Author: Heather Cox Richardson

In Afghanistan on August 15, Taliban fighters took over the presidential palace in Kabul, the country’s capital, while the president of the United States-backed Afghan government, Ashraf Ghani, fled to Tajikistan. The U.S. and many other countries are rushing to evacuate their diplomatic personnel and allies from the country, although Russia is not, as the Taliban has guaranteed their safety. As of that evening, all U.S. embassy personnel are at the Kabul airport, which was being protected by the U.S. military. Over almost 20 years in Afghanistan, the U.S. has lost 2448 troops and personnel. Another 20,722 Americans have...

In early July, the Bullock Texas State History Museum cancelled a book event three and a half hours before it was supposed to start. After Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) opened the hearing, Sergeant Aquilino Gonell and and Officer Harry Dunn of the Capitol Police, and Officer Michael Fanone and Officer Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police, recounted hand-to-hand combat against rioters who were looking to stop the election of Democrat Joe Biden and kill elected officials whom they thought were standing in the way of Trump’s reelection. They gouged eyes, sprayed chemicals, shouted the N-word,...

In early July, the Bullock Texas State History Museum cancelled a book event three and a half hours before it was supposed to start. Written by journalists Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford, the book was titled Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth. According to historian H. W. Brands, who reviewed the book for the Washington Post, it both introduced the story of the Alamo to readers unfamiliar with it and explained how the story has been interpreted since the 1836 battle occurred, using the ways in which British musicians Phil Collins and...