ABSTRACT
As I enter the classroom, Jim Connors walks briskly up and down the aisles, passing back homework to his class of high school sophomores at Lincoln High School. He is in his mid-forties, and dressed as usual in jeans, a solid flannel shirt, a wide leather belt with a brass buckle, and sneakers. I take my customary seat in the row of desks near the door, against a wall lined with posters illustrating the French Revolution. Within seconds, Mr. Connors begins to sketch a chart on the board, adding another link to the endless flow of modern European history.
