A matter of choice: strategy and discretion in the shadow of World War Two

American policy-makers are predisposed towards the idea of a necessary war of survival, fought with little room for choice. This reflects a dominant memory of World War II that teaches Americans that they live in a dangerously small world that imposes conflict. Critics argue that the ‘choice versus necessity’ schema is ahistorical and mischievous. This article offers supporting fire to those critiques. America’s war against the Axis (1941–45) is a crucial case through which to test the ‘small world’ view. Arguments for war in 1941 pose overblown scenarios of the rise of a Eurasian super-threat. In 1941 conflict was discretionary and not strictly necessary in the interests of national security. The argument for intervention is a closer call that often assumed. This has implications for America’s choices today.

Sobre la utilidad, seguridad y suavidad de la inoculación (1779). Discurso de Timoteo O'Scanlan (1726-1795) en la Real Academia de Medicina

Reconocido como una de las figuras clave en la difusión de la inoculación contra la viruela en España, el médico de origen irlandés Timoteo O'Scanlan dejó publicadas 3 obras y numerosos artículos de prensa en los que plasmó su pericia e interés por una práctica que se inició de forma tardía en nuestro país. Aceptado como miembro de la Real Academia Médica de Madrid en noviembre de 1778, leyó su discurso de ingreso en abril de 1779. El texto, que constituye la primera aproximación de O'Scanlan a la inoculación, que venía practicando con éxito desde 1771, fue incluido con algunas modificaciones y sin citar la fecha de redacción en la introducción de su primera obra, Práctica moderna de la inoculación (1784). El manuscrito se encuentra en el Archivo del Conde de Campomanes (Fundación Universitaria Española, Madrid).

Summary of the evolution of the fortifications of Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante from its origins to the beginning of the eighteenth century

Since ancient times, Alicante has been considered a strategic location on the east coast of Spain. Situated close to the sea, it is protected to the southeast by the Cape of Huerta and to the southwest by the Cape of Santa Pola. The city lies at the foot of Mount Benacantil, a high outcrop which has been the site of defensive buildings since time immemorial due to its naturally strong position: it was undoubtedly one of the strongest natural sites in the Levant. Its summit, lying 160 metres above the sea, is topped by a series of fortified enclosures now known as Santa Barbara Castle. This paper briefly describes the alterations made to the castle fortifications from its origins through the Renaissance, including the Muslim and Christian periods until the late fifteenth century and subsequent alterations to adapt new bastioned fortification techniques, and depicts the status of the fortress in each period. This paper is the result of doctoral research carried out at different national and international archives and leading to a thesis presented in 2011.

Engineer Leandro Badarán’s project to safeguard the fortresses of Alicante in 1794

After the construction of the San Carlos bastion in Alicante in the final decade of the seventeenth century, and the great trench which the English built around the district of San Francisco during their years of dominance in the War of Succession, the waters of the San Blas gully caused serious damage to these fortifications of the city and to the trade buildings of the port. In 1772, the diversion canal was built. It was designed to divert the riverbed of the gully and send the waters directly to the sea. The project had been initially designed by the Engineer General, Jorge Próspero de Verboom in 1721. This unique work of engineering had some defects, principally in the breakwater which prevented the waters from flowing down the former river course. On several occasions, the water returned to its original riverbed due to the weakness of the breakwater, the narrowness of the channel’s bed and its lack of regularisation, causing serious damage to the bastion, the Babel-facing façade, the traders’ warehouses and other buildings. This study describes the project that the military engineer Leandro Badarán carried out in 1794 in order to technically improve this canal and examines his report on the state of the fortifications. Similar works built in Spain are also explained. It also analyses the repeated disputes between the war department and the port throughout these years over finding a technical solution to the problem.

Description of a College Chamber (manuscript copy), ca. 1744

This humorous, rhyming poem appears to have been co-authored by Thomas Handcock of Massachusetts and Richard Waterman of Warwick, Rhode Island. The document is also signed by Catharine Waterman. Neither of the authors attended Harvard College, and the circumstances of this poem's creation are not known. The poem suggests that they composed the poem while visiting - uninvited - the room of "honest Bob." The poem describes the contents of this college chamber, including the following items: an oak table with a broken leg; paper, a pen, and sand for writing; books, including "Scotch songs," philosophy, Euclid, a book of prayer, Tillotson, and French romances; pipes and tobacco; mugs; a broken violin; copperplate and mezzotint prints; a cat; clothes; two globes; a pair of bellows; a broom; a chamber pot; a candle in a bottle; tea; cups and saucers; a letter to Chloe, to whom the room's inhabitant apparently owed money; a powder horn; a fishing net; a rusty gun; a battledore; a shuttlecock; a cannister; a pair of shoes; and a coffee mill. The poem references events related to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748); British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon's siege of Portobello (in present-day Panama) in 1739; the "Rushian War" (perhaps the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743); and the War of Jenkins' Ear (the cat in the college chamber, like British Captain Robert Jenkins, has lost an ear).

The works of Voltaire : a contemporary version with notes /

Accompanied by: Voltaire, index to his works, genius, and character / by Oliver H.G. Leigh. 302 p.

The works of Voltaire : a contemporary version ; with notes by Tobias Smollett, rev. and modernized ; new translations by William F. Fleming and an introd. by Oliver H. G. Leigh. A critique and biography /

At head of title: Edition säns soucï.

Chili: sketches of Chili and the Chilians during the war 1879-1880.

Mode of access: Internet.

The state records of North Carolina.

The colonial and state records of North Carolina. vol. [XXVII]-XXX.

The political economy of war,

pt. 1. Policy and economics of war.--pt. 2. On war debts.--pt. 3. On the great war of 1914-15.

Memorials of the late war ...

Added t.-p., engr.

A view of the causes and consequences of the present war with France /

Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 17158.

A view of the causes and consequences of the present war with France /

Goldsmiths'-Kress no. 17159.

Essays upon several subjects concerning British antiquities; viz. I. Introduction of the feudal law into Scotland. II. Constitution of Parliament. III. Honour. Dignity. IV. Succession or descent.

Introduction signed: Henry Home.

Papers illustrating the history of the Scots brigade in the service of the United Netherlands, 1572-1782;

Vol. 3 includes half-title: The remebrance, or The progress of a regiment commanded by my Lord Portmore in the year 1701 and 1702 ... giveing a true acount of al ther deeds and quartering the space of the ... by John Scot, souldier.