In Scotland, between 1406 to 1588, out of 7 monarchs 2 kings were assassinated, 1 king died in battle, 1 queen was overthrown and later executed by the queen of England, 1 king died of natural causes, 1 king managed to blow himself up and 1 king had a fairly uneventful reign, at least after the regency ended and his regents stopped killing each other, and managed to become king of England (and then his son found a way to get himself executed). Through all of this there are all kinds of lurid events that sound like they came right out of a tacky Game of Thrones knock off such as James II personally killing William Douglas with his pals and throwing his corpse out a window, which seems to be somewhat uncouth behavior for a king to engage himself in!, or Queen Mary's possible lover being killed right in front of her while she was pregnant and held at gunpoint by her own husband, who she then almost certainly arranged the murder of and blew up his house for good measure.

What was going on in Scotland to make this kind of thing seem normal?

How did U-boats avoid detection from Allied ships in WW2? Was there a specific tactic they used or equipment they utilised?

So I'm a high school student and I'm very interested in history, and learning about it is probably my biggest hobby currently. My issue is that whenever I go on this subreddit, seemingly every source is woefully inaccurate or biased. My other issue is that ideally I want something that isn't dry and weighs less then Charles the Fat. For specific topics, I'll do it, but not for every topic.

So I my first question is does it matter a lot for an armchair historians to get completely accurate information with little bias? Or are the "pop souces" accurate enough that it isn't a huge deal?

My second question is what are good sources for information (whether it be books/podcasts/YouTube videos etc)?

*Also, a lot of my issue comes from wanting to read interdisciplinary books (e.g Ascent of Money, Diplomacy). What are some good interdisciplinary books/authors?

And to clarify "pop sources" I mean things like Sapiens/GGS/HH/Crash Course etc

I'm not sure of the exact period and sequence of events I want to know about (which is because I haven't read anything about it!) so the question is unfortunately a bit vague.

Any books, reading materials, photos, anything.

I was watching a video about Jews in Israel with Iraqi ancestry, and I was surprised to find that many of these people have mixed ancestry.

For instance, one lady mentioned her grandmother was Ashkenazi Jewish German, but her grandfather was descended from Sephardic Jews in Iraq.

What was Israel society like in those early days? I'd assume there was some solidarity because of the same religion and rituals, but there probably was a lot of differences when it came to culture and certain customs.

When it came to social events, were all these Jewish groups fraternizing with each other?

This decision in December 1941 had severe consequences for Germany including lend lease assistance to the Soviet Union as well as the subsequent invasions of North Africa (Operation Torch) and Europe.

Was the entire German leadership high on methamphetamine?

I don't really understand this. Somebody mentioned this to me, and I have no idea why I can't find anything about it. Did it exist or is it just a crazy conspiracy?

This thought came across my mind when I learned about famous humans throughout the history of human civilization. I noticed that influential people who lived thousands of years ago, somehow had first names that are still common today. For example, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Alexander the Great, etc. all had first names that are commonly found today. On top of those examples, a lot of names that appear in the in the Bible are commonly found today as well. I looked all over the internet for an answer, and it’s been burning on my mind.

Say a 7-year-old boy is admitted to the hospital for a case of hypothermia in Cheshire, Engalnd in 1921. What sort of treatment would be provided? Would his family be allowed to see him? What paperwork would need to be filled out? Basically, what might hospitals procedures be like during this time? Asking for a novel. Thanks!

Did wealthy romans take beach vacations or enjoy the beach/ocean recreationally? Did Julius Caesar go to the beach with Cleopatra?

I imagine places like Capri that have Roman ruins were probably enjoyed in this way?

And what of my descendants four hundred years later? What will their trip be like?

In the Amazon Prime show Hunters, they explained that the name Operation Paperclip came from redacting Nazi scientists’ personnel files and that the imprint from the paperclip in the file was the only thing left. How true is this story? If not, what is the source for the name, if it has any significance at all?

All references to the Italian spoken in Switzerland that I can find online describe it as standard Italian with a few unusual vocabulary words. But right over the border in Italy, people speak Lombard, Piedmontese, or did so until recently.

How did Italian-speakers in Switzerland come to speak standard Italian rather than a local dialect. Did they once have their own dialect that has since died out? And if so, was it close to Lombard, Romansch, or something else?

First off, I know very little of Ancient Greek history, so the very basis of this question may be well off balance. Regardless, the general narrative I've absorbed about the decline of Spartan hegemony was that Sparta suffered from a serious population crisis, espescially among actual Spartan 'citizens'. I've been watching BazBattles series on the Beotian War, and I was struck by something they said regarding the Battle of Leuctra, stating that 400 spartiates were slain there. I recall that earlier, during the Peloponnesian War, the threat of losing 120 spartiates at Pylos was sufficient to have Sparta practically beg for peace.

Given that, combined with the standard narrative of Spartan demographic decline, it would seem that the loss of 400 spartiates at Leuctra would have been a devastating blow to Spartan manpower in and of itself.

Is this impression accurate? Is the basic narrative of Spartan demographic decline accurate, or has this been superseded by other theories?

I’m so so sorry if this is a very stupid question. I don’t understand the purpose of gun-to-gun duels.

I just saw few YouTube videos about the Battle of Midway so I cannot say my knowledge is deep. However I wonder why the Japanese decided to be on the aggressive and strike? Was a defensive position more disadvantageous for them, or was that timing the best they had, despite having insufficient planes? Was producing more planes/carriers/ other supporting vessels not an option? How about a defensive position using landed airports? Very curious. How was their morale, expectations, outlook towards the war, etc.

Did they lived in Citadel of Damascus? Because I can't find any sort of palace where they were could possibly lived.

From what i know, most of the fighters are from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. However, since those 3 languages are totally different from each other. Then, which language did they use to communicate during their fighting days against USSR?

I've heard alot of talk about how rommel is a real good commander. how true is this? what's something significant that he did?

According to all the artwork I have come across be it illustrations or video games, the majority of chainmail appears to be sleeveless with an additional "collar" worn on the shoulders or with short sleeves. No wrist length sleeves, integrated "gloves" or coifs. No mails chausses either. I know a lot of things can seems self-evident to us in retrospect (the chausses for example). Nevertheless I find at least the full sleeves/enclosed hands and head coif to be within a reasonable range of possible innovation. Maybe the coif wasn't needed because if they wore chainmail they logically already possessed a helmet. I would very much like to hear your informed opinions on this topic

Sincerely yours,

Koyraboro.