Until now, I read John Darwin's "Unfinished Empire" and "The Empire Project", "Empire" by Niall Ferguson.

I would like more, but I don't know where to find them with my "filters". I'm not searching for books and authors who give me the bad or good consequences of the Empire, but rather an analysis about how it worked and its place in the world. Pax Britannica, Splendid Isolationism, International Relations as key words.

Even when they won battles their casualties where huge.

I guess I should qualify the question by saying vanilla is seen as a "default" and/or "bland" flavor in the U.S., at least. Can't speak for other places.

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Feudalism is... complicated, to say the least.

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I am going to be running a campaign soon and walked to have some historical accuracy to it, or at the very least have it be believable. To that end I have some questions about fiefs in the high medieval period (around the 11th-12th centuries to narrow down a little more), with a focus on France and Britain if location matters.

1. How big were fiefs? Were they all about the same size (both land and income based)? If not, how significantly could the size differ?

2. How were the borders of fiefs decided? Were there border disputes? If so, how were they resolved?

3. Did each lord have a fief? How were they granted a fief?

4. How many land owning lords did Britain and France have? How big were their families? Were their whole families considered to be nobles?

5. How independent were fiefs?

I see this popping up with increasing frequency on political subreddits, the claim that the Nazis were socialists. How true is that claim?

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I've been tasked with leading a small seminar on nationalism but I really don't have enough time to sufficiently prepare for it. What are some of the most frequently cited works on nationalism? If that is too broad a category, then what are the most important works on East European or Russian nationalism?

I don't need a long summary, just the names of the works. Thanks in advance!

Hi, first time making a post to r/AskHistorians. Currently I'm writing a primary source analysis on the Annals of 1066 in the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. People who've had experience in this subject, what are some good secondary sources you've used that discuss this section in Chronicles rather the events that take place within the chronicles?

Basically, I'm just looking for a few secondary sources discussing the Anglo Saxon chronicles rather than the events the Anglo Saxon Chronicles record. I've tried looking in my university's library but they don't have much on the subject at all and I'm kind of at a loss of where to go from here.

Sorry if this isn't the right kind of post to make on this subreddit, I didn't know where else to go.

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I've read multiple books recently regarding the American Revolution. And one thing that I've often noticed is Washington's insistence on having one large standing army to prove the nation is organized and can effectively combat the British. However throughout the war it appears there were actually multiple continental armies? Including Gates forces at Saratoga, Lincoln's forces at Charleston, and Washington's army.

Were these forces all part of the one large continental army and Washington divided the forces based on needs? Or were there multiple armies and Washington only commanded his specific forces? I was just confused on the organization of the army.

In the Treaty of London (1915), it states that Italy shall gains some of Germany's African and Asian colonies. Did the Entente have any colonies in mind when they wrote that?

I'm really not sure where to post this question. I just know you guys have read everything there is to read, and so have strong opinions about the quality of what is out there. Is there a better place to ask? I'll happily delete and repost there!

Considering they invited it but didn't revolutionise the use and potential uses of gunpowder. Why didn't they develop it at the rate or standard of the European powers? Very stoned and would approached an answer by one of you fabulous people. I understand that their engineers were maybe just not on par but is their any other definitive reasons?

I'm fascinated by Persia, particularly the Achaemaenid empire, but as I'm looking at programs beyond the undergraduate level it seems kind of like I'm the only one. What should I pursue at the graduate level to further this interest? and where should I go to do that?

Any assistance is appreciated?

I remember taking a class on the interfaith culture of medieval Spain when most of it was controlled by a Muslim dynasty and we particularly studied the love poetry that flourished in court life at the time. If anyone could recommend a good collection or book of these poems, I would really appreciate it.

I can remember one in particular that had a line something like "If I could cut out my heart and put you inside of it, I would have you close to me." Some of the poetry was very visceral and passionate, but others were more about the love of nature or God's creation.