The very real world of Patrick O'Brian

[an earlier version of this post was deleted through a technical error and so I have had to perform that dreariest of authorial tasks -- attempting to reconstruct from memory something already written . . . apologies for the duplication]

Stephen Budiansky

Leesburg, Va.

Surveying the dreary and wretched state of our politics each morning, I am frequently reminded of the wise words of my friend Lew Lord from Mississippi, who at times like these would announce, "I can't decide whether to shoot myself or go bowling."

One of the undeniable appeals of writing history, military history especially, and military history of a long ago era most of all, is escapism. I should hasten to say that by "escapism" I don't mean romanticism, or the mythologizing of the past.