So, I've heard that when China was trying to modernize itself in the early 20th Century, it took some inspiration from German law for it's civil code, and I've also heard that the PRC has retained some aspects of the German Civil Code.

For the legal experts out there, what did the Chinese actually copy from the German civil code, because Wikipedia isn't being too helpful in that regard?

I saw it recommended on another post and thought I would check it out, but a lot of the Amazon reviews say that it gets a lot of the facts wrong and is biased. What's the consensus on this book?

The myth that Katana's were diamond bladed weapons of mass destruction was rampant on the early days of the Internet and has long since been debunked, But man...After all the shit I read about Katanas Idk how much of it is true cause It's getting harder to believe that these things were ever used to kill someone, Now before you say, I know wars are mostly fought using Polearms, And Katanas WERE sidearms, just like arming swords, Im light on history, but I aint sschutpid, Now to the point, Were Katana's and their counterparts really a brittle easily broken pile of trash that was for show more than anything? It's hard to believe anyone could traverse a terrain as jagged as japan with these things, Every article describes them as toothpick swords, And If that was true then why were they used for SO long.

I live in Long Beach. Recently, the local university changed its mascot from a prospector, citing the Native American genocide during the Gold Rush.

I’m 43. None of this was taught in school when I was growing up. I don’t know if it has changed.

So anyway, I would like to read up on it. Any suggestions?

Hey Historians. I am interested in information about the armor of Africa, more interested in Sub-Saharan Africa. I have found some stuff from Sudan but very little from anywhere else.

Did anywhere develop similar armor traditions to the West? If no do we know the reasons why? An issue of available and relevant metals?

In areas with armor traditions what made them stand out?

Thanks.

In the title, how did people, both clergy and lay people, around and outside the Islamic world react to the abolition of the caliphate? Did it have any real impact on people living outside the Ottoman Empire?

"[The Vikings] went on pirate raids, sometimes as far as the frontiers of the Chinese empire on the Caspian Sea; in the ninth and tenth centuries the Chinese outriders were surprised to meet men who were tall, red - haired and blue - eyed."

That's all the book I'm reading says on the topic. What is it referencing? I don't recall China reaching the Caspian.

I've been interested in my country's own history, I've recently watched The Act of Killing(2012) about the people employed to kill millions of Indonesians affiliated with the communist party. It seems the Indonesian curricula has massively dissapointed me, history during this time was massively glanced over. There were no deep dive into the why, how, and what happened on the 30th of September 1965. It seems that what's being thaught is also massively outdated. Please help me. Does the book "Pretext for Mass Murder" paint a better picture? I've heard about the recently released documents by The U.S government that sheds light on how the U.S. was complicit and actually helped the military take over Sukarno's government. Is that a good start?

Can someone give me a list of books and the order to read them?

I’m really interested in Sumerian culture because they’ve contributed so much to our modern society, and I want to learn more about their theology. Unfortunately every time I think I’ve found a good video that explores the topic, it spirals in to another ancient alien theory video. So much so that all my recommended YouTube videos now are “aliens built the pyramids” or “Atlantis was a real place made by reptilian humanoids aliens.” This seems to be extremely common when looking at anything to do with the Sumerians and the Anunnaki.

Does anyone have a good resource for learning about them that is more objective and doesn’t devolve in to alien theories?

I'm wondering what the process of courting and becoming married would've been like in Feudal Japan. I'm specifically asking about the nobility here, but I would be interested to know if the process and tradition differed, and by how much, compared to the peasant class. Additionally, how much freedom would the man or woman have had in the selection of their spouse? Was it predominately arranged by the families?

The second being Jack says “you’ve probably never been to Singapore” how many Caribbean pirates actually traveled that far?

Tornadoes still absolutely devastate modern infrastructure, so when a tornado blew through a little wattle and daub native american society, would they have escaped before then? If so, would they just rebuild elsewhere? Were they wary of tornadoes at all?

Was Shintoism not an overarching belief system of the Japanese at the time? Or was Buddhism simply forced upon the citizens through political means?

Edit: I've got a couple notifications about comments but for all my trying i can only the comment linking to another thread. Don't think I'm ignoring you all, sorry.

Edit 2: Don't mind Edit 1, I've talked to the mods :)

I had a conversation with my mom on how voting used to work. It ended because neither of us really understood how it worked in the past (specifically in the pre-electricity or even pre-telegraph era). Like how were votes counted? How long did it take? What did election security look like?

Edit: Should clarify I mean the United States.

I’ve been reading up on a lot of Mongol and Turkic related realms, and while I find it fascinating that they managed to basically curb stomp anybody with ease for a long while, I’m now a lot more interested in something that I can’t seem to find: the reason that they went from an unstoppable force to militarily irrelevant. What military tactics did the enemies of the Mongols and Turkic tribes at Ayn Jalut, Kulikovo, the Grand Stand at the Ugra River, and other major victories against them and their successors employ to stop them?

It is a very broad question, I know. But I've come to the conclusion that I didn't learn anything about him past the point of "and then he thought he was in India" at school.

For reference, I went to a Belgian high school, so obviously the focus was more on medieval history and the world wars since they're the most "relevant" to understanding our own history, I guess?

But yeah, what happened? Did Columbus get filthy rich? Did he participate in the slave trading, or killing the natives?

It's so weird to realize that I was literally only taught what happened just before he set foot in America, and then only slightly touching the whole slave trade before we changed subjects.