I'm asking for a school project (a journal from the point of view of a solider from Britain). Thanks.

Is there a religion that predates the three Abrahamic faiths that might have been the progenitor of worshiping a monotheistic God? How can one city be such a focal point since the beginnings of civilization?

In today's context of standing armies, the idea of a country taking months to mobilize for war seems rather foreign. How did countries go about mobilizing? What sort of plans did they have in place to deal with the workers who would no longer be at their jobs? What were the differences in the process between the more industrialized and agrarian nations?

I recently read his book and I was wondering if it was as grand as he claims or if he was under pressure to make it seem more spectacular than it was.

I need to teach a course on world ancient history next term. I have a great handle on Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East, but India is a gaping whole in my knowledge. Any good introductory sources?

So I was sure how to phrase the title question but I'll give an example, so if the Romans wanted to communicate with the Egyptians for example I would assume they need a translator. How would Romans learn Egyptian or vice versa?

I know they didn't like other cultures like the Goths, but did they hate Africans, or Persians because of the color of their skin?

My impression is that weekends and 9-5 work hours are (relatively) modern conventions and that people in previous centuries worked much more (and much harder) than many of us do today in developed countries. Any relevant sources?

Thanks!

Historic buildings from Ireland to Russia to Greece were completely devastated. I will even include Spain as well. Obviously Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland were especially hard hit.

While many destroyed historic buildings were just leveled and newer, modern buildings put in their place, there are lots of buildings that were "reconstructed" to look like nothing ever happened. Is there some unspoken rule to just gloss over that the "old" building you are looking at is a modern replica? Do historians you know of look at these buildings as "authentic enough"?

I know I cringe whenever I read someone talk about "historic Rotterdam" or "The historic buildings of Warsaw", showing buildings that are just recreations of the ones that were destroyed in the 40s.

I'm reading a paper on the identities of girls, and came across this statement:

Although the concept of identity dates from ancient times, several authors contend that identity mattered differently throughout history. Kellner argues that in traditional times, thus before the rise of modernity, identities were stable. Tradition prescribed choice, individual actions, and social roles. Everyone knew their place and role: "One was a hunter and a member of the tribe and that was that" (Kellner, 1992:141). People did not experience identity crises or modify their identities; such actions are characteristic of late modernity.

The hunter/tribe reference seems to point to some really ancient and not really knowable hunter-gatherer past, but would this even be true for the middle ages? Was it really that uncommon for someone to switch jobs because they wanted to do something else, did fandoms exist, were there things like 'cliques' for teens? (How) did people in the middle ages construct their own identity?

Around 1860 Kentucky was the ninth most populous state. It was an important agricultural center for wheat, hemp, flax, corn, and tobacco. It was also one of the better educated regions of the south and home to a well respected Transylvania university.

What happened to make it into a cultural and economic backwater?

I heard an ottoman history podcast that said the north african states were poor and relied heavily on the slave trade? Is this true?

What were the slaves used for? Did they have some sort of labor shortage? Who bought the slaves?

Did they primarily traffic in European slaves, North African slaves, or West African slaves?

I've heard Henri Coanda flew a little time before the Wright brothers somewhere close to Paris but his success wasn't recognized by the scientific community because the Paris scientific community didn't go to witness the event because they thought it was impossible to do. Is there any truth to this?

Say I'm a young student from the UK sometime between 1960-1985. Would it be possible for me to travel to the Soviet Union on holiday? Would it be like traveling to North Korea now?

I was surprised to learn recently that the Russians had the most deaths in WWI. I have never really learned anything about that front of the war, with most of my knowledge being about the western front. I would appreciate any help in educating myself!

It's a common enough saying but is there any truth to it? And if not, what is?