Listener Reviews

Hi Steve, my name is Gail. I live in SE Washington State in USA. I'm really enjoying your posts. I'm 75 years old/ young? Anyway I look forward to Sunday when they arrive in my email. Thank you…………………. Hello Gail, great to hear from you. Definitely 75 years young. 😊 Thanks for reading The Breezer and for those kind words. Best wishes. Steve

Ah, such an enjoyable ride down memory lane, Steve! Thanks so much for reminding me of Alistair Cooke and Sunday mornings growing up. I can hear his measured tones as I write. Sorry it took me a while to get round to reading it. But as always, a treasure!Thanks for giving us all such wonderful nuggets of history! You do such a great job!I now automatically forward this to a couple of older friends, who enjoy it very much.. They haven’t quite got the skills to sign up of their own accord, but I’m happy to spread the word. Have a happy weekend…………………….. Hello Dot, great to hear from you! And thanks for such a wonderful email. Yes, last week’s episode was a delightful trip down memory lane, wasn’t it. I thoroughly enjoyed researching and had some of the Letter from America backlog playing while I was writing. Thanks for forwarding the email to friends. Best wishes. Steve

The best part was actually your description of the British Class System! :)………………. Hello Scott…Many thanks for your feedback. Yes, I did enjoy talking about the British class system, totally bonkers. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. Best wishes, Steve

The reason I liked the story of Lincoln’s beard is that #1 I live in Vienna, ME, birthplace of Milton Bradley the inventor of “The Game of Life”. His first try at financial success had been to print an early lithograph of A. Lincoln; an effort that financially failed because of an 11 yr old girl. Also, I grew up with Lincoln items sitting around our house, inherited from a great uncle (long story there). However, one of those items was an ugly rifle that Lincoln had carried in the Black Hawk Indian War and with further research appears to be an experimental gun with the new style percussion cap hammer system designed by the French and which Gen Lafayette carried with him on his return tour of the U.S. years after the Revolution………………….Hello Cheryl. Thank you for your wonderful message and… wow—there’s a lot to unpack there! So, Grace Bedell was the cause of Milton Bradley’s business going bust because she had encouraged Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard, which ruined the likeness of his Lincoln lithograph—what a great story. As for Lincoln's rifle that you remember growing up and the connection with General Lafayette, what can I say, other than I hope you still have the rifle in the family. Hopefully you saw the newsletter I wrote a couple of weeks ago when I talked about the extraordinary Tadeusz Kościuszko and his contribution to the Revolutionary War. I believe Kościuszko and Lafayette became close friends when they returned to Paris after the war. Once again, many thanks for writing and have a great week. Best wishes, Steve.

Thanks for the newsletter! What I value about it is the spark of curiosity which clearly leads you to investigation and finally to invitation to others with curiosity. As you say…cheers …. from a fellow sojourner on the road of curiosity! Mike😎……………………..Hello Mike, Thanks for your message — one of the pleasures of writing The Breezer is hearing from readers who have an open mind and a similar curiosity about the world, so thank you. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, stay in touch. Best wishes, Steve.

Dear Steve, {and all the helpers} I've wanted to contact you for a while...but then Madame Helene made the scene and everything went sideways...literally! Today there's 8" of snow...BUT...I just have to "write" as today's stories really were "mine". I grew up in NY...spent, well, minutes on both bridges, marveled at this guy's vision, and wondered what else he might have done. I loved Izzy...so brilliant...didn't know 1/2 that info... Oh, and all the other articles...Gee, I'm so glad you're "out there"! Sincerely, Kathryn C...........................Hello Kathryn, Thank you for your wonderful email—you’ve put enough wind in my sails to last me the week! (By the way, it's just me—no helpers :)) I am sorry to hear about the snow in NY, but you guys are so resilient in the tough weather. In the UK we are completely useless at dealing with adverse conditions. I hope you weren’t too badly affected by Hurricane Helene and—if you were—have managed to settle back down to something normal (if there is such a thing in the world at the moment). As for Tadeusz Kościuszko, I have had a fantastic week researching such a noble human being. His motivation was so simple and pure. It would be great if some of his star dust settled on a lot more of us. I am also delighted that (thanks to my Polish friend) I can now pronounce and spell Kościuszko without cheating. It is great to hear from someone who has spent ‘minutes’ on both bridges named after him in NY. :). Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and stay in touch. Best wishes, Steve.

