Which of these things is not like the others? With my penchant for clocks as the visual theme for The Pragmatic Historian, does today’s featured image of drums come as a surprise? It may seem on the surface that clocks and drums have nothing to do with each other, but both are timekeeping devices. Clocks tell us what time it is within the day, but drums establish the tempo for other musicians to follow. The…
History is everywhere. I’ve always kind of known that, but since starting The Pragmatic Historian and purposely looking for it, I want to shout it from the rooftops: “HISTORY IS EVERYWHERE!!” Where the Past Begins Within the past week, I finished reading Amy Tan’s memoir, “Where the Past Begins.” If the title isn’t enough to convince you that she used history to write the book (the word “Past” is a dead giveaway), she opens the…
The Importance of Dating Today on The Pragmatic Historian, we’re going to discuss dating advice. Lest you think this has suddenly become a venue along the lines of Emily Post, Miss Manners or Tinder, let me put your mind at ease. Dating in the context of history is more mundane than building a relationship with a potential romantic partner but, I’d argue, no less important. In my post History in Numbers, where I discuss the…