Alright so for months if not years there has been something a bit strange why is it when it comes to legends and mythological creatures such as vampires every single continent has a legend about them example native Americans had legends about vampires before they were even discovered by Europeans it doesn't make sense can someone please explain this to me

I'm an avid armchair historian and the books I've read on revolutions such as the American, French, Russian, etc., describe the actions and reasons for the revolutionaries, as expected. I'd like to find out more about how revolutions such as these, as well as others, hewed to the original vision or drifted away from that of the originators. Also, how and why were co-revolutionaries disposed of even though they had played important roles. There seem to be commonalities among revolutions and I'm interested in "comparative revolution" studies. Any recommendations for books that look at revolutions in general from these perspectives (and other related ones) are welcome!

I'm trying to write a fantasy story set in an alternate England (It wasn't really England since there probably were a bunch of Germanic people migrating there at the time). I want to add some trade routes to make it more realistic, but I can't seem to find good sources online to help me out for that time period. If I know where the trade routes and resources are, I can set clear kingdom boundaries. Questions like where did all the cotton, wood, or cattle mostly come from, which region forged armor, which areas were most responsible for farming or engineering? That sorta thing.

Unrelated but if you guys don't mind, I'd also like to know where the politics and battles mostly took place. Thanks :)

EDIT: Thank you all so much for all the replies!

I've been living in Japan for a few years now. Everyone here seems more slim and healthy compared to back home in America, yet they eat plenty of white rice.

A Japanese student of mine, a doctor, and I got to talking, and he mentioned that while Japanese obesity rates are rather low relative to the rest of the world, their diabetes rate is almost the same as the U.S. (I haven't fact-checked this). He attributed the cause to white rice consumption.

I know that in Europe eating whole grain bread was the norm, at least for the peasant class, until the industrial revolution. So maybe Asians consumed primarily brown rice in the past too? Polishing rice without modern machinery seems extremely labor intensive. However, I can't find much info on the internet.

In addition, I recently watched a video about some people who defected from North Korea. One lady said they were so poor that they could only afford to eat white rice on their birthdays. So I thought, perhaps, they mainly consume brown rice there.

Does anyone know if Asians used to consume whole grain rice for the most part (I:m especially curious about Japan) ?

I know before Puerto Rico became the prize for competing imperial nations there was a thriving culture. Unfortunately I’ve found painfully little about the religious practices and folklore of the Taíno or Arawakan people.

Were they polytheistic? What were their gods like? Any notable heroes (I’ve heard of Guama)?

This is a big question. I’d appreciate even general guidance about where I can find answers.

In the days of Roman expansion and such, Rome constantly warred with Germanic tribes, but I never hear anything about the slavs and their tribes? Did the Roman legions ever encounter Slavic warriors and tribes people?

I say that mountains are better for the military aspect of nations because it requires a madman to cross tall, icy peaks. Even when people tried, it often went disastrously for the invader's army (Hannibal crossing the Alps for reference). In contrast, rivers are hard to cover extensively, and unlike mountains, they require said garrisons in order to be secure.

I understand Caesar and others conquered these territories for prestige, but what stopped future rulers of Rome from returning these lands, same as Hadrian liberated Trajan's conquests?

I was relistening to the Hamilton musical soundtrack, and towards the end Alexander Hamilton has to wake up early to attend a meeting at dawn. How did he know when to wake up? I would be lost without my alarm clock.

I was recently reading an article about provisional IRA arms dealing, and it seems like many of the firearms obtained in the 60s were supplied by Muammar Gaddafi, do any documents about their trade deals still exist? Did the IRA send people to Libya, or did Libyan officials secretly go to Ireland?

At one point I read an article that interviewed the official in-house historian of the CIA whose job was to archive and write about the institutional history the agency. Does anyone know if the FBI has a similar department with a public face I could contact?

I'm asking this because alot of people say they but they don't really present evidence they just they are black and that's it.