Changi Beach in Singapore

CHANGI BEACH, SINGAPORE — By daylight and by moonlight, this is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Asia Pacific and it has one of the most horrific histories of any place in the region.

In the footsteps of Heidi in the Swiss Alps

MAIENFELD, SWITZERLAND—The alpine meadows. The soaring mountains. The cute little goats with bells around their necks, chiming away in the shadow of a picture-perfect hillside.

A Walk on the Wild Side of Hong Kong

HONG KONG—Most first-time visitors to Hong Kong spend their days in this city of skyscrapers looking up and dodging the crush of people.

Recent Posts from around the world

Henry James' Washington Square

Literary History Today Feb 28: Henry James dies in London

Henry James dies in London at the age of 72 on this day in 1916 after suffering a stroke two months earlier. As a young boy, James was tutored by governesses and shuttled back a[...]

Just west of Salinas is Monterey where Steinbeck set Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat

Literary History Today Feb 27: John Steinbeck born in Salinas, CA

On this day in 1902, John Steinbeck, the grandson of German immigrants who settled in central California, was born to failed businessman Ernst and schoolteacher Olive[...]

Literary History Today Jan 26: Thomas Wolfe leaps

The North Carolina born writer decides not to go to Connecticut with his oh-so-patient editor Max Perkins.

The Biltmore Estate and the Downton Abbey connection

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA — There’s something familiar about the largest private residence in the United States. Not that it looks like any house I’ve ever been inside nor even [...]

Literary History Today Jan. 25: Robert Burns Day

Poet Robert Burns, not Robbie as I was told often during my visit to Scotland last year, was born on this day in 1759 at the village of Alloway in South Ayreshire.

Today in Literary History Jan. 24: Edith Wharton born in NYC

It’s the sesquicentennial of the birth of Edith Wharton today. Born, as all the biographical info say, into an aristocratic New York family, Edith Newbold Jones lived in a refined [...]

Literary History Today Jan. 23: Orwell dissects Kipling

Novelist and critic George Orwell reveals his five stages of Rudyard Kipling in a review published on this date in 1935.

Downton Abbey. Why reading is better than watching

The only thing that could make the very good Downton Abbey great would be to read about it.

Literary History Today Jan. 19: Patricia Highsmith born in Texas

The strange and talented Patricia Highsmith, who learned to read before she was two years old, was born on this day in 1921 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Literary History Today Jan. 17: Hunchback of Notre Dame finis

Victor Hugo finished writing Notre Dame de Paris on this day in 1831, the book that has since become better known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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