I have an old Soviet book in my house (tl;dr book for girls, on how to generally do stuff around the house, cook, clean, grow plants etc.) which has various bits of history/trivia/tips and so forth scattered throughout. This section caught my eye:

This story occured in the USA. There was once a year with an unusually large harvest of potatoes. The poor rejoiced: we'll be full, potatoes will be cheap. But on the command of the leadership a colossal amount of potatoes was shipped into a cave and poured over with toxic blue dye [paint?].

Why was this done? This is why. The capitalists found it unfavourable [unprofitable] that the price of potatoes would go down, and to keep prices high was possible with only one method - to reduce the supply of potatoes.

Truth? Embellishment? Communist propaganda? Book was published in 1974.

The Constitution gives the authority to declare war to Congress, but often a hawkish President seems to be the authority that pushes for war - sometimes against the wishes of the House and Senate.

Has there ever been an instance where a reluctant President was forced into war by a hawk Congress? It would be interesting to know if a President was ever forced to start a war that he did not back.

yesterday I posed the question that it could be the lack of Mongol conquest that was the most important factor, but most rejected that view. However, no one suggested other theories of why they increased in power as counter claims (most were just citing reasons why Mongol rule shouldn't have stopped it from happening). So I'm curious if there is a consensus on the subject, or something close to a consensus.

I have been taught, that after the French revolution, the new French state took a lot of action to decrease the influence of Catholic church without trying to put any other religion in power.

Is there any state that have done that before : fight against religion not against specific religions in the name of one other, but against all religion ion the name of a religion-less state?

I'm curious about when supplies were becoming more and more scarce, how common would it be for troops to make use of equipment picked up from enemy soldiers? Anything from firepower to med kits, or even things like socks and boots.

For example, would it be rare to see an American soldier smoking a German cigarette or wearing gloves taken from a fallen German soldier?

Or even using a German rifle, if say, they had no more ammunition for their own, would they pick up a German gun and use it as a replacement?

Also, what were the reasons for the sale of Alaska from Russia to the United States?

I am writing a paper, and I was wondering if a president has to be citizen, or can be a general. I thought that a president, like eisenhower, had to first resign being a general, and then could become president. What is the answer to this question? Thanks!

Why has the lanaguage become endagered was it mostly because of Franco?

If yes, can anyone explain a bit more about franco's language polcies?

ps:Sorry if this is not the right place to ask

Edit: Based off some research and forum postings, I have switched my order to a full set, the Moss Roberts unabridged version, which based off my research seems to be the best one to get.

I've seen a bit here where people say that Romance is a bit mythological and not always true, the author really hates Cao Cao for example.

What are some good books that give a more true to life version of events, if any?

This is generally a class of women who did not have much in the way of public life or personal notoriety, and would likely have shied away from widespread acclaim as a matter of propriety -- but surely among an entire class of women whose role (after babies) was to delight and entertain, there had to be some that were truly gifted?

Do we know of any upper-class women who were favorably compared to notable professional artists or musicians? Are there any intact collections of work? Are there any who became notable posthumously?

(I don't normally exclude literature from "the arts," but for the purpose of this question, I'm already familiar with upper-class women authors and anonymous publishing. I'd be curious to know about any anonymous art-displays though.)

I know the argument at the time was that Arbenz's policies leaned a bit too far to the Communist side for the United States's liking, but is there anything that could paint the U.S. in a good light in this operation? I feel like it's disengenous to paint them as entirely bad guys...there's gotta be something in their favor.

I need help with naming a character. The character is a female and I wanted to incorporate the goddess Bastet/Bast into her name. Something along the lines of "Daughter of Bastet". But I can't find a single example and I have no idea how thier naming structure works. So some help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello all,

Looking for a book about Martin Luther and the Reformation written by an author(s) writing from a Catholic Church perspective. Preferably historical texts written from the time period of the Reformation. Also, if such text exists, where one can purchase it.

Thanks ahead of time!

I ask this because of the Marcus Crassus line: "You can't really call yourself rich, unless you can aford your own army". So it got me wondering. When i mean army, i mean like something that could viably conquer and not just for protection.

I know part 1 was written before the Revolution takes place, but as I was reading parts 2-4 he didn't seem to go into detail about his role in it? Why does he do this?

I can't find evidence of Viking shields having rawhide on the front of the shield

Tell me history people

I'm doing a presentation on Fascism and want to do a bit more reading up on it. All I've been able to find is Gentile/Mussolini's The Doctrine of Fascism, and I've read through that, but I'd rather have more than just one/two people's views on it. Anyone know any works about fascism?

Is there any connection between the decolonialisation that rapidly started after WWII and the Cold War (more precisely, the proxy wars during the CW)? If not, what was the reason as to why the decolonialisation was initiated just after the WWII?

I've read a lot and info says the superpowers were impoverished after the losses of the war and could no longer sustain the uprisings in the colonies. But I am thinking there has to be MORE additional (more complex) factors than just the economical aspect as to why the decolonialisation escalate just shortly after WWII.

Ive a theory: could it be that the proxy wars during the CW "inspired" the colonies to start revolting? Communists bashing the capitalists in colonies held by the capitalists, telling them they should stand up for their rights and try to set free, and vice versa? I've tried to google some info to back up my thesis but without any success. I googled terms such as "proxy war effect on decolonialisation", "cold war and decolonialisation connections" etc.

Any insight would be appreciated.

I know he is considered another father of history and especially the father of historiography. From what I researched and analyzed, his main argument is that history should be taught as a cycle as patterns are shown of how dynasties rise and fall. Especially throughout Chinese history. In each cycle, there are lessons about the values of society that should be taught to rulers in order to govern well. These sections covers smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major events of significance in chronological order. Even accounting for lower class people, he does take care to make sure he does his research. Sima decided to keep moving forward even after his castration which amazes me because this individual seems even more superior than Herodatus.

I am unsure what to criticize in his argument of cycles because it makes a lot of sense that history should be taught as a cycle as empires have risen and fallen. The examples are common history and in his method, Sima wanted rulers to learn from his records and govern well in response to the past cycles. Sima however implies there is never a long-lasting change. As it doesn’t take account for any long-lasting changes that alter civilizations and changes their directions.

I am a little lost but I want to ask if there is any criticism against Sima Qian that makes sense.

Is there any evidence that suggests that human memory was stronger before we were able to store detailed information externally in the forms of writing or books?