just a quick question why you used tonnes instead of just tons in you description of the "installation of the Great Chain—65 tonnes of iron stretched across 600 yards of river from West Point to Constitution Island", but used YARDS...just asking??...................................Hi Sharon...Thank you for your message. Fantastic observation! I wish I had a really intelligent response for you but…. I made a mistake. It should have been 65 ‘tons' and I wrote ‘tonnes'. It’s a funny old world we live in—in the UK we stubbornly still work with miles, yards and miles per hour on the roads. But while road signs giving warnings of an exit of a motorway are marked 600 yards, 400 yards, 200 yards….. legally they have to be placed 200 metres apart. We buy pints of beer in the pub (though not as often as I would like these days), but buy cans of beer in the supermarket in ml and litres. I know there are similar contradictions in the USA, Canada etc. None of which is an excuse, just an observation. I spend a lot of time proofreading my newsletters, but I am always happy when readers pick me up on typos or question some of the facts. It’s all part of the fun. You are the first to spot this one, so thank you. Let’s see if I can avoid the same mistake in future. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Best wishes. Steve.

Your entire "column" is one of the most interesting ones I've read. Period! I'm so pleased to have this to savor. God bless you and your work!

Steve, Happy new year, and welcome back! I really enjoyed your discussion of the First Opium War. If you haven't reached it already, you should check out Flashman and the Dragon, G.M. Fraser's account of Flashman's exploits in the Second Opium War and the contemporary Taiping Rebellion. One of my favorite Flashman books. And I loved your closing line. My 7th and 8th grade science teacher used it often. The scenario went like this: she would hand out a test, and immediately several students (usually striving girls) would erupt in questions about the process. She would heave a deep sigh and shout: "When all else fails, read the instructions!" She was known for it. She was a wonderful teacher and a lovely lady. She's still a family friend 50 years later. When I was young I enjoyed building models, so reading the instructions has always been instinctive for me. However, in my life I have happened to spend a total of almost four decades associated with two different women for whom reading instructions is anathema (just my luck). As such, I have had occasion to use that phrase myself many times over the years. Have a good week. Yours, Dan.................Hello Dan, Thank you and Happy New Year to you too. I shall look forward to reaching Flashman and the Dragon, though I’ve got a little way to go yet! My father used the expression “if all else fails, read the instructions”, and as a result, it has stuck with me. It’s a classic isn’t it? I am glad it resonates with you too. Best wishes, Steve.

Aloha Steve, I am enjoying your newsletter, teeming with information. It's keeping my curious mind active. Much more entertaining than reading the news. Thank you, Aloha, stay safe and be well.

Another fascinating post, Steve. Your description of Kipling was fair and balanced. He was a man of his time, in many ways, but today’s pop historians have no sense of perspective. Churchill was a great leader but viewed the Irish much as Kipling viewed the Indians. Here, Lincoln believed slavery was wrong, yet still felt blacks were inferior to whites. Proving only that great people are still flawed people.

Dear Steve, Thank you again for another wonderful newsletter, and let me wish you a Merry Christmas, as well. I loved your piece on Kipling. My college degree was in History, and I focused on 19th-century European history (basically the French Revolution through WW I). I even used to be a member of the Victorian Military Society. As you might expect given that focus, much of my study was of British imperialism, and I became quite familiar with Kipling. He became my favorite author, and still is, mainly because he wasn't shackled to the "White Man's Burden" concept so much as other authors who hadn't spent so much time in India. I get that he genuinely felt that the native populations benefited from European rule, but unlike most, he acknowledged their cultures, he saw them as human beings, and his native characters come across as real people, not just stereotypes. He clearly had some respect for them. As you probably know, he could also tell a great ghost story. His story "At the End of the Passage" is absolutely chilling. Check it out if you're not familiar with it. As something of an apologist for Robert E. Lee, it's easy for me to take the same stance with Kipling. Yes, he was a man of his time, but when held up against current standards, he was, nonetheless, about as progressive as you could hope for regarding native populations and cultures. And as you said, a wonderful story-teller. I do have one question for you: as a native Texan, I am not familiar with the phrase, "... contradiction that ran through Kipling like lettering through a stick of Blackpool rock." Tell me a little about that! Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! Yours, DT, Dallas, TX.

