Tag: Portugal

Book Review: This Gulf of Fire

Mike CotéLeave a comment

This detailed & readable history of the Great Lisbon Earthquake is well worth your time.

On November 1, 1755 – All Saints Day in the Catholic Church – the greatest natural catastrophe in the history of modern Europe took place: the Great Lisbon Earthquake. The earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded, completely destroyed the glittering capital of the Portuguese Empire and claimed victims on four continents. The tremors, along with the resulting tsunami and firestorm, turned Lisbon, previously a cosmopolitan masterpiece of a city replete with imperial grandeur, into a hulking collection of burnt-out ruins. Yet most of us interested in history (even European history) may not have heard of this cataclysmic event or had only heard of it in passing. A 2015 book by historian Mark Molesky seeks to right that wrong and give the Lisbon earthquake its proper historical due as a key event in the European Enlightenment. [Sidebar: Dr. Molesky is one of my professors at Seton Hall University and I have studied under him.]

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The Geopolitical World Cup: Group Stage Part I

Mike Coté5 Comments

As you may know, the soccer (or perhaps more properly, futbol) World Cup is starting later this week in Russia and there have been tons of takes on which squad to root for given the absence of the United States from the competition. I figured I’d do something a little different to celebrate the World Cup, one of my favorite sporting events: run the whole event as if it were a geopolitical competition instead of a soccer one. Read More »