Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the amount of assigned reading is overwhelming and just too much for me to remember, especially when 3 of my 5 courses this semester are history. Is there a certain way of reading, staying on top of it, and actually retaining the information without being overwhelmed?

I've been watching the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Chinese serial and I'm curious how Cao Cao was able to blatantly wield so much authority over Emperor Xian. I understand that Dong Zhou had power as he declared himself the regent and officially ruled in Xian's stead, but after the emperor came of age how was he so powerless to keep the Cao clan from usurping his throne?

While reading up on some history of the Roman Republic, I've become very interested in the history of its rival, Carthage. There's a wealth of easily available material on Rome, but I haven't found so much on Carthage.

Does anyone have any recommendations for books/podcasts/documentaries/anything else which give a good introduction to the civilization?

I've been reading and listening to podcasts about the Eastern Front in WW2 and I'm curious how Historians determine the validity of figures and claims made by Soviet and Nazi sources when there seems to be a natural desire by both sides to paint the other in the worst light possible.

You'll have to bare with my lack of knowledge but I always get confused by warfare from about 1820, onwards. I know that prior to that, you'd have your cannons, lines of infantry, cavalry on the wings etc. However nearer to the 20th century I find it gets blurred. There are iron clad ships, gattling guns etc. So, my question is this, what would a Franco-Prussian battle look like? Would you still have lines of men firing at one another, occasional cannon fire etc? I have read that there were trenches in the American civil war which wasn't too long ago, would men have been in trenches? If they were fighting near a town would they use buildings to shoot from etc? Was cavalry still used? Or say rank fire by men? Sorry if I have worded this question badly, thank you to anyone who can answer.

I've recently read through The Forge of Christendom and while I found it an extremely enjoyable read I do wonder how reliable it is as a work of history. This could just be a lack of experience but I've found that narritive driven histories aren't as accurate and work better as introductions/ sparks of interest to the scene than detailed looks at the period.

What is the general consensus on this book and Holland as an author (assuming he's done more works of history)?

I have been told that when Hannibal began his crossing of the Alps, he had something like 38 war elephants with him. However, once he made it to Italy, only a few were left. Have the remains of any of the elephants that did not survive the crossing been found?

Just like the title says, I was wondering how involved FDR was in the development of the Manhattan Project during and after 1942. Further, what presidential or executive powers could he have utilized to take history in a completely different direction (i.e: possibly halting the project entirely, or deciding to have certain project leaders/commanders and scientists removed all together). Thanks so much!

The general sort of impression with English seems to be that it butchers the French words - like nation is pronounced nayshin not nas-yon. I understand about language evolution and shifting vowels, and erm I don't how to finish this sentence, but was the Norman dialect so different it basically jutted off English French on a different phonological journey?

I'm writing a research paper on Romans and this question came to mind. Please back up all your answers with credible sources.

Many cultures seem to have had sky-gods with control over storms and lightning: Zeus, Jupiter, Baal-hamon, Tengri, Yahweh, etc. Since people are struck by lightning and survive, I assume it had to have happened in the past too. I've never seen any accounts of lighting-strike survivors though, and I'm wondering whether being struck by lightning affected how they were treated in cultures where lightning had religious significance?