I'm looking for a book about Scottish history, preferably around the time of Vikings and the lord of the isles I think ? If possible an easier to read book would be better.

Also as a side question does anyone have any less known facts about Scottish history ?

Hello! I'm interested to know what was the actual purpose of the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and why was Bulgaria split? And also, why the Russian emperor Alexander III messed so much with Bulgarian politics (example, the murder of Stefan Stambolov, sponsored by the emperor)? Thanks in advance!

The US never seemed to have a problem with losing skilled pilots, why couldn't the Japanese keep skilled pilots in the air?

What sort of tactics and strategem were used during the later years of the saumrai, say, when gunpowder was coming into the scene? Or really, after that? In WWII, most of the "tactics" I hear about are surprise attacks and kamakazi pilots. There has to be more than that, right?

Thanks in advance!

As a Native, when a man shows up that looks like nothing you've ever seen might be quite intimidating. I assume the Natives were accepting for some reason, but how did they know they had good intentions? Weren't the Natives very spiritual/religious? How were they so accepting of an outsider?

I'm wondering how important it would be to have an exchange of food and food supplies in a society that was mostly agrarian.

Would a median urban worker be able to buy a bicycle?

Also, how popular were they? Did people trade horses for bicycles in urban areas?

I was just curious when the last large purchase of land by an industrialized nation was, and how it went.

With some things, it's easy to picture how measurements came to exist. Length is easy to measure, weight probably started with scales, then people chose to use a certain sized object as a standard for the scale, then that became a measurement. But temperature isn't so easy to measure quantitatively, so when, and how, did the first quantitative measurements of temperature come to be?

So I quite often read on this forum that this new discovery and that new work of history and whatnot changes the historians' understanding of the area, or how most of the works over a few decades old are outdated. Is there an area where this notably isn't true, for various reasons? For example because of the high quality of the existing work by current standards.

Basically, what I'm asking is, is there an area where a time-travelling modern historian couldn't really surprise his colleagues from the past with new developments?

I understand that in pre-modern world this was quite common. Leaders in ancient Greece consulted the Oracle, Romans foretold future examining animal entrails. Is there an example, in modern times, of an important decision being made based on superstitious belief (astrology, prophecy, omens or some such)?

Surely they had the numbers to push hard against a single point, perhaps the chaos made organization impossible?

I'm writing a story that takes place on a ship with a time period loosely around the Golden Age of Piracy and realized that while there's quite a lot out there about types of food sailors ate, I have no idea how dinner time works on a ship. Did people eat in shifts? Was there a mess hall type thing where the cook handed out food and they sat for a break, or what it more like a grab your food and go type deal? Did people usually eat together or alone? I know that they probably didn't use silverware, but did they use plates? What was a ship's kitchen capable of making?

Any and all things relating to eating on a ship welcome, I just want a better idea of what it was like. Thanks in advance :)

What was the logic behind the sitting around and do nothing method that they used? Retrospect is just too blinding for me right now.

Are there any particular reasons English-speaking people didn't/don't name baby boys Jesus? Was it considered sacrilegious?

I've been reading a lot about the Genesis of steam sailing and all the geopolitical focus on coaling stations, but have yet to come across a book that actually describes them. Who hauled the coal there, how was it managed and loaded, what sort of facilities were there and what defense was provided for them?