A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
Hey folks, Fireside this week! I have ended up a bit behind in my work and as always it is the blog that much suffer first. In this case, we have in two weeks twice managed to have snow which only increased my workload (it didn't cancel any of my classes, but did require me … Continue reading Fireside Friday, February 6, 2026 (On Ancient Migrations)
Hey folks, Fireside this week! Hopefully everyone enjoyed our series on the running debate over hoplites! As a social media note, I am going to attempt to start setting up a presence on Threads (with my own name, bretdevereaux, as my handle as always). I'm not leaving Bluesky by any means, just diversifying a bit; … Continue reading Fireside Friday, January 23, 2025 (On the Cowardice of the Statue PfPs)
Hey folks, Fireside this week! Next week we should be back to start looking at the other half of labor in the peasant household, everything that isn't agriculture. Also, here are some cats: Catching that perfectly timed Percy-yawn, while Ollie (below) is doing his best Percy impression with those narrowed eyes. For this week's musing, … Continue reading Fireside Friday, September 19, 2025 (On the Use and Abuse of Malthus)
Hey all, we're doing a Fireside this week! Both cats, soundly napping after a hard morning of making sure I was awake before my alarm went off. For this week's musing, I thought it might be worthwhile - this being a frequent space for military history - to offer a brief outline of professional military … Continue reading Fireside Friday, May 30, 2025 (On Professional Military Education)
Fireside this week! The ACOUP schedule might end up being a little unstable for the next few weeks as the coincidence of illness, the dense part of the teaching semester and unexpected travel are playing havoc on my schedule. I can only promise that we will finish the series on the failure of Hellenistic armies, … Continue reading Fireside Friday, March 22, 2024
Fireside this week! The semester has started up in earnest and I am pushing hard to try to finish a draft of something I have promised by the end of the month (so this may not be the only Fireside this month). That said, it seemed like a good time to discuss trade, the sea and great … Continue reading Fireside Friday, January 12, 2024
Apologies for running a fireside so quickly after the gap week, but with the end of the semester coming as the job market gets busier, I haven't had time to finish the next post on shield walls just yet. That will come out next week for sure though, as it is close to done. I … Continue reading Fireside Friday, December 8, 2023
Fireside this week! Depending on the order that things get written, we may have a few weeks of 'break' from our How to Roman Republic series, but do not fret: we will finish it. The one thing I am looking to 'slot in' as it were is a look at the armor of Baldur's Gate … Continue reading Fireside Friday, September 1, 2023
Fireside today to close out the week; if you missed the main post for this week - a review and discussion of Victoria III - because it appeared earlier you can head back to read it. This is going to be the last post, however, before my November break. As I've noted before, I'm planning … Continue reading Fireside Friday, October 28, 2022 (The Book Project)
Fireside this week! I expect to lean a bit more on Firesides than in the next few months as I am hoping to use the summer to make progress on my book project, which of course is going to impact the speed with which I can deliver you all the 5000-9000 word essays that tend … Continue reading Fireside Friday, June 10, 2022