redefined international relations by making conquest a taboo. However, there are some parts of his record that get overlooked that complicate his legacy. Most WWII buffs know that the US placed an oil embargo on Japan after Japan absorbed Indochina from Vichy

Reagan’s fans frame him as the architect of America’s victory in the Cold War. I would give such an accolade to those who designed containment, such as Truman, Kennan, Marshall, and Ike, but I do think Reagan deserves a lot of credit for the Cold War ending when it did. He escalated the arms race with the Soviet Union, which it could not afford. He also instructed the CIA to shut down the importation of Western technology into the USSR, strangling their economic growth and fo

Nixon believed the Grand Design, his name for the strategy of playing China and the Soviet Union off of one another, would one day overshadow the Watergate scandal and his resignation. That has yet to happen, but his great power diplomacy is often treated as a gold standard for modern American foreign policy. President Obama once downplayed expectations of his own foreign policy by saying that Nixon’s opening to China was a one-in-a-generation type of accomplishment. Historia

Few films have grown on me as much as Schindler’s List . Like everyone, I acknowledged its power. It is considered one of the hardest films to watch and most people say they will only watch it once. I just watched it for the fourth time in two years and in that time I went from thinking it inferior to Saving Private Ryan to considering it Spielberg’s magnum opus and one of my five favorite films of all time. (image from IndieWire) Spielberg has said that Lawrence of Arabia

The history of American foreign policy can be divided between pre- and post-1898, meaning before and after the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt was one of the leading advocates for war with Spain after the USS Maine exploded, even though it was suspected to be an accident even at the time. He famously led the Rough Riders up Kettle (not San Juan) hill, becoming the biggest hero to emerge from the war. This not only helped Roosevelt’s political career but, in his mind, redeeme

Jefferson was America’s philosopher-president. As the main author of the Declaration of Independence and Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, many at the time saw Jefferson as both a dreamer and a radical and feared his election (which he termed the Revolution of 1800) would bring the sort of Jacobinism that he endorsed in France to America. Jefferson pivoted to the center while in the Executive Mansion and proved himself arguably the finest political operator within the yo

Exciting news! My fourth novel, "The Middle Generation: A Novel of John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine" is now available for preorder! This historical fiction novel is a political thriller about Adams' time as Secretary of State and his forgotten showdown with Europe over South American independence that led to the Monroe Doctrine. It also touches on the rise of slavery as a major national issue and the familial pressure of being an Adams. Preorder sales are critical fo