Hello, all. I hope I’m posting in the right subreddit.

I’ve become interested in President Harry Truman due to some family history and want to learn more about him. What are some good books, documentaries, and other resources to look at (I am not currently able to visit the Truman library but really want to in the future.)?

Like of course I know I can ask about ancient history, but what about times before recorded history with cavemen and such? Or even times far before that? Would it be okay for me to ask about the Cambrian Explosion/early life for instance, or are those kinds of questions better suited for subs like r/AskScience ?

My guess would be that this sub is for more of “what” or “why” questions of a certain event, whereas subs like r/AskScience would be for more “how” type questions, but feel free to weigh in.

Looking for amything from sumerians to jesus but if you got anything real good that might come before or after it would be very apreciated, I don't really care too much just want to know more about some historical fart jokes.

"No taxation without representation"

It seems like, if taking the text book cause of the American revolution by face value, all King George had to do was invite some representatives from the 13 colonies and made them sit in tax meetings. Since colonists were paying lower taxes than people in Britain mainland anyways, as long as the formality of representation was handled, then the colonies would not have fought for independence and accepted their tax duties?

This doesn't make much sense for me, since King George can't possibly be that incompetent right ? It seems fairly easy for King George to keep all the colonies...

I’m sure you’re reading that question and thinking “why would you ask that?” I have been watching the Hulu original show The Great. It is wildly historically inaccurate in almost every way (but still hilarious), so I feel like I already know the answer, but I figured I would ask anyways. In this show, cunnilingus (eating pussy, going down on a girl, whatever you want to call it) is a sexual act that is brought up surprisingly often, and even talked about and treated like a treat for both men and women. My question is: how common was it for a man to perform this act on a woman? Was it viewed as outrageous? Normal? Did people just pretend that women had no pleasure in sex? And if it did happen, how was it treated? Was it a source of pride, like in the show? Or was it treated as something sinful or shameful, like in the Sopranos (a completely unrelated show, but the only other one I can think of where they talk about this). Thank you in advance for your answer!

I'm currently writing a thesis on nationalism and whether or not it led to the first world war. I know asking for help with homework isn't received well on the internet in general, yet I've been through dozens of references and I simply can't find any reliable source which lists the characteristics of nationalism. I've basically written 6 pages of sourced and researched material, but none of it really helps me answer my question.

It's due in 5 days and I still haven't answered the first out of the three questions I've been posed. The other two relating to reasons for the first world war and whether or not nationalism caused it as mentioned prior.

Does any source exist characterizing nationalism?

Thank you in advance.

Hello fellow historians and history enthusiasts.

Long story short, I’m a Brit with partial French ancestry. Mostly farmers and sailors from Brittany. I have a pretty good understanding of the Ancien Regime and what life would have been like for my family back then. However, what I’m less clear about is how the revolution would have changed their daily lives, the expectations of them as citizens, what sort of social changes they may have seen first hand. I’d love to be enlightened!

So this is like the longest shot ever.

I'm writing a play where in there is an anarchistic murderer and a militant suffragette impressioned in Holloway Prison in 1910. I have found little in the way of facts about the life of the prisoners. Mainly:

1. Did they use isolation, and would that exempt one from work?

2. How long was the work day?

3. Was physical punishment a thing?

4. MOST IMPORTANT: Did they have the right to receive visitors and write letters? Could a woman send post concerning political matters to fellow militant suffragettes on the outside?

It would be super cool if anyone had the answer to any of these questions or even more info!

For example, according to Oakeshott type XIV blade general usage time is 1275-1340. How common would that type of swords be in late XIV or in XV

When looking at the Bible it is a great piece of literature. Furthermore its a known fact that the bible was written and edit by man so whats the possibility that the Bible started off as Folktales?

Can anyone recommend some good books about the Weimar Republic? I looked through the book list and couldn't find any. I'm looking for dense and very detailed books, if any like that exist. Thank you in advance.

This is something I've wondered about for a long time. Usually fascism is understood in a European context with specifically white supremacist and often anti-Semetic elements, but the ethno-nationalism present in Japan in this time seem to resemble fascism (at least to me).

Obviously this requires some understanding of political theory in order to answer this question, but for the historians out there with a background in Japanese history and/or WWII history I'd like to hear your responses.

Thanks!

Reading about the military operations of WW2, it is possible to read here and there that the Germans seemed "surprised" by the quality of Soviet tanks like the KV-1 and T-34, and how their infantry and tanks were ill-equipped to fight French and British armored vehicles, etc.

France, Germany and the UK being close neighbours, how was it possible for the Germans to be surprised by, for example, the French arsenal? Tanks like the B1 bis, the Somua S35 or the Matildas have been around for a few years before the start of the war in Europe and France had conscription, supposedly making some technical specifications fairly accessible to the general population. But the standard 37mm gun of the German forces was outmatched in its anti-tank role during the campaign of France, Rommel having to rely several times on his artillery and 88mm AA guns to fight off enemy tank formations.

Hence my question, how informed were the Germans, or the French or the British about their neighbours' weapons specifications before the start of the war? I understand very well that the Germans couldn't steal a B1 Bis the same way all parties were eager to recover enemies' planes or tanks from the battlefield to study and test upon during the war. That the Americans didn't know much about Japanese warplanes, I can admit. But I would find it odd that the Germans or the French were utterly oblivious of each other's respective tanks technical specifications in the months leading to the war.

I’m doing some reading about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and there’s mention of his fervent attempts to get in touch with Western allies in the hope of securing peace terms following a collapse of Hitler’s regime.

It sounds like he was fairly well connected through his Confessing Church - he managed to get word to George Bell, an Anglican bishop and member of the House of Lords, who passed his message along to the British foreign secretary. However, that seems to have gone nowhere. Why wasn’t the British government more interested in supporting German resistance movements (financially or otherwise), or at the very least developing an intelligence relationship with Bonhoeffer, who must have had valuable insight as an Abwehr member?

I've done multiple Google searches and haven't come across anything apart from redirects to the actual book

[Footnote 1: Dion Cassius, (l. liv. p. 736,) with the annotations of Reimar, who has collected all that Roman vanity has left upon the subject. The marble of Ancyra, on which Augustus recorded his own exploits, asserted that he compelled the Parthians to restore the ensigns of Crassus.]

Any answers would be appreciated

Basically the title. I am trying to search for the earliest mention of cilantro tasting like soap/metal but cannot find anything.