Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Lack of capable editorial supervision. It was lazy. These things are about choices, and there were some questionable ones. Featured the war (where Grant revisionism is limited) over post-1865 career (lots of new understandings). Assumes the audience hungers for military history. Missed opportunity. 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Not here. The promotion about this was more about DiCaprio and Chernow than anything else. I was interviewed by phone, and told how critical my involvement would be. Then nothing. 😂 000
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/09/2026www.civilwarmonitor.com/historys-gra...civilwarmonitor.comHistory’s "Grant" ConsideredHistorian Brooks D. Simpson reviews The History Channel's historical docu-series "Grant." 110
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The American Experience Grant in 2001 was better. Had less time. Chernow dropped the ball here. 310
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Somehow locating a sniper's nest within sight of the gravesite of one president who was assassinated by a sniper and a monument to another assassinated president is so Trump. 050
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Well, he's right about their lack of intelligence. 000
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Incredible. Thank goodness he doesn't get to tell these lies at the 9/11 ceremonies. 120
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 31/08/2026It was Unconditional Surrender Grant, never Unconditional Surrender Trump. 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/08/2026About as blunt as I have gotten in print. No regrets. 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 29/08/2026www.thetimes.com/us/american-...thetimes.comTrump ranked the US presidents. No prizes for guessing first placeThe president’s bizarre list excluded almost every leader since 1948 and took potshots at his political enemies. It may be based on an unusual source 110
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Make what you will of these facts. Lee was no foe of slavery, seeing it as a burden on white people such as himself. He was no friend of black equality. Yet the impact of his decisions and his career facilitated the destruction of slavery. It was not his wish that such was the case. 000
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Near the end of the war Lee completed his contribution to the destruction of slavery by advocating for the enlistment of black men (including enslaved men) into CS ranks. Lee realized that such recruits would be recognized as free men. The experiment was too little, too late, but unrecoverable. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Lee's triumph at Fredericksburg, defensive in nature, was not significant enough to stike a blow that would have rendered the Emancipation Proclamation a desperation measure. Lee always found it challenging to transform battlefield successes into lasting strategic triumphs. He admitted this. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Lee fought McClellan to a tactical draw at Antietam, depriving the US of a decisive battlefield triumph. His decision to withdraw south across the Potomac, however, gave Antietam the appearance of a US victory, enabling Lincoln to issue his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation days later. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Lee's successes in thwarting US initiatives meant that the US believed it had to escalate the conflict in order to prevail, and that included striking at slavery. Then Lee completed the job at Antietam. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Second, Lee's generalship for the CS in 1862 deprived the US of the decisive victory it sought in Virginia. Had McClellan taken Richmond and defeated the Army of Northern Virginia, US victory might have been secured without a resort to escalation, including emancipation. Lee prevented that. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Indeed, one could see an earlier US victory, one obtained without the need to embrace emancipation as a war aim. Slavery remains intact in this scenario. Lee's first decision was adverse to that outcome. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026First, he declined a field command in the US Army. Although Lee as a US general need not have found it necessary to take the risks he did as a CS general, this favorite "what if" deprives the Confederacy of Lee's gneralship, which bears directly on the question. 100
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Robert E. Lee made several decisions that were key in the destruction of slavery. 110
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 24/08/2026When presidents enter into a term, it is normal for them to blame their predecessor for the situation in front of them. People eventually tire of this. Not in MAGA land. 130
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Lutnick and he simply don't know much and are not up to their jobs. 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 20/08/2026More Pat McAfee, less Brooks Simpson dealing with @ESPN. Once a media mainstay for me. 120
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Yeah, I liked it. pastexplore.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/b...pastexplore.wordpress.comBrooks Simpson on President U.S. Grant and His Alleged “Corruption”Who says Twitter is only good for selfies, LOLcats, and tweeting about coffee? Ta-Nehisi Coates, a columnist for The Atlantic, took to Twitter the other day to ask his followers a question about th… 020
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 14/08/2026The Bill Cassidy Legacy/Rehabilitation Tour is amusing. Doesn't serve him well. 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 11/08/2026The problem was taking the flawed AF1 in the first place to satisfy Trump's ego. The rest is bad optics. Not offended by multiple accounts ... transparency doesn't always serve security. 020
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 07/08/2026I like how Hegseth has learned from the master of not taking responsibility. Unconditional surrender sure is working. 020
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 04/08/2026www.linkedin.com/posts/brooks...linkedin.comUniversities are more than their presidents. Much more. University presidents need to realize that. Treating faculty as "they" and "them" ... as the enemy ... won't get you a...Universities are more than their presidents. Much more. University presidents need to realize that. Treating faculty as "they" and "them" ... as the enemy ... won't get you anywhere. Neither will ac... 010
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Which will Trump win first: the 2020 election or the war against Iran? 120
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 30/07/2026static.klipy.comSoldier Saluting American FlagALT: Soldier Saluting American Flag 120
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Someone has self-inflicted problems. What a father. 020
Brooks D. Simpson @bds77.bsky.social · 28/07/2026static.klipy.comMalcolm McDowell in Son of a Critch: Speak Up!ALT: Malcolm McDowell in Son of a Critch: Speak Up! 010
