The Wikipedia article has a whole lot of contradictions and it's vague.

1. When did people realize that the areas Columbus discovered weren't part of Asia but somewhere else?

2. During the early phase of the exploration in the New World (specifically during the Aztec-Incan conquest) what did the average person think of the New World?

3. Why were the Spanish and Portuguese the first to colonize large portions of the Americas and elsewhere, but lag behind as nations like England started colonizing everywhere?

So I've been listening to a lot of the album Carolus Rex by Sabaton and playing some Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword, and this has really sparked my interest in that time period; especially the Swedish Empire, the Russian Empire, as well as later on with the German Empire. Any good book recommendations that are preferably on Amazon and are relatively easy reads for someone who isn't an expert on any of this?

I read that stealth bombers were extremely successful in the Persian Gulf War (no bombers lost and an extremely high hit rate on targets). Because of this success, the US easily defeated the Iraqi army despite the fact that Baghdad was one of the most heavily fortified cities on earth (I read that it had more/better anti-air defense than Moscow). However, prior to their invention, in the last two major US conflicts (Vietnam and Korea), the US clearly had less success. Is this because Korea and Vietnam had air defense capabilities that were able to offset current US air power at the time (the weapons provided by soviets and China)? Was stealth technology therefore a major leap forward relative to the Soviets?

In "The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran" Charles Kurzman writes that he considers the Iranian revolution to be a deviant case since 10 percent or more of the Iranian population participated, and compares that to the French Revolution (<2%) and the overthrow of Soviet communism (<1%). I was wondering in the cases where it's known, what are the participation rates in other successful or failed revolutions? Is there a general number that indicates almost certain success or almost certain failure.

Note: By successful revolution I mean one that manages to overthrow the government.

I've studied privately world War 2 for many years. Always on the military side of it. As I trust the opinions of this sub I'm hoping someone can recommend some books related to this topic. Also would like some regarding the other Axis powers. Please and thank you.

Is it somewhere in the Aeneid?

What were the practice and/or policy changes about the routes during this time?

My Great Grandfather died a few days ago, and I was wondering how I could find his military records from WW2?

I think he was Army, I don't know if he saw combat. He's never talked about it, so I think he did. I knew he was a veteran, a lot of my family are, I never asked about it because I was always told it was extremely rude.

I'm hesitant to spend money on any sites like Ancestry or similiar because I doubt they have his military records and not just information that I already know about him, and I don't want to file a request with the LoC that could possibly take years to get back to me.

Is there any way I could get any information in a relatively quick fashion and if I'm paying know I'm getting what I want?

Now granted this seems to be more the case for better rated restaurants but I'm still curious where it all started and why.

I've read that Darius usurped the Persian Empire from a "Magi" but had no claim to the throne. How did he cement his legitimacy? How did the family members of Cyrus react?

Whenever one thinks of the American revolution popular history, it tends to focus on the stereotype that British generals only ever employed Line infantry and marched forward against militia troops and lost miserably.

How realistic was this? I can't imagine a military as experienced and well trained as Britain would really act so inept, so I assumed there have to be other factors, such as logistically transporting things from Britain to America was difficult, but what else went into such a dramatic loss?

I used to read a lot about the roman empire, as a kid in the pre-internet days. And I'm slowly rediscovering my old interest. I think everything about the roman empire is fascinating. Both the school of thoughts, the stories about the emperors, the social structure and the society in general, as well as the stories from the battlefield. I know much of it -especially the brave stories about the emperors, is myth and legend, and it's probably a more complicated matter to distinct between fact and fiction. But I would be happy to have some comprehensive books about the rise and fall of the empire, for the winter months Any reccomendations ?

I've been reading about famous 18th and 19th century duels and I've always operated under the thought that they were legal - but I see multiple cases (Burr-Hamilton, Jackson-Dickinson, Hickok-Tutt, which is a little late for the time periods I gave) where individuals claimed that the winner should've been, or was outright prosecuted.

I'm asking not generally how such a small party can suddenly gain huge amounts of backing, and a previously unknown man in ~1928 can go to being chancellor in 1933

Hi, I'm writing a paper on how nullification pushed the US towards the Civil War. I'm mainly focusing on the Tariff of Abominations, and comparing Calhoun and Jackson's views on the tariffs/ state's rights. I have one really bad and unrelated quote from historian Forrest McDonald but I cannot find any historiography on this. If you guys could point me to some good sources to find it/ give me your own opinion on it (I promise I'll cite you, I'll get caught if I don't) that would be really great!

The results of the French Revolution include the end of the French Monarchy and execution of Louis XVI as well as the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. The July Revolution, which took place 31 years later occurred to overthrow Charles X, so if the Monarchy had ended in 1799, why was there another king in 1830?