Abraham Lincoln – the man responsible for the United States of America

“Four score and seven years ago” – actually, seven score and ten – Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Long held to be America’s greatest president, he was also a gifted speechwriter.

Charleston’s Civil War legacy: Castle Pinckney and Fort Sumter

The American Civil War began long before Confederates fired the first salvo at Fort Sumter. But that is not the only national monument visible from the sea walls of Charleston, South Carolina: the other is Castle Pinckney.

A salutary reminder that no war ends war

One hundred and fifty years ago the first major battle of the American Civil War (1861-65) took place at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on 17 September 1862. In his tribute to Abraham Lincoln, assassinated the year the war ended, Walt Whitman’s evocatively titled poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” reminds us of all that was lost.

“Now, Voyager, sail thou forth”

Science writing – health, climate change, environment, nanotechnology, biotechnology – often gets a poor press. Too technical, too obscure, too fantastic. A joy, therefore, to find a brilliant article in the latest issue of The Smithsonian on the exploration of outer space.

Women, children, and public memory are the first casualties of war

The abduction of babies from their mothers is a crime that has no justification. Denying that such a crime is either conceivable or takes place diminishes our common humanity.

Commemorating the American Civil War and lamenting its futility

The American Civil War officially began 150 years ago. It continues to resonate throughout the political and social life of the U.S.A., not least in the African-American civil rights movement. For many of the Southern states that took part, its legacy is one of both sadness and pride.