Showing posts with label Napoleon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Napoleon. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2013

Palmanova: Italy's Star City

Towns are founded to succeed. Some do and grow out of all recognition. Some fail and disappear into the ground. Some few fall into a vegetative state and keep going without growing. They are the ones to visit like Palmanova in Italy. Like a time capsule, the town remains almost unchanged since the time of Napoleon. It was founded by the Republic of Venice as the ideal Renaissance town.


Saturday, April 6, 2013

San Marino: The World's Oldest Republic

San Marino is the oldest existing Republic in the world. This is not just some boast, but historical fact. The beginnings of San Marino, as befits any good story, are shrouded in legend, putting the founding of the city into the hands of a saint, St Marinus. Like most of the early and many of the later Catholic saints, he is mythical but features a nice story. 


Friday, March 29, 2013

When One Prince is Not Enough: Andorra

Among the dwarf states of Europe, the Principality of Andorra is the largest. Until quite recently, it was an absolute monarchy. It was governed not by one, but two princes, and both are not citizens of Andorra. They don't even live in Andorra. To make the case even more curious, it is not a hereditary monarchy.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

How Money Came to Dominate Our Lives

Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money was published by Allen Lane. A Harvard historian shows the star economists how economics work today and how they worked in the past. His conclusions from comparing the two are at the same time obvious and disturbing. 


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Corsair, Painter, Writer: Ambroise Louis Garneray

Painters are used to dealing in colors but Ambroise Louis Garneray lived a more colorful life than most painters. To add even more color, he published various articles and books on his biography which were even more colorful than the reality. Meet the painter mentioned in Moby Dick and The War For All Oceans.