Author: Scott Manning
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When History Becomes More Like Professional Wrestling
“FDR was a piece of shit. If you disagree, you don’t know history.” That is what someone said to me during a stream of articles last month about President Roosevelt’s attitude and policy toward Jews during World War II. While everyone piled on the president, I pointed out that his attitudes toward Jewish people was…
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Book Review: The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. In The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam, Jonathan Riley-Smith has provided a succinct, powerful work that helps us understand the historical memory of the Crusades in both the Western and Islamic worlds. Given the sensitivities over the Crusading era with both Christians and…
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Norfolk, just one cemetery in the Somme
There are three predominate features of the Somme—farms, woods, and cemeteries. The French and British took a different approach with this massive battlefield. Instead of having one giant cemetery, they have numerous “small” ones. When you consider that the Allies suffered nearly 700,000 casualties in a mere 4 and a half months of fighting in…
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The Bastogne Mardasson Memorial
While in Luxembourg, a Belgian coworker harassed me, “You’re an American and you’ve never visited Bastogne?” It was true. I was visiting the Low Countries for the third time and I had zero plans to visit the famous town from the Battle of the Bulge. To redeem myself, I showed him a picture of the…
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Luxembourg’s Bourscheid Castle
On the way to Bastogne, I passed a sign pointing to a castle. I was feeling adventurous, so I went 10 miles out of my way to visit the Bourscheid Castle. It was well worth the detour. As you approach the castle, there is a superb spot for panoramic shots of the castle and valley.…
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Connecting with the Chancellorsville Battlefield
After 150 years, the Battle of Chancellorsville (1863) remains a textbook example of maneuver warfare, of Sun Tzu’s maxim to avoid strength and attack weakness. Quite literally, it was one of several examples in my maneuver warfare course at AMU a few years ago. Battlefields always require some imagination, but few battlefields offer visitors such…
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Why do Students Dread Historiography?
Historiography is not a popular topic among students. A Classics undergrad at Temple received a B on her paper, with a comment by the teacher on the lack of secondary sources. The student responded, “I cited all primary sources. Why do I need secondary sources?” At AMU, graduate history students are required to take a…
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A Tale of Two Luxembourg Cemeteries
Visiting both the Luxembourg American Cemetery and German War Cemetery consecutively provided an interesting perspective on how two peoples on opposing sides have chosen to remember their war dead. Both cemeteries hold soldiers who fought during World War II, many during the Battle of the Bulge. There is a heavy dose of crosses at both,…
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Luxembourg German War Cemetery
After visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetery, I convinced my German coworker that we should visit the Germany War Cemetery as well. It just over a mile away. The following description, photos, and video comes from my trip there on April 18, 2013. The German cemetery holds over 10,000 fallen German soldiers who fought…
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Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial
When I learned that Patton was buried 10 minutes from my hotel in Luxembourg, I had to make the pilgrimage. The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial is a bit of touristy place, but it is well worth the trip. The following description, photos, and video comes from my trip there on April 18, 2013. There…
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William Freehling on Why another Lincoln Biography
This past Friday, I had the privilege of hearing Dr. William Freehling deliver the keynote lecture at the 18th Annual James A. Barnes Conference, at Temple University in Philadelphia. Freehling has written much about the Civil War, but now he is taking on an effort to write a Lincoln biography. Given that Lincoln’s life is…
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What Does It Take to Earn a Military History Degree?
Several folks have asked me about my experience acquiring a bachelor’s in military history. While I cannot answer what goes into a military history degree at every university offering it, I can highlight what it took me to finish mine at AMU. In short, it was 121 credit hours, which translated to 41 courses and…