by S. A. Cranfill | Feb 17, 2020 | Book Reviews, Juvenile Heroes
Can you really teach “Econ 101” to young kids?
Is that possible? By way of a friend’s introduction, I’ve bought and read both Under the Staircase books and wish I’d found them much earlier, when I was teaching homeschoolers. I’ve not seen anything like these books anywhere else. I hope to see more of them in the future. I passed mine on to a homeschooler with young kids. I’ll probably buy more.
What if you have a genuine passion for foundational principles that actually work (more…)
by S. A. Cranfill | Feb 17, 2020 | 17th-Century British & American History, Shakespeare
England Without Tea?!
It is hard for us modern-day Americans to imagine England without tea. What?! England without tea?! In Will Shakespeare’s day, that was (gasp!) indeed the case.
Have you heard the expression, “for all the tea in China”? It is from China that the drink made from boiled water and special leaves spread to Japan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and India. The adventurous Portuguese led the way for Europe. (more…)
by S. A. Cranfill | Feb 15, 2020 | Book Reviews
Shakespeare Crosses the Pond
By the mid-1800s, writes Professor James Shapiro in his insightful and informative Introduction to Shakespeare in America: An Anthology from the Revolution to Now, Will Shakespeare’s works had become widely known, “a cultural touchstone that transcended region and class.” He adds that “the history of Shakespeare in America is also a history of America itself,” a sharper narrative than that of the textbooks,… (more…)
by S. A. Cranfill | Feb 9, 2020 | Book Reviews
Samuel Eliot Morison’s 1952 Edition Is a Great American Treasure
Be grateful for good, knowledgeable, and insightful editors who turn old, difficult-to-decipher, but invaluable manuscripts into versions we 21st-Century moderns can read and enjoy. I have the 1993 hardback copy of the esteemed professor’s edition, with dust jacket, heavily marked up in many places. In his preface, Admiral Morison tells us that: (more…)
by S. A. Cranfill | Feb 8, 2020 | Book Reviews
BBC Documentary Producer Travels with Captain Smith
Did you know that Captain John Smith was not romantically involved with Pocahontas (she was a mere child), that he was not the liar and boaster some call him, that he named New England, that he fought the Turks, saved Jamestown, escaped from pirates, survived an almost deadly gunpowder explosion, and was an amazingly resourceful, clever, and entertaining hero who deserves his own television action series? The last is my own suggestion, but you can find the rest and a lot more in this innovatively researched account by Peter Firstbrook who traveled far and wide to test the writings of John Smith. (more…)
