It’s a new year, which for history buffs means not only the chance to make changes moving forward but also the chance to look toward the past with a different focus.  A new period.  A new theme.  A new set of questions.  Or at least a bunch of new books about old stuff to read.

I start every year with a set of topics that I plan to explore. Every year some piece of the past sticks out its foot and trips me.  So with caveat that an unexpected historical figure/period/event/theme will probably ambush me, here are some of the topics that I know I’m going to be thinking about in 2015:

I’m not quite sure when I became a military historian of sorts, but war is a constant in my historical universe. There are a few anniversaries in 2015 that will be hard to ignore:  the ongoing centennial of World War I, the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War, the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo. I’m already in the first stages of a project related to Gettysburg and plotting a visit to the World War I exhibition at the Getty Museum.

Vikings and medieval sagas, with a nod to Nancy Marie Brown

Tough broads, whether armed with swords or only with their wits (Do not underestimate a smart woman with a metaphorical axe to grind)

Romantic nationalism, or how an interest in linguistics and poetry turned ugly

What historical topics do you see in your immediate future?