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The more history I learn, the more the world fills up with stories.

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The groundswell of outrage over the invasion of Iraq often cited the preemptive war as a betrayal of American ideals. The subtext of the dissent was: ...more

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By journey's end the brides were much better acquainted with their grooms and more or less pleased with the matches. Sybil Bingham wrote in her diary,...more

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Acts 16:9 is the meddler's motto, simultaneously selfless and self-serving, generous but stuck-up. Into every generation of Americans is born a new cr...more

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After Hiram Bingham built the first church on Oahu the student recalls, "When it was completed some of the natives said among themselves, 'That house ...more

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For Americans, Acts 16:9 is the high-fructose corn syrup of Bible verses--an all-purpose ingredient we'll stir into everything from the ink on the Mar...more

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Just the other day, I was in my neighborhood Starbucks, waiting for the post office to open. I was enjoying a chocolatey cafe mocha when it occurred t...more

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I do not think that there can ever be enough books about anything; and I say that knowing that some of them are going to be about Pilates. The more kn...more

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But I can no longer ready any faith's Napoleonic saber rattling without picturing smoking rubble on cable news. I guess if I had to pick a spiritual f...more

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Along with voting, jury duty, and paying taxes, goofing off is one of the central obligations of American citizenship. So when my friends Joel and Ste...more

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The thing that drew me to Lafayette as a subject - that he was that rare object of agreement in the ironically named United States - kept me coming ba...more

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Still, compared to him, compared to the people we descend from, I am free of history. I'm so free of history I have to get in a car and drive seven st...more

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The whole reason I wanted to take Owen to Disney World is that I fear that someday he's going to look through his childhood photo album and wonder why...more

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The whole reason I wanted to take Owen to Disney World is that I fear that someday he's going to look through his childhood photo album and wonder why...more

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History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between.