I have seen Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War cited a fair bit around here and /r/badhistory, and was interested in getting a general history of pre-Islamic Persia. Looking at Amazon reviews, I saw that it talks about the Baghdad Battery, which set my pseudo-history alarms ringing.

So what is the general consensus? A good book? Or if not this, then does anyone have any good recommendations on Ancient Persia?

This question extends to all analogue audio communication, of course.

Did the world have a unified calendar?

We only learned history once every two years throughout high school and the year we didn't get taught history we got taught Geography. Every year though, we got taught the same old shit about Australia, ancient aborigines, bush poetry and this repetition just really put me off history, especially with Australia being a relatively new country.

While it did have some mildly interesting moments we never learned much about Europe, South/North America and pretty much most of the world.

Any books worth picking up? Interesting ones?

Cheers fellas

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Some thoughts

<b>Plato effect</b> Definition: the earliest surviving source for an idea looks like the inventor </b>

Plato looks like an insanely creative philosopher but he is the earliest philosopher to leave behind 1000+ pages, which makes it likely that his ideas were old. <b>

This bias might make all ages after a drop in cost of writing, or a burning of older books look more innovative than they were. Islam's golden age followed upon the loss (maybe destruction) of Persian and Central Asian literature.

After the printing press costs of writing dropped, so ideas previously transferred orally were likely to appear in text then, making the Renaissance look more innovative than it was.

Yet another example is academia. Academics are rewarded for writing. Nuns, bakers, judges were not. Much of what we attribute to academics might have been public knowledge, or the invention of some nun.

<b>Prudish bias</b> Definition: Books by authors though of as imprudent systematically disappear.

In antiquity Epicurus and Plato were something like equally esteemed, but 0 books by Epicurus survive, while we gave 1000 pages of Plato. Epicurus was a counter cultural atheist, and I guess that is the explanation for why his books disappeared. I guess this effect generalizes, and that the credit these "sinful" authors deserve now go to respectable authors who mentioned their ideas later on.

I am really interested in the history of that part of the world from the first cities to the persian empire, because it feels like everything happened there, there was enough time for the Assyrian empire to colapse, then the Neo Assyrian Empire, and THEN the Neo Babylonian, all with its own rebels and conspiracies and plots, if feels like the entire history of a different world. I guess because we feel so little of its influence today.

Any way, which books would you recommend me?, bonus if it is anything like Asimov's work (I know about his his book about the Egyptians).

Thanks

I have a fairly extensive knowledge of the Second World War and the political aspects leading up to it, as well as the cultures of different countries at the time, however one topic that I haven't found much on is what High School, specifically senior high was like for American teenagers in the years leading up to the war. What it was like for the kids that would likely be going straight into the army after they finished, or even dropping out to enlist. What was the day to day like? What kind of relationships did they have with teachers? Did they know that war was coming or were they mostly in the dark about all that? Any piece of information on this topic would be appreciated

E.g. would legionaries, when faced with a cavalry charge, use pila in place of spears?

I am currently reading "Stalin's Englishman," a book about one of the homosexual members of the "Cambridge 5." The author, and this may be the most obvious answer to my question, paints a picture of widespread homosexuality among university students, graduates, and professionals in all occupations. I have no doubt that homosexuality was just as "common," so to speak, as it is today, but the author portrays it in such a fashion that makes it seem as though the majority of men that lived in these circles and attended these schools at the very least experimented heavily.

Was homosexuality treated similarly as in Ancient Greece, or was it just a time period of more accepted experimentation, or some form of a rite of passage in the many boys' schools across the country?

edit: formatting.

Based on the letters and writings we have from Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler, was there any evidence of the founding father having any ambitions to become a President after George Washington?

Maygrass, little barley, and goosefoot (also known as lambs quarter) was extensively cultivated by many Native American groups before the introduction of corn. Did they continue cultivating it after the introduction of corn? And a follow up question, were they still part of the diet of native peoples after the arrival of Europeans?

I'm looking for differences between things like morals, policy, and public attitudes before and after the "switch," if there really was one.

Hello,

In another thread, a conversation started about the current value of Gibbons as a historic reference, including the value of his work, its applicability to current discussions etc.. I have read part of Will Durant's history series ( I started actually with some of his works on philosophy, then moved to this series) and was just curious what the modern/current historians think of his work. Thanks!

Considering the Byzantines thought themselves Romans, how did they take the news there's a new Rome in town?

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If I got married in ancient Egypt what would the wedding be like? How well would I know my spouse and how would we (probably) be?

Could we get divorced?

My grandmother has always told me I was a descendant of the Aztecs as was her father.

I was curious, are the Aztecs considered Native American or are they something else?