At its height in the 15th century, the Medici Bank could claim to be one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. It was the bank of Pope! However, by the end of the century, it no longer existed. So what happened? How did the bank rise and how did it fall?

Join Ryan as he talks about what he learned about this once great bank that belonged to a legendary Italian family. Follow along as he covers what he learned.

Sources:

Tim Parks, Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence (London: Profile, 2013), 39-40.

Raymond De Roover, The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397-1494. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), 10-11.

Richard A. Goldthwaite, “The Medici Bank and the World of Florentine Capitalism,” Past & Present, no. 114 (1987): 5, http://www.jstor.org/stable/650959.

Paul Strathern, The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance (New York, NY: Pegasus Books, 2016), 20.

Christopher Hibbert, “The Rise and Fall of the Medici Bank,” History Today, 1974 Aug 01, 1974, 526, https://www.proquest.com/magazines/rise-fall-medici-bank/docview/1299027156/se-2?accountid=12085.

Mary Hollingsworth, The Family Medici: The Hidden History of the Medici Dynasty (New York: Pegasus Books Ltd., 2018), 134.

R. A. Goldthwaite, “Local Banking in Renaissance Florence,” Journal of European Economic History 14, no. 1 (1985 1985): 43, https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/local-banking-renaissance-florence/docview/1292866160/se-2?accountid=12085.

Juraj Kittler, “Too Big to Fail: The 1499-1500 Banking Crisis in Renaissance Venice,” Journal of cultural economy 5, no. 2 (2012): 165, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2012.660783.

Christopher Hibbert, The House of Medici, Its Rise and Fall (New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2003), 33.

Frederick E. Gaupp, “Cosimo De’ Medici’s Banishment — a Farce?,” The Mississippi Quarterly 14, no. 1 (1960): 14-19, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26473223.

Gene A. Brucker, Renaissance Florence, vol. Book, Whole (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), 121-27.

Mark Jurdjevic, “Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici,” Renaissance Quarterly 52, no. 4 (1999): 999, https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2901833.

C. W. Previte Orton, “The Medici,” History 32, no. 116 (1947): 81, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24402429.

F. W. Kent, Lorenzo De’ Medici and the Art of Magnificence (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), 84.

Eva Helfenstein, “Lorenzo De’ Medici’s Magnificent Cups: Precious Vessels as Status Symbols in Fifteenth-Century Europe,” I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance 16, no. 1/2 (2013): 415, https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/674434.

Fabrizio Antonio Ansani, “A ‘Magnificent’ Military Entrepreneur? The Involvement of the Medici Bank in the Arms Trade (1482-1494),” Business history (20, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2021.1944112.

John F. Padgett, and Christopher K. Ansell, “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434,” American Journal of Sociology 98, no. 6 (1993): 1302, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2781822.

A. Sapori, “The Medici Bank,” PSL quarterly review 2, no. 11 (2014): 205, https://dx.doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/12855.

In 1850, there was a gang so vicious that Cormac McCarthy chose to use them as characters in his book Blood Meridian. But who were these men? What did they do? And finally, what happened to them?

Join Ryan as he talks about what he learned about this villainous gang. Follow along as he covers what he learned.

Sources:

All information about Samuel Chamberlain and his life is taken from his personal memoir My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue.

John H. Eicher, and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002), 742.

Smith, Ralph A. "The Life and Legacy of John Joel Glanton: Soldier, Outlaw, and Bounty Hunter" (Texas State Historical Association website 1952), https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/glanton-john-joel. Revised by Sloan Rodgers on December 9, 2015.

John Sepich, Notes on Blood Meridian: Revised and Expanded Edition (Austin, Tex: University of Texas Press, 2008), 22-28.

William Carr et al., “Depredations by the Yumas,” Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California and of the Pioneers of Los Angeles County 6, no. 1 (1903): 52-54, https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/41169609.

George Washington had a daring plan in the winter of 1776. His idea was to strike back against the British and give his army a much-needed morale boost, since they were still reeling from major defeats. However, to succeed, he needed to keep the enemy forces to a manageable number. He turned to Colonel Samuel Griffith and his militia men to help save his plan. These men fought bravely in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

Join Ryan as he talks about what he learned about this relatively unknown battle. He covers what happened, why it mattered, and why it's difficult to learn much about this battle.

Sources:

Daniel Bancroft to the Committee of Congress, January 10, 1777, “Supreme Executive Council Clemency File (Roll 723)”, Clemency File, 1775-1790, undated, 1775, 218-224 https://oa-psa.libnova.com/view/668823/clemency-file-1775-surnames-a-z-to-1780-surnames-a-l-roll-723?q=must,any,contains,Clemency&offset=1&limit=10

Carl Leopold Baurmeister, Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals 1776-1784 of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces, ed. Bernhard A. Ulendorf (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1957), 75. https://archive.org/details/revolutioninamer00baur/page/n3/mode/2up.

https://founders.archives.gov/

Joseph Reed, “General Joseph Reed’s Narrative of the Movements of the American Army in the Neighborhood of Trenton in the Winter of 1776-77,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 8, no. 4 (1884): 392, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20084674.

Johann von Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979), 35-42.

George Ewing, William Cox Ewing, and Thomas Ewing, George Ewing, Gentleman, a Soldier of Valley Forge, ed. Thomas Ewing (Yonkers, NY: Thomas Ewing, 1928), 13-15. https://archive.org/details/georgeewinggentl00ewin/page/n7/mode/2up.

John Hunt, John Hunt Journal, 1776 12mo. 24 – 1787 12mo. 22, John Hunt Papers, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College https://ds-pages.swarthmore.edu/friendly-networks/journals/sc203241

“Revolutionary Journal of Margaret Morris of Burlington, New Jersey, Ii,” Bulletin of Friends’ Historical Society of Philadelphia 9, no. 2 (1919): 65-72, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41945472.

Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey ed. William S Stryker, vol. 1. 1776-1777 (Trenton, NJ: The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, 1901), 242-43. https://archive.org/details/ser2newjerseyrev01newjuoft/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater.

Robert Morris to John Hancock, December 26, 1776, in Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789, ed Paul H. Smith (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1976-2000)

Dennis C. Rizzo, and Alicia McShulkis, “The Widow Who Saved a Revolution,” Garden State Legacy (2012), https://gardenstatelegacy.com/files/The_Widow_Who_Saved_a_Revolution_Rizzo_McShulkis_GSL18.pdf.

The Writings of George Washington (New York: G.P. Putnam’ Sons, 1889). https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/ford-the-writings-of-george-washington-vol-v-1776-1777

George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence: Continental Army Court Martial, April 8, Proceedings at Mount Holly, New Jersey. April 8, 1778. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw450243/.

Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey ed. Francis B. Lee, vol. II, 1778 (Trenton, NJ: The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, 1903), 217. https://archive.org/details/ser2newjerseyrev02newjuoft/page/216/mode/2up.

The Kemble Papers, vol. 1, 1773-1789 (New York, New York: New-York Historical Society, 1883), 596-97.

Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey ed. Austin Scott, vol. V, October, 1780-July, 1782 (Trenton, NJ: The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, 1917), 38. https://archive.org/details/ser2newjerseyrev05newjuoft/page/38/mode/2up?view=theater.

The election of 1912 featured the incumbent President, the former President and his new party, a relatively new politician who suddenly became the front-runner, and a socialist. It may be one of the most unique elections in American history.

Join Ryan as he talks about what he learned about this crazy election. Hear him discuss the split of the Republican Party and the quick rise of Woodrow Wilson. Hopefully, you enjoy a brief discussion about the Election of 1912.

Sources:

James Chace, 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft & Debs- the Election That Changed the Country (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), 23.

Lewis L. Gould, Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2008), 23.

Andrew C. Pavord, “The Gamble for Power: Theodore Roosevelt’s Decision to Run for the Presidency in 1912,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 26, no. 3 (1996): 633, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551622.

Robert Dallek, “Woodrow Wilson, Politician,” The Wilson Quarterly (1976-) 15, no. 4 (1991): 111, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40258177.

J. Robert Constantine, “Eugene V. Debs: An American Paradox,” Monthly Labor Review 114, no. 8 (1991): 31, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41843621.

They guarded trains, hunted outlaws and robbers, and acted as strikebreakers. The Pinkertons are possibly the most famous private detective company in history. So who were they? Why did they get so famous? And was it right for Red Dead Redemption to make them the villains?

Ryan talks about what he learned while researching the Pinkertons, from their successful career in train protection to their disastrous attempts to hunt Jesse James and everything in between. Tune in to see what he learned.

Sources:

S. Paul O’Hara, Inventing the Pinkertons; or, Spies, Sleuths, Mercenaries, and Thugs: Being a Story of the Nation’s Most Famous (and Infamous) Detective Agency (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), 15-18.

Jay Bonansinga, Pinkerton’s War: The Civil War’s Greatest Spy and the Birth of the U.S. Secret Service (Guilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2011), 65-67.

“Secret Departure of the President Elect from Harrisburgh,” New York Times (1857-1922) (New York, N.Y.), February 25, 1861,

https://www.nytimes.com/1861/02/25/archives/highly-important-news-secret-departure-of-the-president-elect-from.html.

Haygood, Wil, “A Story of Myth, Fame, Jesse James,” The Seattle Times (Seattle, W.A.), September 17, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20081229061215/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003885037_jessejames17.html

Charles Siringo, A Cowboy Detective: A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency (Arcadia Press, 1912), 138-39.

Charles Siringo, Two Evil Isms, Pinkertonism and Anarchism: By a Cowboy Detective Who Knows, as He Spent Twenty-Two Years in the Inner Circle of Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency (1915).

While researching the brutal Glanton Gang, I came across Samuel Chamberlain. Chamberlain's memoir turned out to be one of the best things I have ever read. I learned that no one loved Samuel Chamberlain more than Samuel Chamberlain. Please join me while I tell you all about Chamberlain's My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue.

Since this is a book review, all information is taken from the book My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue by Samuel Chamberlain. The only exception is confirming his position as a Brevet Brigadier General, which is cited below.

John H. Eicher, and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002).

In a change of pace, Ryan reviews the new Netflix show, Death by Lightning. He also talks about the book the show is based on, Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic. Ryan compares the two and discusses what he liked, didn't like, and learned while watching the show.

Tune in to find out Ryan's opinions, and if you like this show, Ryan may do more of these.

Millard, Candice. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2011.

One of the first Wild West Outlaws in American history, Jesse James holds a special place in pop culture. The mythology around him is strong enough that Brad Pitt played him in a movie. So who was Jesse James, and how did he become so popular?

Join Ryan as he discusses what he learned during his reading and research. Find out what he has to say about this American legend.

Sources:

Gardner, Mark Lee. Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape. New York, NY: HarperLuxe, 2013.

Muehlberger, James P. The Lost Cause: The Trials of Frank and Jesse James. Chicago, IL: Westholme Publishing, 2013.

O'Hara, S. Paul. Inventing the Pinkertons; or, Spies, Sleuths, Mercenaries, and Thugs: Being a Story of the Nation's Most Famous (and Infamous) Detective Agency. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.

Stiles, T. J. Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2003.

https://www.northfieldhistory.org/1876-bank-raid