Writing by Topic: War & the Military

On the Vault

“A WWI-Era Memo Asking French Officers to Practice Jim Crow With Black American Troops” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, April 27, 2016)
“The CIA’s WWII Guide to Creating Organizational Dysfunction Perfectly Describes Your Toxic Workplace” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, November 20, 2015)
“Photos of Belgium’s Ravaged Landscapes, in the Immediate Aftermath of World War I” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, November 28, 2015)
“An Eloquent Baptist Protest Against Internment Camps During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, November 9, 2015)
“A Sailor’s Annotated Map of the Pacific Illustrates A Tour Of Duty During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 9, 2015)
“The Heartbreaking Posters That Convinced Americans To Help Displayed Syrians During WWI” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 23, 2015)
“Sketches of Life in a Union POW Camp, by a Confederate Prisoner” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 31, 2015)
“An 1863 Recruitment Letter Urging the Formation of Anti-Lincoln Sleeper Cells” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 27, 2015)
“Five Panoramic Photographs of the Ruins of Hiroshima” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 6, 2015)
“Americans Recovering from the Civil War Loved These Bloodless, Beautiful Battle Scenes” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 30, 2015)
“How a Jewish Rescuer Smuggled Hundreds of Jews Out of Poland During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, March 11, 2015)
“A Tourist Map of Occupied Paris, Issued to German Soldiers During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 27, 2015)
“Biographical Cartoons of Notable Black Americans, Drawn to Promote Unity During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 5, 2015)
“The Slips of Paper That Called 19th-Century Militias to Muster” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 2, 2015)
“The Info-Dense Maps Civilians Used to Follow WWII From the Home Front” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 23, 2015)
“The Lucky Charms Soldiers Carried Into WWI” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 13, 2015)
“Hopeful Hand-Embroidered Christmas Cards, Sent Home from the Front During WWI” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 23, 2014)
“An Inventory of Robert E. Lee’s Personal Property, Left in His Mansion and Seized by the Government” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 11, 2014)
“FDR’s First Draft of his ‘Day of Infamy’ Speech, With His Notes” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 8, 2014)
“Nifty Methods for Smuggling Contraband, From a Manual for WWII-Era British Spies” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 5, 2014)
“A WWII Ration Book Issued to FDR” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, November 18, 2014)
“The Black Humor of WWI Soldiers, in a Parody Form Letter to Wives” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 29, 2014)
“The Wild Zebra-Striped Ships That Confounded German Submarines During WWI”(Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 13, 2014)
“The British Painters Who Were Eyewitnesses to World War II” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 12, 2014)
“Who Counted as a ‘Fascist’ in Postwar Italy? How the Allies Decided” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 13, 2014)
“Photos of ‘Soldiers’ Inventories’ Showcase 1,000 Years of Fighting Gear” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 8, 2014)
“A Post-World War I ‘Hunger Map of Europe,’ Aimed at the Hearts of American Kids” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 31, 2014)
“The Documents A.J. Liebling Carried While Reporting Overseas During World War II” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 28, 2014)
“A US Intelligence Agency’s Map of German Concentration Camps, a Year Before Liberation” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 8, 2014)
“The Delicious Rations Promised to Prospective Soldiers of the Continental Army” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 23, 2014)
“The Romantic, Hopeful French Pictorial Postcards of World War I” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 20, 2014)
“‘A Forlorn Little Rescue Party’: Post-Combat Interviews With D-Day Survivors From One Hard-Hit Company” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 6, 2014)
“His Son Killed in Action, Theodore Roosevelt Longed to Go to War” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 23, 2014)
“The Beautifully Illustrated Family Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 21, 2014)
“An Evacuation Plan for White House Dependents During the Cuban Missile Crisis” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 12, 2014)
“The Rum Jar, the Flying Pig, and the Ypres Express: WWI Slang for Germany’s Terrifying Munitions” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 6, 2014)
“‘It Is Difficult to Know How to Begin’: A U.S. Soldier Writes Home from Dachau” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 2, 2014)
“The Relentless WWII War Bond Propaganda Could Be Really Irritating” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, April 30, 2014)
“One Sailor’s Sketched Memories of a World War II Shipwreck” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, April 2, 2014)
“The Tank-Building Learning Curve, as Seen in Photos Taken Inside WWII Factories” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, March 25, 2014)
“A Brooklyn Woman’s Colorful Quilt, Illustrating Her Experience of the Civil War” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, March 18, 2014)
“How to Build a POW Camp for Captured Germans” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, March 3, 2014)
“How To Keep Your Neighbors From Panicking After the Bomb Drops” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 27, 2014)
“Historical Chart of the Causes, Milestones, and Battles of the Revolutionary War” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 26, 2014)
“A 1930 Chinese Comic-Book Edition of All Quiet on the Western Front” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 10, 2014)
“An Enlisted Woman’s Quiet Sketches of Friends Serving in the British Royal Navy During WWII” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 6, 2014)
“Chart Shows Occupations of Soldiers Most Likely to Be Rejected by the Union Army. (Sorry, Editors, Barkeeps, and Tailors.)” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 9, 2014)
“The Government Advice That Scared 750,000 Britons Into Euthanizing Their Pets” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 7, 2014)
