The Diary of George Templeton Strong

On this new episode of “Bookworm History”, we’re discussing the man and the history behind the Diary of George Templeton Strong.  Today, his diary is one of the most valuable primary sources for historians studying the American Civil War.  Strong’s writings weren’t just limited to that conflict though.  He wrote almost daily for 40 years, providing historians with a wealth of information about New York City in the nineteenth century!  But who was the man behind the diary?

What Did Shakespeare Really Look Like?

Greetings, folks!  Just finished up a new Bookworm History episode over on the YouTube channel!  This one’s all about the various portraits and pictures thought to depict the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon, William Shakespeare and whether any of them accurately illustrate what he looked like.  Check it out!

Do you think any of these images actually depict Shakespeare?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!

“Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”

“There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides, met
To view the last of me, a living frame
For one more picture! in a sheet of flame
I saw them and I knew them all. And yet
Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,
And blew ‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.'”

Stephen King took Childe Roland from Robert Browning who got it from Shakespeare. So where the heck did Shakespeare get it from?  In this episode of “Bookworm History” we’ll delve into the stories behind the tale of “Childe Roland” and examine the changes it went through on its way to King’s “The Dark Tower” epic!  Click on the title card below to check it out!
Childe Roland Mark II

The History of “The Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux

Greetings, fellow bookworms! I hope you’ve all recovered from whatever New Year’s festivities struck your fancy. I just put the finishing touches on a brand new episode of Bookworm History over on the Youtube channel. In this episode I explore some of the fictions and some of the facts that inspired French author Gaston Leroux to pen his most famous novel “The Phantom of the Opera”!

Click the title card to check it out and, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Phantom