Note: After writing this, I realize that it sounds like a contrived question meant to malign the Palestinian side of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by bringing up an old relationship. That is not my intention; in fact, my sympathies currently lie more with Palestine than Israel, but the reason I'm reading in this area is because I think any judgments I make are premature given my lack of understanding of the roots of the conflict. This is an honest question spurred by a Wikipedia article, and I hope it can be answered in an objective way.

Reading the Wikipedia article on the Arab-Israeli conflict, I see that a faction of Arabs lead by al-Husseini was very active in Nazi propaganda and asked the Germans to bomb Tel Aviv. I also know there was already a lot of Jewish-Arab conflict and mutual violence in the region prior to WWII. I've never heard it suggested before, but is there any chance that part of the motivation for the Holocaust could have been to curry favor with Arab countries? I don't know if a) there was any significant benefit to Germany to be gained from allying with these countries or b) if any additional incitement was necessary, but… it seems like if there is mutual hatred between two races, mass murder of one of those races might be undertaken as a way to get the other on your side.

Is there any evidence that these two issues are related?

I left Russia as a seven year old in 1995 and had both my dad and my step-dad tell me record shops behind the iron curtain in the '70s and '80s would usually have just a handful of American or British records. They're huge fans of the Beatles, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, my dad even rocks out to Dio. What journey would an average western record take to getting sold in this period in Russia's history?

I guess I'd compare this to how a western civ course would cover the renaissance, napoleon, the enlightenment, and the world wars. What events in Asia are like these in terms of dominance.

As the title says, really. Was feudalism and its social structures entirely a Norman import? Or was there anything in pre-1066 Anglo-Saxon society that was 'adapted' to Norman feudalism? Was it an introduction? Or an evolution? Thank you!

They must have had some plan as to where and how the empire was going to grow and how the relationship between the colonies and the UK would evolve. Are there any books that detail the future plans of the British Empire?

Was Wine or beer common? What plants did they use to ferment alcohol, Dates?

I was reading a little story about how the pilgrims stopped at Plymouth Rock because they ran out of beer- beer being the drink of choice because water was usually contaminated and didn't store well. Is there much evidence of fetal alcohol syndrome then? Or any other severe health effects in the population?

Some additional question:
If they did exist, did they ingest any thing (mushrooms or other narcotics) before battle?
Were they effective soldiers?
What was their main role in battle?

Calling it a golden age seems to glorify piracy, so why did this become the accepted term among academic historians of piracy?

I hope it is not illegal to talk about the moderation here, because I am asking this question for the third time. The first two times I asked I was told first that I was asking in the wrong place and asked to leave, and second that I was asking in the wrong way and my words were erased. It is very offputting to ask an honest question and it unasked for you. Twice.

CC: /u/davidAOP

First of all, I'm sorry if you guys get this question a lot, but I did not find it in the faq section.

I recently became very interested in history and ancient history thanks to a few books and series, so I wanted to start reading and learning about it.

My idea is to start with ancient civilizations, greek and roman history and go all the way into the middle ages (it's a lot of information, I know). My question basically is, where should I start? or is it ok to just begin with the greek civilization and take it from there?

And, most importantly, what are some suggestions of books or other material to start with? I was looking in amazon for some books and saw two that caught my attention,

• Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empire by Simon Baker
• The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World

Also, someone suggested a Podcast titled "The History of Rome" by Mike Duncan

Are these any good, or should I start with something else? Can you suggest some more material for me?

Thank you very much in advance for your answers, I hope I get to ask some more interesting questions in the future!

It seems to me that the Communist Party or at least Mao Zedong would have lost all credibility following the disaster of the Great Leap Forward. How did they manage to avoid being overthrown?

I'm from the cold north Finland to be specific. I've wondered why did people back in the day decide to stay in cold climates? I mean why not just walk to more warmer ares? Before we had countries etc.

Is there any research to what is though to be the main cause for people like the inuits, sami, early Swedes, Finns etc. staying in these cold climates?

I understand that back then the concept of being Swedish, Inuit etc. didn't exist but to simplify what I mean I decided to use these terms.

Greetings: My question is in reference to 1 Kings 7:23-7:25 and 1 Kings 7:39 -7:44.

1Ki 7:23 And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 1Ki 7:24 And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 1Ki 7:25 It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. What is the significance of the molten sea? Why did Solomon and the Temple architects feel a need to expend a enormous amount of energy and man power building a working model of the sea. To construct a basin of brass this size with twelve brass oxen must have cost tons of charcoal to smelt the brass into the needed forms. Why was the 'Sea' place on the Temple platform? It must have meant something to the early Israelites. This is a real puzzle for me; can you help? Sincerely Vince Graham

Who were the first interns? Where did they work? When did unpaid internships start?

I want to know how they prepared and cooked meals back then.

I'm referring to the earliest style of pistols, I don't know much about this particular subject so I hope I'm correct in saying flintlock pistols, but my question is, essentially, did these weapons acquire a similar usage & view by the criminal side of society as firearms today, as tools of intimidation, or did this side of society stick to older weaponry of the day, such as crossbows & swords?

Apologies if this wasn't very clear, if any clarification is needed, please just ask.

I would think that there were some efforts to avoid accidental nuclear war. Sending missiles up, sometimes in the direction of each other, I would think that both sides would want to say something along the lines of "hey this isn't really the first missile of a nuclear war, just a practice." How much did each side tell about their testing?

Countries like France and Austria always had their presence in Italy, I was just wondering what were their thoughts on a unified Italy. Also the views of other nations.