I have been writing on historical topics for years, but as a journalist. As a reporter, columnist and book reviewer, I managed to sneak a fair amount of history into my work for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times, and in my outside writing for Liberty magazine. Most of this was history from books, but I begin here with seven pieces for which I consulted primary sources. They show how I think about historical questions.

The first three — about scrap steel, Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese internment — look back at the period before and during World War II. Each is making a point relevant to political arguments today. The column about scrap steel outlines a case in which national security was more important than money. The column about Pearl Harbor reminds people who have just gone through the terrorism of 2001 that the situation in 1941 was much different, and that occasional terrorism is not a valid excuse to throw out the rules of a peaceful world. The third selection is about the role of the newspapers in the campaign in 1942 that resulted in the internment of the Japanese Americans and loss of their Constitutional rights. All three of these articles are reminders for people to think clearly when under threat and not to sacrifice what they value most.

Following these are four lighter pieces. One looks back at the push for liquor prohibition in Washington. One is about Seattle’s homeless camp in the Great Depression — much bigger than the ones today. One is about celebrating the Fourth of July in Seattle a century ago. The last of this group is an impressionistic look at the 1890s that I originally wrote for The Panic of 1893.

Next is a piece I wrote in 1987, about the history of the monetary ideas espoused by a Washington politician, Jack Metcalf. I didn’t use primary sources, but I think it was my first dive into the economic issues of the late 19th century.

Next are five book review-essays from Liberty magazine concerning the period of 1930-1950: “Defending Henry Ford,” which argues against a charge that Ford was pro-Nazi; “The Nazi Economy,” which analyzes the economic system imposed by the National Socialists in Germany; “How the Swiss Survived,” about how they avoided being invaded in World War II; “FDR and the Japanese Internment,” about who was responsible for the internment of Japanese Americans; and “The Hollywood Reds,” about Communists in the American movie industry.

Next, two reviews from Liberty of economic historian Deirdre McCloskey’s Bourgeois Dignity and Bourgeois Equality, which offer an explanation of the rhetorical roots of the Industrial Revolution.

And finally, a piece on “Merwin-Webster,” the early 20th century writers of business novels.

To read these stories, go to “Historical Writing” in the menu above.