I was just wondering what the costs of a book would be before the invention of the printing press. For example, how much would a hand written book cost in relative terms. Would they be considered priceless objects hundreds of years ago owned only by the wealthiest nobles, or would a well off merchant be able to buy one? Also, would the content of said book influence the price at all, for example a Bible versus an ancient play? Thank you for your time and effort in advance.

So, as someone who participates in leftist circles, I occasionally encounter "tankies", who routinely downplay the human rights crimes of the Soviet regime. What historical works are available to dispute this that would appear trustworthy and reasonably unbiased to such a person?

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I know H.H. Holmes was very well educated and graduated from the University of Michigan in thr Department of Medicine and Surgery. But I don't see how this served as cover.

It seems like the 1917's are overall better rifles, with a larger sight radius and good aperture sights and room for one more round in the magazine than the M1903. They were even made and fielded in greater numbers than the 1903 during WWI.

Why were these never fully adopted by the US military? AFAIK they didn't see frontline use by the US in any theater of WW2, only being issued to some rear echelon troops and some foreign countries as military aid.

I love reading about and learning about history, and one of my favorite authors is Sarah Vowell. One of the things I love about her books and her writing is that she's able to tell stories about history in an interesting, smart, fun, and fast-paced way. I feel like a lot of history books are incredibly dense and deal with a lot of minutia, and it's hard for me to get through those. I was recommended this place to ask for some recommendations on accessible books on history. So, does anyone have any?

To be less vague about the subjects I'd want to read about most, here are some people and moments in history I'm interested in:

Witches in early America

Teddy Roosevelt

Napoleon

Abraham Lincoln

Vincent Van Gogh

WWII

General mythology (Roman, Greek, Irish, Scottish, Mexican, Japanese, Chinese)

Ancient Rome

The American Revolution

Aztecs and Mayans

Filmmaking in the 70's, 80's, and 90's

The Renaissance

Crimes (similar to Zodiac, The Devil in the White City, etc.)

Samurai

Charles Manson

Pablo Escobar

Music (punk, emo, folk, hip-hop)

Classical composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin)

The American mafias of the early 1900's through the 60's

Fashion from the 1940's to the 1960's

Or has this always been a thing and I'm only noticing it now?

Some examples: Archer, It's always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, Bojack Horseman, George from Seinfeld

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Something that had already happened, fairly recently in history, that someone living at the time could point to and say, "Look, it's happening again."