Looking for recommendations for this topic - i've had a look through the book list and haven't come up with anything (or that could me not looking in the right sections ...).

So far i've got two in mind;

The Great Siege: Malta 1565 - Ernle Bradford (2014) - this one is on its way

Empires of the Sea: The Final Battle for the Mediterranean, 1521-1580 - Roger Crowley (2013) - i've heard some very good things about this one

Any other decent recommendations?

Thanks in advance! :)

I'm currently running a DnD campaign based loosely off of the first-contact between Portugese missionaries and the Japanese. I'm trying to find diaries and sources that really explain how the Portugese felt, not just with the very different culture, but when traversing the Japanese landscape, how they reacted to different animals or plant types, etc. Conversely, I'd be interested to know how the Japanese viewed to the proselytising Christians. It may perhaps not have been as much of a culture shock as I imagine, but I'd still like to know how the missionaries reacted to such different views, rituals, etc...

Can anyone explain to me, what the benefit of a specific gun deck was?

Sure, larger vessels had to stack their guns in order to fit more on the ship and heavier guns had to be placed farther down in the structure, but why did frigates (2 deck vessels) use 1 gun deck and ditch the guns from the upper deck?

What was the definitive benefit of keeping the guns in their own deck?

Title.

Why did Alexander go into Asia Minor and fight the large Persian Empire rather than choose to fight the disorganised tribes to his west in Europe?

The soviets took over Lithuania and Latvia but why didn’t they occupy or annex Romania, Hungary, and why didn’t the Allows occupy France ( given frances role in helping the Nazis)?

Finally, it seems that Poland was punished after WWII with the soviets occupying it even though they annexed half of it. Did Russia ever apologize for this?

As the title says how could the Roman Empire hold land from Hadrian's Wall all the way down towards the Pyramids without be overstretched? For example, Rome's successor, The Byzantine Empire wasn't able to hold Italy when it was on its reconquest. Did the Feudal System limit how much land a kingdom could have from the start?

I know that in regards to today’s bows, leather wrapped limbs often indicate that the limbs are made of fiberglass and the wrapping is there to somewhat disguise that fact, but did archers of old ever wrap their limbs and, if so, what’s was the purpose of it?

I already own Auguste Racinets The Complete Costume History, and Ancient Greek, Roman & Byzantine Costume by Mary G. Houston. Both of these sources are old, Mary's is from the 40's and Racinets' is from the 19th century. Are there any more recent books or articles that I can access that go into more detail about Byzantine clothing?
Any help would be appreciated.

I have found information on the dress of current monks and nuns of the Russian Orthodox Church, however I do not know how far back this dress goes.

I'm currently self-studying Chinese right now in preparation for applying to a PhD program, and I'm primarily focused on getting my reading comprehension up to snuff so I can read primary/secondary sources in both modern and classical Chinese. My speaking and listening are coming along as well, although lagging slightly behind. I have neglected to learn how to handwrite Chinese characters though. (I can type texts in Chinese). Writing is by far the most time-consuming aspect of learning the language, and it seems to me the least important for my purposes, so I've chosen to focus on reading as it seems the most important.

Would PhD programs require me to know how to handwrite Chinese characters? Is it common for non-Chinese scholars of China to be able to handwrite fluently in Chinese? And likewise is it common for non-Middle Eastern scholars of the Middle East to be able to handwrite fluently in Arabic? Or non-Indian scholars of India Indian languages and so on?

It seems pretty well accepted that he was responsible for many deaths, both directly and indirectly, through his roles in the NKVD and as a senior official in the Stalinist regime. I am particularly interested in whether he could also be classed as a 'serial killer' as in someone who killed for personal or sexual gratification, or some other motive not linked to the furtherance of a military, political or ideological objective.

There's evidence indicating that he engaged in repeated sexual misconduct, including rape and extortion of sexual favours from unwilling participants. Do we know for sure that he murdered any of his victims and buried them in the basement? Is there any indication that he killed for pleasure at other times throughout his life, or displayed 'red flag' type behavior to folks around him before entering political life?

He seems to have been a pretty terrible human being by all accounts, but given the climate of the times (i.e. Kruschchev's assumption of power and attempts to distance himself from Stalinsm) is it possible that this particular legend is really too good (or bad) to be true? If it is true, is it atypical for a serial murderer to have maintained a long, successful professional career and relatively stable family life? Would people around him have known 'what was up', so to speak? Did he hide this activity so that it was a genuine surprise when it was uncovered, or is the sole reason why he wasn't outed during his lifetime because the police are unlikely to launch an investigation into allegations about their own boss?

Thank you in advance for any information you might have on this question!