Dear Steve, Thanks for some wonderful insights. It will keep me engaged. How about covering the ravages of the colonialist powers starting 1492 CE? Thanks, Regards, Sampath………..Hello Sampath—Thank you very much for your kind feedback, much appreciated. As for covering the 'ravages of the colonialist powers from 1492’, there’s a topic that could take up a few episodes! Where to begin? As you know, I cover events with anniversaries in the following week. To do this, I keep a (fast-growing) database with as many of the world historical events that I can. It is like a monster that needs constant feeding. I have quite a few colonial-related references in the database, but will revisit it to give this part of history greater weight. That should mean stories start appearing more frequently on this subject when the key dates arrive. Thank you for shining some light on this pertinent period of history, I look forward to digging deep into the detail. Best wishes Steve

So loved this week’s news letter. Vermeer…. my absolute favourite. I learnt a lot about him this morning. So much variety as well, in this week’s edition. Who’d have thought, as a boy, seeing your dad’s wall art that you’d truly see them now. Subconsciously, you definitely must have been ‘paying attention’ back then.

Hi Steve, Honestly this is the first time I read your newsletter in full. Fascinating and amazing facts. Thank you for sending and I look forward to upcoming issues. Best, Mike.

Hi Steve, I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy reading this newsletter; your stories are certainly worth sharing! Thanks for your work! Sincerely

This is my first time reading Bating the Breeze. While I chose the whaling story as my favorite, it was a very difficult decision. I thoroughly enjoyed the stories about photography on antarctic and Margaret Thatcher. I finally made my decision when I realized that your story made me want to go back and reread Moby Dick. I look forward to your next email. Have a great day!.........................Hello Karen, thank you for your delightful message. You’ve put some much-needed wind in my sails. I was also struggling to choose a favourite this week—Moby Dick is a fantastic story isn’t it? I hope you enjoy your re-read. Best wishes. Steve.

I'd just like to say thanks for starting my Sundays off with a smile and a positive attitude.

Hi Steve: I recently discovered your newsletter and it has quickly become my favorite - easily besting the menagerie of finance newsletters I get each day. Thank you for your efforts and keep up the great work!

Steve, great letter this week! Thank you. I really enjoyed the story about the XB-17 and the pre-flight checklist. I have to admit, the B-17 is my favorite plane. I knew the story of the XB-17 crash and the genesis of the pre-flight checklist, but I didn't know the details about the pilots or the actual cause. And I had to respond about the Jean Shrimpton story. I'd heard that story before, but I've never seen a photo. What a hoot! That outfit is positively dowdy by today's standards. Hard to believe it was scandalous at the time. Thanks again, and have a great week. ..........................Hello Dan - Great to hear from you and thanks for the compliment. I’m pleased both stories triggered some memories for you. Yes, the B-17 is a great story isn’t it? I have been wanting to dig deeper into the detail for some time since I read Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto. My previous life was in business operations and I quoted from the book a lot to encourage teams to use checklists, particularly leaning on the B-17 story. And as for Jean Shrimpton, oh how times have changed. Best wishes. Steve

Another wonderful edition! FYI – Rosa Parks spent her last twenty or so years living in Detroit, Michigan. When the owner of the Detroit Red Wings hockey franchise, who also owned a massive pizza franchise, died – it came out that he had quietly paid for Ms. Parks’ home rent while she lived in Detroit. Silly fact I thought you’d enjoy. Cheers from Tennessee! ----------------- HI John, Thanks for the Rosa Parks snippet – that’s a heart-warming story isn’t it? Best, Steve.

Just wanted to say hello and let you know I enjoyed your article. Edith Cavell’s words that patriotism wasn’t enough but duty was everything sent a chill down my spine. I spent 26 years in the U.S. Navy.

I dearly love your columns of "unknown" world history facts. I'm passing this along in hopes you'll get some subscribers because I can't afford ANY of the Substack columns I read.-----------Hello Jack - Thanks for the email and… I know the feeling about cost! Thank you for your kind words and for sharing The Breezer around for me, it’s a constant battle to bring on new readers. Keep sharing! Cheers. Steve

Another great newsletter, Steve. Thank you. As for Cyrano, I loved Roxanne with Steve Martin; the segment where he tells a series of nose jokes in the bar is hilarious. Haven't seen it since it first came out; I'll have to track that one down again. But my favorite movie version is the one with Jose Ferrer from 1950. It's basically just a straight film version of Rostand's play, but it is one of Jose Ferrer's greatest performances. If you haven't seen it you should check it out. Have a great week, and thanks again.-------------- Hi Dan - Many thanks. I hope you are well. Thanks for the Jose Ferrer recommendation. It looks like I can get it over here, so I’ll check it out. It’s such a great story, isn’t it? The role was perfect for Steve Martin in Roxanne. “It must be wonderful to wake up in the morning and smell the coffee... in Brazil.” Best wishes, Steve