A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at the history of battle in popular culture
This is is the sixth part of a series taking a historian’s look at the Battle of Helm’s Deep (I, II, III, IV, V) from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at Saruman's siege tactics and found them badly wanting. Even … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part VI: Is This a Good Sword?
This is the second part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep (Part I here), from both J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson’s 2002 film of the same name. Last time, we looked at the operations which led up to the fortress assault. This time, I … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part II: Total Warg
This is the long-awaited first part of a series taking a historian's look at the Battle of Helm's Deep from both J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers (1954) and Peter Jackson's 2002 film of the same name. We're going to discuss how historically plausible each sequence of events is and, in the process, talk a fair … Continue reading Collections: The Battle of Helm’s Deep, Part I: Bargaining for Goods at Helm’s Gate
This week, we look at the positioning of main gun batteries and see what the Battlestar Galactica could use to learn from the USS South Carolina (BB-26).
A look at the tactics of the 'loot train' battle from Game of Thrones (S7E4), in which it turns out, everyone is the fool.
We're going to talk about the comically nonsensical logistics of the "Battle of the Goldroad" from Game of Thrones (S7E4), commonly just called the 'Loot Train battle.'
This short essay is responding to a (mis)characterization made - in passing, perhaps, but unchallenged - about the sort of people in the early Christian Church in the context of a high profile political discussion between two notable thinkers on the right, David French (writes for NRO) and Sohrab Ahmari (writes for Catholic Herald/NYPost) (moderated … Continue reading New Acquisitions: Class, Status and the Early Church
This is the fifth part of a six part series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) taking a military historian's look at the Siege of Gondor in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Return of the King. Parts I, II, III and IV can be found here, here, here and here. Last time, we looked at cavalry … Continue reading Collections: The Siege of Gondor, Part V: Just Flailing About Flails
This is the second post in a three-part series where we look at the question "how accurate is Game of Thrones to the European Middle Ages" - and if not the Middle Ages, what periods of history does it most resemble? This post will look at this question with respect to cultural norms (especially norms … Continue reading New Acquisitions: How It Wasn’t: Game of Thrones and the Middle Ages, Part II
Fair warning: this post will contain spoilers for all of Game of Thrones and likely for all of A Song of Ice and Fire (assuming they share an ending). Proceed at your own risk. So the Game of Thrones is supposedly over, with the major Lords of Westeros deciding to shift to an elective monarchy … Continue reading New Acquisitions: Elective Monarchy and the Future of Westeros
