Engraved scene from the works of William Shakespeare; the death of Caesar in 'The Tragedy of Julius Caesar', 1599.

The Lessons of Due Process in Julius Caesar

Shakespeare's tragedy offers a telling parable about the administration of justice—and rife mishandling thereof—in our day.
From a poster for Charles Frohman’s dramatic production, The Hand of Destiny by Pierre Decourcelle, 1896

Why Did “Thieves’ Cant” Carry an Unshakeable Allure?

If thieves’ cant—a language known only to criminals—was the Devil’s cabinet, bourgeois society couldn’t help but peep inside.
Confederate officer, John Robery Baylor from the Civil War time period

A Complicated Man: John Baylor’s Letters to His Family

How could John Baylor have done such terrible thing and simultaneously be so effusively affectionate in his letters home?