It's a tired trope. Our protagonists are the only ones who understand and accept the truth. The mass of people must be cajoled and carefully guided into doing the right thing.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Lost or dispossessed heirs are frequent protagonists as they try to win back their rightful crowns. But the story also actually happened in history.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
What can AI do? Or is that even the right question? What did people think looking forward from the past?| Papyrus Rampant
Why do people like some stories and not others?| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Downfall, Iraq War, Spirit Ring, Kaiju Preservation Society| Papyrus Rampant
Making a bad situation worse| papyrusrampant.substack.com
250 years ago, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. It didn't do any major new thing, but it marked a trend that was already pushing America toward independence.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
I have enough history posts on enough varied topics that I think a topical index is now helpful.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
When a king does nothing, it's no burden to have a king. There was a time when Scotland not only kept but loved a king who did nothing - because he did nothing.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
History doesn't turn as fast as the calendar. There're hardly any immediate transitions; things don't just move from one scheme of things to another.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
I've learned to be wary of biographies.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
We don't know all the story, and we can't know it| papyrusrampant.substack.com
"All men are born free and equal" - so what does that mean?| papyrusrampant.substack.com
The English Civil War; The Framers' Intentions; Case of Conscience; The Lark| Papyrus Rampant
It's hard to fill a book with the one disaster... so how do you tell the story you want to?| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Response to Jeremiah's review| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Review - Naomi Novik's "The Golden Enclaves", and the Scholomance series| papyrusrampant.substack.com
The Revolution and Civil War compared| papyrusrampant.substack.com
The nominees, and how short fiction works then and now| Papyrus Rampant
Glory Season, Tainted Cup, William Pitt the Younger, White Eagle Red Star| papyrusrampant.substack.com
In 1775, Congress humbly petitioned King George - and a year later, they declared independence| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Going through the nominees, and what the Hugos represent| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Contest for California, Mightier Than the Sword, Ringworld Engineers, Golden Queen| Papyrus Rampant
You've had your revolution; now how do you make it glorious?| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Nineteen out of twenty Englishmen agree: "We need a revolution!"| papyrusrampant.substack.com
The story as usually told - his famous midnight ride - omits the rest of his life, and how it intersects with the larger story of history.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Victorian-era cautionary tales... of real possibilities| Papyrus Rampant
Tell the story you set out to tell; don't switch courses| papyrusrampant.substack.com
This was a month of mustering and expansion... and the Second Continental Congress assembled| papyrusrampant.substack.com
A response to Zinger bringing up an interesting question from a new angle| papyrusrampant.substack.com
"Here once the embattled farmers stood, and fired the shot heard round the world."| papyrusrampant.substack.com
On this week in 1775, March 23rd, Patrick Henry gave his famous oration concluding in "Give me liberty or give me death!" War was mere weeks away.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Moral Capital, Capital of the World, White Mountains, This Virtual Night| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Today is the two hundred fiftieth anniversary. No one had planned on it, but the cause and events forced it.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
The Patriots weren't trying to overthrow their traditional form of government; they were trying to respect it.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Where Britain chooses to fight a war| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Where New Hampshire first fired on the British flag| papyrusrampant.substack.com
Before the war had begun, Massachusetts had not just thrown off the British government but - with very little violence and complete order - established its own government.| papyrusrampant.substack.com
