Watching the movie Lincoln today and the powerful Daniel Day Lewis scene, "Now, Now, Now"

Made me wonder. Is there any scholarship on what Lincoln's agenda was for the presidency if there had been NO Civil War or if secession had been resolved quickly?

Is this true?

I find claims of Benjamin Franklin being a British spy highly suspect, particularly because my understanding is that he was critical to the colonies acquiring the French support that was vital to them winning the war. These seem like two highly contradictory rolls to me, but I feel I don't have the perspective to full evaluate these accusations. Can anyone who's more knowledgeable about the subject clarify for me whether these accusations of Benjamin Franklin being a British spy have any credence to them or are they purely wild conspiracy theories?

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Thanks.

A serf born in 1841 would have been 20 when given their freedom, 76 when the Bolsheviks seized power, and in his early 90s when collectivization was finalized. Do we have any primary sources on such an experience?

I read Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament by John Walton and it was an amazing read.

What impressed me was that the author tries to describe the conceptual world of the inhabitants of the ancient middle east, i.e., how their very thoughts were different then ours (and how he came to this conclusion). In my opinion it had a nice touch of cognitive science, even though the author never mentioned it explicitly.

Maybe I just had bad luck with my choice of books, but most other books on pre-Roman societies I read either describe the "output" of this conceptual world (art, events...) or focus on single isolated aspects ("Did the Bactrians consider themselves Greek and what was their concept of Greekness?",...). Is there a name for this "conceptual" subgenre of historical writing and can somebody recommend me books in that direction on ancient history?

Howdy folks.

I'm very interested in ancient Mesopotamia cultures, languages, and symbolism. However, when trying to look up symbols found in ancient Mesopotamian cultures, I am often met with new-age mysticism rather than anything of real value.

What I do find that isn't nonsense tends to be cuneiform translations. While I do enjoy learning about the languages, my most significant obstacle is with regard to non-lingual symbols.

Cultures of interest for me are Sumer and Akkad. To a lesser extent, Babylon. I don't run into this same difficulty as much with the more ubiquitous cultures such as ancient Egypt and Persia.

Can anyone recommend credible books and sites to learn about these symbols?

Thanks!!

The answer I'm most often given is "the curved saber is best for cutting through lightly armored opponents" which, while that has merit, doesn't answer why for example, American Civil War officers carried a straight saber into battle. Not many Confederates were wandering the field in armor.

Mostly curious why this trend developed, and where the split occured, it can still be seen in ceremonial sabers today.

I watched Platoon last night and Kevin Dillon's character appears to be using a shotgun as his primary weapon. How common was it for soldiers to use a shotgun in battle? Or is this Hollywood making stuff up.

I’ve had a few interactions with people who believe this to be the case.

I’m not entirely convinced since it doesn’t gel with my understanding of Roman history but since I’m no expert I thought I’d ask people who are educated on the subject.

Thanks!

Curious if maybe there were a couple small carriers in the Atlantic to help with sub hunting or defend convoys against German air attack etc.

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Scandinavia has around 20 million people wheras the population of European Russia is more than 100 million, despite a similar size and climate. Why is this?

Does anyone have any record of names that were common for women in the 1300s BCE in the areas now known as Turkey and Italy?