Been playing a lot of Crusader Kings 2 and its reawakened an interest in history.... haha.

Guys and gals! What are some good books of English Medieval history?

Here are some things that would make the reading a "desirable" book:

1. A more dense, textbook feel to the book. After being a history major in college, I just don't really like books without citations anymore.
2. A view not so focused on kings. Yes, kings were a big deal, but I've become frustrated with books that mention the actions of powers outside the King's authority and not explaining why they were doing that. History isn't what, it's why and how, so tell me why and how these outside factions developed!
3. A view not constricted by borders. It's almost like if it didn't happen in England, it didn't happen AT ALL to some writers.

It's said this was the case for the Taj Mahal. I'm reading Game of Thrones by George RR Martin right now and find a character in the story might have been guilty of this also. But was it proven to ever be done by an actual ruler or such?

In movies and TV, when they aren't discussing movements, plans, etc. soldiers seem to talk about their sense of duty, why they're there, and sometimes really deep topics. I find this unlikely, tho. If you're stuck with a group of men for 5 years, assuming you and they survive, what do you have to talk about? You've been at war for years, and away from everyone and everything you cared about before. I'm a road construction worker and spend more time away from home with the same 15 guys than I do actually at home with people I care about, not that I don't care about my coworkers, but it's different from, say, my family. We work together, eat together, and stay in the same uncomfortable lodging together. We become almost too comfortable with each other at times. I feel like their conversations would be similar to ours: a good chunk of talk is about work, but a lot of it is just messing with each other and making fun of one another. Every now and then you have a one on one conversation with someone, and it might get a bit personal, talking about home and family. But for the most part we are just "loving assholes" to one another. We can fuck with this guy, but if somebody else gets on his case they better watch out. You know? I always imagine it would be more like that than anything. I realize that war and road building are very different, but you're still with a group of (often quite crude) men night and day.

With that said, how would this have differed between forces? What would Americans be like compared to Japanese? British and German? Russian? Canadian? Italian? Etc.

So, what were relationships and conversations like between soldiers in different armies during World War II? And what did soldiers talk about when they weren't discussing the war?

1. How closely related are Northern and Southern Italians to the Ancient Romans? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the South and Sicily has a distinct Greek heritage - were they ever Romanized or Latinized?
2. Did the Lombards, Celts and Germanics make that much of an impact on the genetic identity of the Northern Italians? If so, can you explain how severe the change was?
3. How much of an impact did the Arabs, Normans and Spaniards actually have on the genetic identity of Sicily? Are most people of Greek heritage? Do certain regions have different ethnic groups, for example, the west has a higher percentage of Ethnic Greeks whereas a city like Palermo may have a number of people who descend from the Normans?

Thanks!

I was reading about the Beatles album, Revolver, and the author mentioned that the Russian release inexplicably had different images in the famous collage cover. The same article pointed out that the American release of Revolver was missing 3 tracks that were included in the English release. Why all the funkiness with these old international releases (there are hundreds of examples of this occurring)? Why did records companies do this?

Nowadays when you cast your vote, generally the ballot has both the name of the candidate and (in fine print) a slate of electors pledged to vote for that candidate. Was it the same case in the 1788-89 election, or did voters choose electors without necessarily knowing which candidate the electors would vote for?

I guess I've sort of taken for granted that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are the "Abrahamic faiths." Recently, though, out of curiosity, I decided to sit down and read the Koran, and as I sat there scanning through the Adam and Eve story, or reading something about Moses, it struck me that I had no idea how these common elements of belief ended up in Arabia anyway--how did this guy in 7th century Arabia, who wasn't a Jew, come to believe this stuff?

Certainly, I know enough to know that Islam didn't grow out of Judaism as, say, Christianity did, but evidently, pre-Islamic Arabs shared a lot with them. How much do we know about Pre-Islamic Arabian religion? Is there some specific name for the religion that Mohammed was born into? In addition to the populations of outright Christians and Jews there, were there particular groups that were more "Abrahamic" and those that were more "pagan?" I know that a lot of Islamic religious practice had something to do with what was already there--the locals had been performing rites around the Ka'aba, albeit very different ones, for instance, but how "Abrahamic" were those folks? How and when did Abrahamic beliefs get to the area?

I find myself wondering about the the religion of the sami people before their conversion. I heard that Læstadius wrote about their beliefs, but I have heard that it isn't a complete account. I also understand that their religion was similar to the Finnish pagan religion.

My question ultimately is this. What do we know of the Sami religion and what can we assume about it based on other similar religions.

Hi everyone!

I already have a basic understanding of economics (Mankiw, Sowell...) but am still out pf the water whenever the schools get brought in (that is keynesian... And so forth)

What schools should I be familiar with and what can I read to understand each of them?

Thanks!!

With all the troops and supporters Mussolini managed to round up, why did lose almost every battle they fought?

I read Price William's Wikipedia page and it says he can trace his family tree back to William the Conquerer. That's a thousand years of history! Idle speculation aside is there any real evidence to suggest that this is not true?

Basically what the title says. Would it be accurate to say the Epic of Gilgamesh was as influential (and popular) among the Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians etc. as the works of Homer were among the Greeks and Romans?

The Chinese, the Irish, etc... were they not equally uneducated, unskilled, and segregated from the mainstream?

What did the inhabitants call themselves and how were they referred to by others (Arabs, western europeans, barbarians, etc.)?

For much of human history, telling eachother stories was a great way to keep eachother entertained, and to provide food for thought on topics such as history, society and morals. With the introduction of radio, film and television, people are less and less inclined to tell eachother stories for entertainment.

A thing I noticed when listening to old speeches, is that statespersons used to be much more dramatic and elaborate in their speech patterns than their contemporary counterparts. I'm wondering if the two phenomena are related?