As the title states, I'd imagine it must have been horrible to deal with(not to say it isn't now).

Since in the early 20th century, American workers would work 6 days a week, did children go to school for 6 days as well?

I'm working on a character for a story I'd like to write. The basics are that he's a Black savateur (savate fighter) living in Paris in the 1890s. I have a good idea of the character himself, but I'd like to flesh out his backstory a bit. I kind of see him as a second, maybe third generation immigrant from one of the french colonies perhaps. He's likely Catholic. As far as names go, the name Hercule stuck out to me early on, but I'm not married to it.

Where would a Black french person likely be from if they were living in Paris in the 1890s? A friend of mine suggested Côte d'Ivoire, but I read somewhere that immigration from there to France was relatively rare before 1990. What would be some resources I could look into to learn more about this, and maybe get inspiration for my character? Also, if anyone has any ideas for a good name that would fit in with his nationality/ethnicity, I'd appreciate that too :)

Thanks in advance :)

Thanks

I'm usually an ancient history buff but there are a few topics I became interested in. WW2 is definitely out of my wheelhouse and I'm looking for a well rounded, detailed overview of, specifically, the French Resistance and the Maquis.

I'm interested in how the cells operated, their operations against the Germans, their relationship with Vichy France, notable people, their origins and endings, how exactly they helped the allies, and the methods they used.

No, this isn't for "homework" (I'm a bit removed from college at this point). I'm just a history buff, but like I said, I'm usually into older history (especially the Bronze Age, Classical, Post-Classical, up to the Renaissance sometimes). But also, I'm a French citizen but I only have a vague understanding of the subject. And I definitely want to know more about the history of my heritage (or least the parts are really interested in to start, lol). If this is the wrong subreddit, let me know.

And personally, as a casual enthusiast, I prefer the monographs or general overview scholarly books rather than digging through articles and journals on JSTOR (so publishers like Metro Books, Oxford University Press, Harvard University Press, etc are what I normally look for).

I'm also looking for books on that quality for the French Revolution (which is its own can of worms, I know) but maybe that deserves its own post? Idk

Any suggestions?

I've heard it commonly said that Stalin won WWII not by smart tactics, but by throwing more and more soldiers against Germany. Since I've only heard this from people in the west, I'm skeptical how true it is, especially since the west has a long rivalry with Russia. Is there any truth to it? Is it simply based on the overwhelming amount of casualties Russia suffered during WWII?

Forgive me if this has been asked before!

I am writing a book set after ww1 in England.
The sailor comes from Ireland, and I want some accurate information about the daily life of a young sailor in that time. What would they eat, where would they sleep, how many hours did they work, what tasks would they do? Was there racism against irishmen working in England?

how were they able to have a relationship (an engagement)?

I know the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was amended to extend the draft enlistments from 12 to 18 months. But say a volunteer was due to ETS on 6 December, 1941. Did Roosevelt's declaration of emergency in May freeze all those enlistments?

My Google-fu has failed, mostly because the results only bring up the draftees.

First time posting on this sub, I really enjoy reading everything people have to say here.

I found some interesting recommendations in the book list on Egypt during her time. Looking for something focusing a bit more intimately on Cleopatra’s life—professional or personal—and what she was like or how she made decisions. I am just a hobby reader in this topic so I am always a bit hesitant to just pick up a biography and run. (If anyone has any go-to tips on how they evaluate the legitimacy of historical biographies I would love to hear that also.) Thanks!

I never understood this. I feel like the Byzantines were completely different from Rome, from language to religion to administration. Why do many books insist they are one in the same?

They seem to have gods and godesses with similar descriptions and functions. I've always had this question.

How do I find employment and housing? Does the government assist me? Do I have lasting health issues? Is radiation-related medical care taken care of by the government? Would I be discriminated against by my new neighbors who fear I am spreading contamination? Am I forbidden to talk about Chernobyl and how it affected me?

It seems that during WW2 and for the couple of decades after, the immediate associations in popular culture with Hitler and the Nazis in Allied countries were first of a tyrannical and oppressive regime bent on world domination and the hated enemy in the most deadliest ever war - which is of course how most people in Allied countries would have at first experienced them, especially those who fought or saw their friends and family killed or cities bombed - and, even after its scale became near-universally known, as the perpetrator of the Holocaust second. I think it's fair to say that when condemning the Nazis today, the first reason in people's minds is the Holocaust, certainly in the English speaking world, and I assume far more widely. This transition was probably gradual, and partly due to an expansion of understanding of what happened and a new generation that didn't have its own experience of the war to override others'... but how exactly did this transition take place?

I need help on the how of finding secondary history resources on any topic/period/area that specifically mention the primary sources they used for their conclusions. I don't mean a footnote or endnote, but explicitly referring to the source and it's pertinent part, and then building upon it. All but a few of the history books I have seen rarely ever work with the reader on primary sources. They just leave a thick reference section at the end, leaving out their exact thought process and argument based on the primary sources. How do I find those books which are interactive and active about their conclusions drawn from primary sources?

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Example of what I'm looking for:

Historians have relied primarily on three major primary sources for our information on Sir Swordcelot, his diary, his lovers diary, and his milkman's diary. On his upbringing, his lover writes "Sir Swordcelot was born with his limp, a result of challenges during pregnancy" However, his own diary disagrees, stating "At age 6 I was run over by a car, crippling my right leg from the knee". Sir Swordcelot's account can be verified over his lover's account by the following accounts from relatives. <Lists snippets of accounts> etc, etc

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Things I've Tried/thoughts:

1. Trying to think of a good search query. This has been unsuccessful because I don't have the vocabulary to specify exactly what I want. "History books based on primary sources" just sounds like every decent history book. "History books that explicitly refer to primary sources" just ends up giving me links to information on primary sources vs secondary sources.

Just about finished reading it, seems like the writing was on the wall for future events. Interested to know if they read it leading to any changes in their own forces or if they stuck with their own doctrines etc.

I know that they had unusual names for certain regions sometimes, and I know that during the time of the Italian Social Republic, some northern parts were designated "Operationszone"

I need to create a " Operationszone Balkan" for a game that I am working on (is there an s there by the way?) And this zone would be Hungary and Romania.

What would be the most historically accurate thing for that to be called within the alternative history setting that I am making my game it?