It’s really difficult to find hard academic researched books rather than pop histories, especially in places like public libraries. Are there any sort of lists of scholarly works out there I can look for books from?

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The crux of this question might be, to what extent was Confederacy currency actually a different currency than typical American, "union" dollars? Were they simply normal U.S. dollars with a different name on the front? If the exchange rate was still one-to-one, were they the same currency?

Hey there. My Grandfather, now in his late 80s or early 90s, is a survivor of Auschwitz. He is Dutch, but had served time in Auschwitz.

I wish to learn more about either the things he went through, or if possible (highly unlikely), more about him.

I would like to ask him personally, but he doesn't like to talk about his time during the war, and I know little bits of info from some of the things I have been told by my mother.

All I can really say is that he isn't Jewish, and was from a small Dutch village, and was apparently forced into working in Auschwitz after the Nazis took people from his village to work (so I have been told). He spoke, apparently, both Dutch and German, which I have been told helped him to escape. After escaping, he spent 3 weeks or so making his way home, before fleeing here to Australia.

How can I go about learning more about someone like him? Is my only way to learn more to ask him directly? Thanks, and I appreciate your feedback.

I've heard that during the Nuremberg trials some of the Nazi's said it was very hypocritical for the US, Britain, and Russia to be the ones doing the convictions due to their own brutality in the past.

Is there any truth to this?

Huge amounts of "wealth" crossed the ocean during the Transatlantic Slave Trade during the time piracy was at its peak in the same area. Did pirates ever try to raid slave ships to steal this "wealth"? If so, where did they take them? Did pirates have plantations too? If not, why not? Wouldn't that have been a missed opportunity?

Hello!

I used the "dark ages" moniker to try and make a point that I am trying to figure out how much is true and false regarding views frequently professed by non-historians and literature teachers regarding modesty "before the decadent 20th century."

I am particularly interested in women's modesty, regarding length of skirt, display of shoulders and such.

For periods, I am the most interested in the 600-900s (Migration era) and 1100-1400s .

For regions, I am the most interested in Hungary, England, Scotland, Denmark, Ireland and maybe France.

As a curiousity, I'm curious of any noted differences between Abrahamic-majority regions and non-abrahamic majority regions.

I am open to other periods, too, and other european regions as well. I am merely trying to narrow things down for ease!

I want to know more how English was encoded into the language of modern computers. Is there a history that explains why computers are the way they are today?

I understand that there are exceptions (there were early wrist watches that were square-faced). However, the vast majority of clocks and watches were for most of history designed with a circular casing. My main curiosity is this: was the circular design mostly an aesthetic or technical decision? I know it could be both, but which reason dominated the production of watches in circular casings?

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I know a lot of ancient languages have been deciphered by finding something to compare to, like the Rosetta stone, or the Behistun inscription for cuneiform, but what about ancient languages with nothing to compare to? Specifically really i'm fascinated by the inability of anyone thus-far to translate Linear A, and am wondering how linguists, archaeologists or others are working to translate it. What is the method, and why has translation eluded those working on it?

I have been searching around and there is nothing that says what happened to it or if it's still in its original spot. appreciate the help.

I know some peoples obtained most of their iron from bogs and lakes. I suppose it was less efficient than mining, but required almost no investment and there were much more bogs around than iron vein outcrops. Is there more presice information on historical mining economy? E.g. how much ore could be harvested by one worker from a bog in a day, vs how much could be mined from a vein..

Obviously the Wehrmacht committed all kinds of atrocities in the East: helping to implement the Holocaust and the genocide of the Slavs (the Hunger PLan, General Plan Ost). However, is it true that they more or less abided the Geneva Conventions and the norms of war in the West? Perhaps this is the source of the clean hands myth? Or is this another lie? I heard something to this effect in a documentary about Rommel and the Afrikakorps.

I'm assuming the seven day week originated in Europe, but when and how did this happen, and how did it spread? Did the rest of the world have a concept of a week, in places like Mexico or India or Egypt?

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Also, we've been using yeast to make bread for thousands of years. Did we understand that yeast was a living organism which we were feeding? If not, how did we think it worked?

Reposted on request of the friendly historian who found our answer.