If you find yourself 10 miles north of New York, you'll be in leafy Westchester. Do the same in Paris, and you're in the banlieue Saint-Denis.

Many European central cities have retained their wealth, leaving the suburbs to poorer citizens, while beginning in the 19th century and continuing throughout the 20th century, US central cities suffered economically from suburban flight. Of course, things are changing, but I'm interested in why this happened, particularly a propos the intellectual history of planning in both societies.

What are the origins of this phenomenon, especially in comparative terms? Has the French upper class, for example, have the same aversion to cities as Americans /purportedly/ do? Do multiple national planning philosophies crop up in Europe, according to each country?

Thanks

In my Middle East politics class we discuss the Kurds pretty often. What I don't understand is why the Kurds are spread out across the Middle East and why they are targeted by both radicals and the government?

Do we have any evidence of the military and governments plans in the event they won the war?

Hundreds of millions of Americans will be able to follow the incoming election results in minor detail tomorrow, down to turnout in specific counties, and it will be treated as an evolving news story through the day.

How does that compare to a century ago? If I were a cosmopolitan banker in Manhattan, or a ranch hand in Oklahoma, what did I likely know and when did I likely know it? What if I were a county party chair in those same places?

Bonus points for anyone who'd like to discuss earlier eras as well. And thanks for your time.

I can't seem to find any information on this. Can anybody help me out?

I often read of freedmen and equites in this period who rose to great heights, but what about the poor city dwellers of Rome? What could they do, besides joining the army?

I read that in the 2nd century AD there was an attempted exchange of ambassadors between Rome and China...does anyone know how this turned out?

Did the respective embassies arrive at their destinations and too what degree was this contact maintained (or was it a one-off fact-finding mission) ?

Thanks.

After having already dealt with the subject, we return today to Video Games. With release of both BF1 and Civ VI, video games based on history are a big thing right now.

Can video games represent history accurately? Is there a need for accurate video games? How can we use video games as a medium to teach / impart history to the public? Does it make sense for historians to get involved in the industry? Share your thoughts and discuss below!

I was reading about the Winter War and I can't help but wonder whether it was a proxy war for Germany to test and attack the Soviet Union (much like the Spanish Civil War in the years prior) prior to their invasion. The Winter War was fought very early in the war, while both nations were officially at peace, and I'm sure that Finland fit somewhere in the Nazi's racial hierarchy. I bet they wouldn't want it to come under the control of what they called "Jewish Bolshevism".

Is there any evidence that Germany supported Finland in their war with the USSR?

I'm sure he knew that he had the most powerful battleship known to man and an entire fleet at his disposal but why did he turn the ship away from a small force of Escort carriers and destroyers?

For instance, we know that Egyptians had music..however..were we ever able to discover what their music sounded like? Was there ever a recreated piece? Were there any music sheets back then?

The end of World War 2 is when we can look back and say that "this is the time period in which the age of Consumerism began." If this really was true, why was it companies that sold goods continued to operate and produce them within the United States? What prevented them from moving their factories overseas in the fifties instead of 40-50 years later? Was it tariffs? Was it trade restrictions? Would nationalism and pride in American-made goods have played a part? What was it?

Almost every country has a professional basketball league of some sort, and the sport is contested at Olympic level. Contrast that to other sports to come out of North America: baseball, whose spread is limited to areas that are or have been directly in the United States' sphere of influence, and American football, which never took off outside US (and Canadian) shores. So what makes basketball different? Did the fact that it originated in the YMCA play a role?