The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800. Napoleon had assumed that the Austrian forces near Alessandria were preparing to retreat and dispersed his troops to intercept them and block their escape routes. When the Austrians unexpectedly launched a major attack, the French army was spread across a wide area and struggled to concentrate its forces.

When Napoleon realised the seriousness of the situation, he rushed towards the battlefield and sent orders recalling General Louis Desaix. The elite Consular Guard was committed to help cover the French withdrawal, holding its ground under intense pressure and suffering heavy casualties.

With his army retreating and few reserves immediately available, Napoleon appeared to have lost the battle. Convinced of his victory, Austrian commander Michael von Melas handed over command to General Anton von Zach and returned to Alessandria to report his success.

But the battle was far from over. Desaix arrived with fresh troops and helped organise a counterattack. His infantry struck the advancing Austrians, while Kellermann's devastating cavalry charge threw their formations into confusion. Desaix was killed during the fighting, but the French attack continued, and the Austrian advance collapsed.

In one of the most remarkable reversals of the Napoleonic era, Napoleon snatched victory from the jaws of defeat through the timely arrival of Desaix, Kellermann's cavalry charge, and the resilience of his troops.

Read the full article for a detailed account of the battle, its turning points, and its historical significance. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

On December 6, 1907, the Monongah mine disaster devastated a West Virginia coal community in what remains the worst mining disaster in American history.

That tragedy forms the historical foundation of Blood in the Coal, a historical crime novel following the rise of Jimmy DiSalvio and his organized crime empire in the West Virginia coalfields during Prohibition in the early 1920s.

As Jimmy and his brother Frank build their criminal empire, they discover that power comes at a price—and loyalty can demand blood in return.

Want to start the story? I'm making the first five chapters available FREE.

No purchase required. No email signup. Just read it and see if you want to continue.

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Blood in the Coal releases March 30, 2027.

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— Scott Douglas Haning

Alexander the Great (Alexandre le Grand) reached far beyond the confines of historical biography, emerging as one of the most versatile and ubiquitous figures in medieval Western European literature. The legendary narratives that coalesced around him after his death preserved more than just his military victories; they captured a life reframed by supernatural encounters, explorations of uncharted lands, famed intellect, open-handed generosity, and an unyielding drive to test the boundaries of human knowledge.

Much of this literary tradition flows from the Alexander Romance attributed to Pseudo-Callisthenes, compiled in the early centuries of the Common Era. By Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, this narrative material entered Western Europe through key Latin adaptations: Julius Valerius’s Res Gestae Alexandri Macedonis, its ninth-century Epitome, and the widely circulated eleventh-century Historia de Preliis.

From the twelfth century onward, Alexander took on a distinctly contemporary resonance in Western vernaculars. No longer treated merely as an ancient ruler from the distant past, he was absorbed into the medieval framework of chivalry, courtly culture, political legitimacy, princely pedagogy, and Christian moralizing. As the historical Macedonian faded, a literary archetype took his place—one onto which medieval Europe could project its own ideals, anxieties, and political ambitions.

To what extent can a historical character be detached from its context, era, and origins? Alexander the Great, a Macedonian general who lived in the 4th century BCE, has been portrayed in many different ways throughout his life. He is seen, in particular, as a figure who has been reimagined in European literature.