A lot of the books, shows, etc always paint the confederates in a good way or try to push the "lost cause" myth. I'm trying to write a novel about the civil war (fiction) and I want to learn about Union soldier's way of life. Camp life, battlefield life, the struggles, the jobs. Why battles happened/why certain strategies were made. I don't want to hear any more defending of the south or praising of Lee. I don't know if I'm sounding dumb or not, but I'm fairly young and the only education I got on this subject was a 3-week course in 8th grade, thanks.

Much is often said about the trench systems of the western front in WW1, and they are often described with wordage that indicates a single, unbroken line of trenches stretching without interruption from the Swiss border to the English channel.

But how contiguous were these trench systems actually? Could a soldier in actuality walk all of the way without leaving the trench system? This question excludes of course the considerable hinderances and dangers of offensives, sporadic artillery bombardment, sniper fire. As it is quite difficult to dig trenches across rivers, these are also excluded from this theoretical.

I am aware that the trench system was also often in flux due to capturing and recapturing of trenches by both sides. Did this create broken trench lines? And were there other obstacles of the natural variety besides rivers that hindered a fully conjoined trench system from forming?

Obviously it's tied to the civil war, the Presidents who got us into the civil war are obviously not going to be remembered fondly by history, but I would like a bit more depth.

Also, I would love a recommendation of a popular history book that might address the subject in a bit more depth, preferably something available in an audiobook.

Thanks!

I was reading “The Plantagenets - The kings who made England” and in one instance it is mentioned Geoffrey Plantagenet died of a fever in 1151 at the age of 38. Do we know what sort of illnesses would have been described as fever in the Middle Ages? Are there illnesses that were more deadly then due the lack of modern medicine?

I simply can’t imagine the first few Nobel prizes being that big of a deal. I’d assume no one knew what it was. So, when and why did it start to become such a widely respected prize? Or was it really like that since inception?

Edit: grammar

At the beginning of Chapter 1 of his book "Epic Continent: Adventures in the Great Stories of Europe", Nicholas Jubber says (emphasis mine), "Composed roughly at the end of the eighth century BC and attributed to the bard known as Homer, [The Odyssey] is so familiar - with its Sirens and Cyclops and the great battle in Odysseus' hall - it's easy to forget that it predates the invention of mealtimes of the minting of coins."

It had never occurred to me to think of mealtimes as something that had been invented. Upon reflection it makes sense, as there must have been some transition point between grazing behavior and organized meals, but I don't know anything about eating behaviors in the period before mealtimes were a commonly accepted standard.

If I'm a general laborer during this time period, what are my eating customs like? Do I have set breaks when I get to eat? Do I just graze throughout the day when I get a chance? Is it the same for a wealthy land-owner, or do they have either a more rigid or more flexible eating schedule?

There are lots of stories of situations like this like with David and Goliath or the Horatti, but they all seem to be legend. How would a fight like this work and would the losing side accept defeat or continue fighting against their word?

So I'm planning to write a fantasy book series based on the 12th century but I'm finding some trouble shifting through the internet for the information I need.

What I'm looking for is:

What did battles look like (Unit information such as cavalry to infantry ratio).

List of common titles and their meanings (the role of a Knight, noble positions etc).

What did armour look like for Knights and common infantry?

Appearances of clothing worn by the rich and the poor.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas Jefferson owned many more slaves than any other framer of the Constitution. According to the Monicello organization, 400 people were enslaved at Monticello; the other 200 people were held in bondage on Jefferson's other properties. At any given time, around 130 people were enslaved at Monticello.

What was life like for the slaves of Monticello? And how many worked in the house as opposed to working in the fields? How were they treated by Jefferson compared to slaves on other plantations? What were the duties of Jefferson's slave children and how were they treated? What became of Jefferson's children? We know the book Clotel is a work of complete fiction. From what I've been able to discover, Jefferson wanted his children to become musicians, perhaps fiddlers - an ideal trade for them in that time and place.

I’ve found a lot of documents in our 1856 house in the attic - there was a fire sometime around 1900, and it’s all just been left up there. The ash created an oxygen seal for the documents the fire didn’t destroy.

One document is a boot price list for 1889, Pittsburgh…and it seems really pricey. $40-50 for boots, back then! I can’t tell if it’s a lot price or what…just seems odd. Can you give me any context? I can’t seem to include the images here, but they’re in my post history, last post.

I am currently writing something on World Anvil. In the article I'm writing, there is a nation known for it's cavalry called Erzia. I'm just wondering if there are variations of knights that appeared in medieval history cause i wanted to take inspiration from it.

In 1798 stainless steel was invented. It was cheaper than carbon steel, stronger, easier toaintain but it became dull very easily.

The sabres (swords used by hussars and other cavalry) were well used from early modern warfare until World War One. So, this means swords and stainless steel co-existed for 100 years.

My question is, were there any instance of stainless steel sabres in those era? As i reason, poorer soldiers that couldnt afford carbon steel would order stainless steel blades from blacksmith as it was cheaper and easier to maintain. Even if it is harder to avoid dullness, sabre charges were only were one of two times in the combat and rest of the melee charges were made by bayonets and lancers. Also it is better than nothing.

I'm particularly interested in Insular Christianity in the early medieval period, btw.

I seem to be presented with two conflicting points of view, that make this seem difficult for me.

1. Pork is forbidden in the Bible, and yet medieval society appears to be quite devoutly Christian
2. Every. Single. Source. I've found on the topic of medieval diets say that pork was widely eaten

In the modern day, we're a bit more relaxed on what is or isn't allowed according to the Bible, and many modern Christians would think nothing of eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, or wearing a shirt made of multiple types of fabric. But Christianity appears to be much more important for medieval people.

So was it only the priesthood that took the Bible hyper-seriously?

In light of the important discussions about the treatment of indigenous people in Canada. I'd like to hear if anyone can explain the relationship of the Nordic countries visavi the sámi in education and family policy in the 19th/first half of the 20th century. I know the question is broad, but any insights would be appreciated. The compulsory schooling introduced in the 1930s in Sweden of course would be ill-suited for a Nomadic people, and "modern" ideas impressed, but was there an expressed policy to forbid children to speak sámi? According to Wikipedia, Norway seem to have been harsher, but to what degree? Did the finnish/russian Sámi have more autonomy and self-control? Was separation of families just a side effect or intention?

They were not that much far away and considering trades and other cultures i think they at least probably knew about each others.