I’m looking for a book on ancient empires like the Byzantine, Roman, Sassanian empire. But I don’t want something that’s too dry.

Please help.

Hey all! Hope everyone is having a good day. I’m in undergraduate school right now, and my dream is to work in public history, specifically with the National Parks Service. I was wondering if anyone on this sub had any experience working for the National Parks Service as a historian or public historian? If so what was it like? What advice do you have for me? Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

Naturally an army will put forward it's best soldiers first. As these soldiers get wounded or killed, and taken out of the battle, do armies get weaker as less experienced recruits are forced to enter the war?

This appears to be the case for Britain/France/Germany in WWI, as well as for Nazi Germany specifically in WWII.

Is this actually the case?

I've recently started reading more non-fiction, mainly historical biographies (just finished the first part in William Manchester's Churchill trilogy, The Last Lion). I enjoyed Manchester's style and the detail of the book and have since purchased most of his other works. In the search for more of his work and other great authors of history, I've come across a vein of ever present criticisms regarding the accuracy of Manchester's works and almost every other author in the historical genre (especially on subjects or eras of impassioned views like colonialism, racism, sexism, etc).

My instinct is that all historical authors are faced with critiques of inaccuracy and bias and that it's simply expected when trying to tell a story from the past. Should I just ignore the fringe critiques or should I seek out (if they exist) those most highly rated and decorated authors of history with minimal accusations of bias and inaccuracy? Do they even exist? If not, can one place any faith in the historical accounts without having to do extensive follow up research after reading? The idea was the author does the research so I don't have to.

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I'm doing some semi light research on my family tree (left behind from a Great Grandfather that died some years ago) and I have a few relatives that I know served during the Great War (other family members have told me). However, these relatives never spoke of their experiences and are all now dead. Is it possible to find where/when or with whom they served? I'll be grateful for any help! If it's any help, I live and we're from the UK :)

With the fourth of July being just yesterday, many people have been discussing how we stole this land out from under natives. If I remember correctly, natives tended to always raid and steal from each other as well, this was a normal occurrence around this time around the globe, but the second we came in and took over, killing many yes, but also supplying superior technology to a lacking populace. Anyways that's what I thought happened but I am not to sure I have any of that correctly. I've tried to do my research but everything seems so biased. My question is am I correct? And is it as complex as I think it to be or are we outright villains in the story?

P.S. I have no source backing for any of that outside of random things I picked up over time. As such I'm very open to the idea of being completly incorrect.

I am listening to a Great Courses lecture called "Lost World's of South America."

In this lecture series Dr. Edwin Barnhart makes the argument that the Andean civilizations up to the Inca were largely monotheistic. He equates a deity often known as the staff god or Viracocha with something he calls the fanged god. He gives examples of this God at many archaeology sites. He goes so far as to claim all the different Andean cultures are worshiping the same God and do so in a monotheistic manner.

This lecture series is from a few years back now and I was wondering if this thesis of Dr. Barnhart's has become Orthodoxy or has been refuted.

As a part of my new reenactment company, I need to present proof of each clothing piece. I'm left with my cap and hood to find, since I wasn't able to find any proof of a fishbone pattern. Was it a mistake from me to sew something before checking, or is there any proof of it?

We’re talking about complex systems of trenches, fortifications and positions spanning hundreds of kilometers, with thousands of big siege guns placed throughout. Did the Entente military powers do any cleanup after the war? Or was it left to the locals? Were things like big guns and fortifications deemed too costly to bring back home(especially by the US and UK) and left there(maybe donated to the French)? Were any small arms/machine guns or anything that could be used by individual civilian looters left behind? What would I see if I visited Somme/Loos/Ypres etc. in 1920? 1925? 1930?

Were the weapons mostly owned by colonists and brought along? Were they purchased, confiscated, collected, manufactured? How did the rebellion manage their logistics of supplying enough weaponry for their soldiers?

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I've heard arguments that around the time of the Great Chinese Famine, farmers in Canada were struggling to sell their crops and thus the Canadian government offered to sell these crops to China on credit. Is this true? If so, how much wheat/crops did Canada sell to China during the Great Chinese Famine?

I've attempted to do a search myself but was unable to find supporting evidence.

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How long would it have taken for word of the signing, or a copy of the document to make it to England at that time? Is it known what day our secession from the British Empire was officially acknowledged? Additionally, how was it received by the King? Thanks, and happy 4th!