America Book Club: 07/01/26

The Conspiratorial Vein of America and Tea

Note, these pieces are a raw riff. They’re unedited and will likely have grammar errors.

Andrew Robert’s continues impressing. He’s engaging, scholarly, rigorous, and an exemplar of how to handle first hand sources. To the latter, as I’ve mentioned, I was a history major in college. My proudest academic achievement in college was getting into a class, which you needed the grades for, that began training you how to be a historian versus studying history. Much of it was learning how to dissect viewpoints, how to take first hand sources, aka, sources from the period, and extract history from it. Spot hyperbole, factions, political sides, the cultural fashions and notions of the time, and how to extract history from it. We also learned how to present a museum or how to tell the viewpoint of the museum and its goal of the curation. In addition, we learned how to dissect second hand, third hand, and other sources. Like, is it a Progressive revisionism, or is it more from a Conservative standpoint? The New Left of the 1960s radically changed how history was presented.

Roberts is a conservative historian, but he keeps partisan stances out. He, like most conservative historians in reality, are rigorous on evidence, and evidence from various angles. He isn’t pushing a narrative. But, he’s able to inject into the passages where we see history rhyming today, or gain perspective. Like how George III concern over moral rot and a lowering of a decorum, thinking it might end England. This sentiment of moral rot we see today. Or the conspiratorial nature of certain theories of what’s truly happening, it happened in America then, and that nature is widespread on X today. Robert’s ability to do this without getting partisan or without breaking a 4th wall, is remarkable.

Ok, I’m thinking of doing a livestream discussing America. It will be history focused. If that interests you, reply here or in the chat, if we get a few, I’m game.

Onwards.