Welcome to Monumental History! This is a free weekly (and sometimes biweekly) Substack about historical figures, events, societies, technology, and yes, monuments.
Some writers prefer to focus on a certain period, whether that’s the Ancient World, the Victorian period, or the early 21st century. I studied Late Republican Rome and Early Medieval Europe, but I consider myself to be a bit more of a generalist. It might take some time to find my groove.
The title of this newsletter is identical, but to be clear, this is not linked to Friedrich Nietzsche’s genre of history, which is about reverence for “human greatness.” How wholesome! Impressive achievements are fine — but there’s plenty of monumental badness and depravity to write about. I won’t be shying away from that.
I always liked writing long captions for Instagram to go along with the photos I had taken, but that was mostly for me. So I can do that here instead.
If I can help make the past feel a bit more familiar, that’s a win in my book. Hope you’ll join me.
Suggestions on what you’d like me to write about next? Drop me a note in the comments or send me a message!