Helprin’s new novel shows off his skills
It was another ordinary day when I swung by the public library on my way to town. I picked out a couple of DVDs I needed — “Groundhog Day” and “Ghosts” — and then drifted along the “New Arrivals” bookshelves, browsing the authors and titles.
A history of U.S. wars is worth a read
“Stand your ground! Don’t fire unless fired upon! But if they want to have a war, let it begin here.”
— Captain Parker, Lexington Green, 1775
Israel not helping its cause
To the Editor:
Why are Israeli warlords bombing children’s hospitals and killing hundreds of children and babies?
Local expert weighs in on potential Hamas war crimes
As the war between Israel and Hamas continues, folks around the world have become more divided in their support for one side or the other as misinformation fuels the fires of confusion.
Advice from a 13th-century philosopher about idols
I never pretend to be an expert on current events. In fact, I mostly avoid the news because so much of it is doom and gloom or the same old political rhetoric.
War history cites brotherhood, and bloodshed
Sometimes we read certain histories — Scott’s expedition to Antarctica, for example, or Washington’s troops at Valley Forge, or the prisoners in the Soviet gulag — and are stunned by the endurance and courage of the human spirit.
Bringing help: Western North Carolina’s connection to the war in Ukraine
Leaning against a wall in the basement of the train station right about midnight, they were cold and tired and broken, and it quickly became clear that they wished to go no further.
Bringing hope: In Ukraine, American nonprofits stave off humanitarian catastrophe
Since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine millions of people have left the war-torn country, with millions more driven from major cities and small villages in the east by the fighting.
‘Righteous fury’: A Maggie Valley man is on a quest to hold Putin accountable, and it’s not his first rodeo
At the end of every dictator’s reign, every time a warlord has been held to account, its due to the work of people who seek justice without pause or fatigue.
The messiest story you can have: A Western perspective on the war in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine may seem a million miles away, but one doesn’t have to travel halfway across the world to find the Western perspective on it. A small group of scholars from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee — some with roots in the war-torn region — are using their experience and academic skillsets to help educate the public about a complicated, confusing conflict that is already beginning to have global implications.