Why History Pendulum? The answer goes back fifty years. I had been a C+ student at Colgate University before I belatedly discovered history as the prism through which I would forever look at life.
Actually, I found Doc Reading.
Douglas K. Reading was the most colorful lecturer a 19-year-old could ever hope for. Except for a break during World War II, he lectured at Colgate from 1938 to 1980.
When I encountered him he was already a legend. He charged into the classroom at the stroke of the hour, always dressed in a coat and tie at a time when other professors were showing up in jeans.
His smile was reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt’s; just a hair less than a grimace. Spittle would occasionally escape through a big gap between his front teeth and shower those of us who chose to sit in the front row. He was profane, politically very incorrect, and mesmerizing.
He would place a 3×5 index card on the podium and start lecturing, rarely taking a break for 45 minutes. After class I would occasionally peek at the index cards: they never had more than 4 words, the major points to be made during the class. The rest of the lecture – names, dates, quotes, personalities, triumphs, failures – all came from his prodigious memory, and even his rants and tangents were precisely organized. My notes would always come out in perfect outline form.
I got hooked on Doc Reading during European History 101. After that, it didn’t matter what the subject was; I tailored my class schedule around what he was offering. 102, of course. Medieval History. Ancient History. Russian History.
Adam Smith and I were the only two who had perfect attendance in Russian Foreign Policy. Adam was my German Shepherd, who Doc tolerated because he paid attention to the lecture, just like the rest of us. When I stuck around Colgate for a graduate year, Doc asked me to correct student historical maps, a requirement for European History 101 and 102 . To this day, I can look at a map of Europe and tell the era: the Holy Roman Empire, the Age of Napoleon, before the Great War, between WW I and WW II.
It was Doc Reading who introduced me to the Pendulum of History. In this case, the pendulum template was placed atop the French Revolution.
………………………………………………………………………………..The Old Regime of Louis XVI – 1789
……………………………………………….Constitutional Monarchy – 1791
……………………………..Radical Revolution, Death of Louis XVI – 1793
..Reign of Terror – 1793-94
…………………………………………….Rise of Napoleon – 1799
……………………………………………………………………………The Bourbon Restoration – 1814
The lesson: To quote Isaac Newton, one of Doc’s favorites, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Historical forces ebb and flow.
Get the picture?
And the pendulum of history is what intrigues me in the Age of Donald Trump.
Here’s the question that I pose to you readers: where is the pendulum in our current era? Are we experiencing the last gasp (swing to the right) of the old America before it gets swept away by changing demographics? Or are we witnessing the restoration of white dominance after a brief flirtation with racial/gender/LGBTQ equity?
Hopefully, when the 9 books of Rian Krieger’s Saga are published, you will see the History Pendulum at work. For more about the pendulum of history, visit this article from Time Magazine.
Thank you for reading.
RA Smith – Author, Rian Krieger’s Saga
History Pendulum 