Greater than Its Parts: The Prospect of Global History

War on all the World: Starz’s Black Sails

Churchill Begins: Candice Millard’s Hero of the Empire

Byzantium Ascendant: Peter Frankopan’s The First Crusade

A Valiant Effort: Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur (2004)

Just Stop: Brian Kilmeade’s Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates

Crucible of the World: Peter Frankopan’s The Silk Roads

Mud, Blood, and Grunting: FX’s Taboo, Season 1

We Love Them Anyway: Guilty Pleasures in TV and Film