“How The Civil War Helped Make Christmas A Permanent American Tradition” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 23, 2013)
“Einstein’s 1941 Letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, Begging Asylum for Jewish Refugees” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 13, 2013)
“The Army’s Advice for Soldiers Headed for the Korean War: ‘Respect Your Allies'” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 11, 2013)
“Counting Fifes and Drums in George Washington’s Army” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 10, 2013)
“The WWII Maps That Told Japanese Soldiers About Air-Raid Damage To Their Cities” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 28, 2013)
“Chilling Cold-War-Era Billboard Slogans, Drafted For Use After An Attack on the US” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 24, 2013)
“What 20th-Century Tarring and Feathering Looked Like” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 15, 2013)
“Government to Employers During WWII: ‘You’re Going To Hire Women. Here’s How to Deal'” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 10, 2013)
“Watch Gene Kelly Channel ‘Combat Fatigue Irritability’ in a WWII Navy Training Film” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, October 2, 2013)
“How Literate Are You by 1918 Standards? Take This Oddly Poetic Test” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 24, 2013)
“How to Sketch a Terrible Place: A Union POW’s Hand-Drawn Map of Andersonville Prison” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 23, 2013)
“Is it Possible to Fit the Civil War Into a Single Chart? Here’s One Beautiful Attempt” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 16, 2013)
“Pretty Pincushions, Embroidered by British Soldiers in WWI and Sent to Their Sweethearts Back Home” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 11, 2013)
“The Map That Lincoln Used to See the Reach of Slavery” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, September 4, 2013)
“The Saucy Juvenile Ballads Yankees Used to Taunt Jefferson Davis” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 23, 2013)
“The Hottest Celebrity of Early 19th-Century America Was a 67-Year-Old Frenchman” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 19, 2013)
“Color Footage of Hiroshima, Rebuilding from the Rubble” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 8, 2013)
“A Script for the Queen’s Speech, in Case of Nuclear War” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, August 1, 2013)
“Fake Photos of WWI Aerial Combat That Really Had People Fooled” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 31, 2013)
“A Passionate Letter from a Lawyer in Support of Resistance to the Vietnam Draft” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 29, 2013)
“How to Mock a Nazi: Two Russian Posters That Hit ‘Em Where It Hurt” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 26, 2013)
“A Citizen’s Letter Tattling on Some AWOL Soldiers, 1918” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 16, 2013)
“‘Cave In, Boys’: A Leaflet Aimed at the Confederate Defenders of Vicksburg” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 9, 2013)
“‘Laus Deo!’: Celebrating a Huge Victory in the Revolutionary War” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 3, 2013)
>”A Coded Postcard From a Poet Headed to the Somme” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, July 2, 2013)
“A Handwritten Newspaper, Produced by Confederate POWs” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 25, 2013)
“A Cheerful ‘Diploma’ For Participants in A-Bomb Testing” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 20, 2013)
“How to Pick a Soldier for the Continental Army (No Short Guys Need Apply)” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 13, 2013)
“In This Photo, German Soldiers React to Footage of Concentration Camps” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 11, 2013)
“What A Platoon Leader Wore To Storm Omaha Beach, 69 Years Ago Today” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 6, 2013)
“Paul Revere’s Vision of Occupied Boston” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, June 3, 2013)
“Four WWII Posters That Taught Soldiers to Identify Chemical Weapons By Smell” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 24, 2013)
“What to Bring to a War: A Packing List for WWII Army Nurses” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, May 21, 2013)
“German Caricatures of Napoleon’s Army ‘In Shambles'” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, April 30, 2013)
“The Confederate Helicopter That Never Got Off the Ground” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, April 19, 2013)
“A Pigeon’s Message From the ‘Lost Battalion'” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, March 27, 2013)
“The Goofy, Anti-Nazi Parody Film That Enraged Goebbels” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 12, 2013)
“A Plea For Help from Nazi-Occupied Austria” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, February 5, 2013)
“When Citizen Vigilantes Busted Food Hoarders” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 21, 2013)
“Photo: Snipers on the Streets of Paris, 1944” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, January 9, 2013)
“A Soldier’s Illustrated New Year’s Greeting” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 27, 2012)
“General Sherman’s Surprise Christmas Present for President Lincoln” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 20, 2012)
“Squashing the Squander Bug in Wartime Britain” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 13, 2012)
“The Mole Skin That Got a Civil War Widow Her Pension” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 7, 2012)
“A Patriotic Song of the Revolutionary War, Hidden in a Schoolboy’s Book” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, December 5, 2012)
“When Benedict Arnold Swore to be True” (Slate‘s The Vault blog, November 14, 2012)

Everywhere Else

“How 1940s Prisoners of War Escaped Through Their Dreams” (Atlas Obscura, December 16, 2015)
“How to Write Erudite History For Teenagers” (an interview with M.T. Anderson) (Slate, October 9, 2015)
“What Did Gettysburg Smell Like? A Sensory History of the Civil War” (Slate, November 24, 2014)
“The Snake-Eaters and the Yards: The Vietnamese Tribesmen Who Fought Alongside American Special Forces Won the Green Berets’ Admiration–And Lost Everything Else” (Slate, November 27, 2013)
“Faraway Fronts, Close to Home” [PDF] (Paperweight, Spring/Summer 2011)
“Captive Audience” [PDF] (The New Republic, online; November 2003)
“The Soldier and the Pacifist” [PDF Part One] [PDF Part Two] (YM, August 2002)

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