A serene field with autumn-colored trees under a clear blue sky.
06 Jul

On the Edge of Things

Wisconsin
To grow up in the northwoods was to grow up on the edge of things. On Mother’s day, Highway 17 filled with cars heading north past patches of dirty snow...
A man in a coat stands near bodies on a wet city street during wartime.
21 Jan

for whom I write

Deception / Russia / Soviet Union
Siege of Leningrad In the winter of 2008-2009, Patrice and I taught English in Moscow to young Russian business people between the ages 25-40. English is the world language of...
Numerous pink flamingo lawn ornaments scattered on green grass near a building.
02 Nov

History 419, 42 years later

Soviet Union / Wisconsin
September 7, 2010 A clap of thunder ricochets down Park Street in the space between the Mosse Humanities Building and Chadbourne Hall. Winds off Lake Mendota drive sheets of cold...
Soldiers inside a bunker during wartime, wearing numbered uniforms.
02 Dec

Memories from the time of Stalin

Book Reviews / Cold War Reflections / Russia / Soviet Union
I am reading interviews about Soviet repression that the Russia Memorial (with assistance from Orlando Figes) gathered.Memorial, controversial in Russia (Vladimir Putin suppressed Memorial, but its archives are preserved outside the...