Sophia covers battlefields, prisons, memorials, and sites shaped by war. Her articles focus on remembering history with depth and respect, uncovering the human cost behind conflict and violence.
Explore the definitive history of Robben Island, the Apartheid-era "University of Resistance" where Nelson Mandela and the ANC forged South Africa's future. Discover the symbol of South Africa’s triumph over Apartheid.
Behind the concrete: A clinical autopsy of the GDR’s 155km death machine. Explore the engineering of the 'Death Strip' and the psychological toll of a city under siege.
Discover the history of Checkpoint Charlie, the famous crossing point where US and Soviet tanks faced off in 1961. Explore the true stories of nuclear brinkmanship and the ingenious, dangerous ways people escaped East Berlin.
Explore the definitive record of the Trinity Site, the New Mexico desert epicenter where the first nuclear bomb was detonated, forever altering human history.
Discover the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo, the precise location where Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Explore the geography, the fatal wrong turn, and the "butterfly effect" that sparked WWI.
Explore the horrors of the Rape of Nanking, one of the most brutal massacres of World War II, where the Imperial Japanese Army committed atrocities against hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians.
August 9, 1945. Discover the chaotic mission behind the "Fat Man" plutonium bomb. Learn how the "Kokura Luck" spared the primary target and how the Urakami Valley shielded parts of Nagasaki while intensifying the blast that destroyed the Urakami Cathedral.
August 6, 1945. A forensic breakdown of the "Little Boy" uranium bomb, the targeting of the Aioi Bridge, and the physics of the blast that erased the city center. Explore the history of the Genbaku Dome and the survival of the human shadow on the bank steps.
Explore the definitive history of Dachau, the prototype for Nazi terror. Discover the site's geography, the SS training academy, and the 1945 liberation.
Explore Iwo Jima, the volcanic island that became the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles. Discover its harsh geography, the 36-day struggle between U.S. Marines and Japanese defenders, and the enduring legacy of the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi.
Explore Pearl Harbor, the site of the infamous 1941 attack that drew the US into World War II. Discover the geography of the harbor, what happened to the sunken ships, from the USS Arizona to the USS Oklahoma, and explore the memorials and museums that honor the lives lost.
Explore the haunting story of Oradour-sur-Glane, the French village destroyed by Nazi forces in 1944. Learn about the massacre that claimed 642 lives of civilians, the preservation of the ruins as a memorial, and the enduring legacy of this tragic event.