HOW LITTLE CHANGES

In between my conclave with Camilleri I am reading Don't Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812 by Donald R. Hickey, a professor at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska.

It struck me that many of the very long history books I have read before have been written by professors from North Dakota, Colorado or Ohio. I suppose there is not much to do there in the winter.

The prologue is entitled "The United States and Great Britain in a War-Torn World", and the opening words are quite sobering:

The world was a very dangerous place in 1812,..........