North Africa
Pirates of the…Mediterranean?
In response to my recent post on nineteenth century Chinese pirate Cheng I Sao, Margins reader Davide reminded me of another highly successful pirate* and then made the provocative comment that the subject of piracy in the Mediterranean is very interesting and often neglected by historians. Challenge accepted. It’s a big question, but let’s take…
Read More
Re-Run: Cowboys and Indians, North African Style
Unlikely though it seems, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the French Foreign Legion over the last week. I bet most of you have a few stock images of the Foreign Legion in your heads: men fleeing from their past into the desert and anonymity, absinthe, burning sands and blazing sun, those funny…
Read More
Re-Run: Muslim Spain–The Soundtrack
The perversity of the universe being what it is, the final stages of renovating our new-old house and finishing my book proposal have collided. Instead of driving myself mad trying to write blog posts or letting History in the Margins go blank for a few weeks, I decided to run some of my favorite posts…
Read More