History Carnival XXIV is up at Natalie Bennett's Philobiblion. Stop by, enjoy, and thank Natalie for doing such a good job of it!

Sebnem Arsu,"The World's Oldest Line," NY Times, 14 February, discusses a 4000 year old Sumerian tablet, now in the Istanbul Museum of the Ancient Orient. On it is inscribed the world's oldest love poem. A 93 year old historian, Muazzez Hilmiye Cig, is one of the few people who can read it.

William Grimes,"In the Red Army: Called, Trained, Killed," NY Times reviews Catherine Merridale, Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945.

The National Journal article on Guantanamo detainees that has drawn considerable attention across the net is actually a part of this series: Corine Hegland,"Empty Evidence," 3 February; Hegland,"Guantanamo's Grip," 3 February; and Hegland,"Who is at Guantanamo Bay," 3 February.

David Mehegan at the Boston Globe has a series of articles on Wikipedia:"Bias, sabotage haunt Wikipedia's free world," 12 February;"The idealists, the optimists, and the world they share," 13 February; and"Many contributors, common cause," 13 February. Thanks to Nathanael Robinson at Rhine River for the tip.

William Loizeaux,"In Memoirs, Varieties of Truth," Christian Science Monitor, 8 February, comments on the controversy over the memoir as a genre.