Hey all,

I recently came upon a very old book by William Miller called The Ottoman Empire 1801-1913. It is a very interesting read so far, but I don't know much about the author or his scholarship. I am very interested in books on Middle East/Ottoman history that would be considered more along the lines of Social history, subaltern, or 'history from below.'

I grabbed this off the book list, anyone have any comments on it?

Osman's Dream: A History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923

Brazil is over four times as large as any other nation in South America. Is this proportion due mostly to slavery? Or were there immigration or indigenous factors that lead to such a disproportionately large share of South America's population?

There are many possible substitutes that share similar ranges and keys e.g. flute and oboe. Why did people choose the violin?

I know about groups like Knights of the Golden Circle from before secession, and I know that the Constitution of the CSA included provisions regarding future expansion, but I haven't seen much about post-secession.

Did Confederate leaders still plan to annex (or discuss annexation of) additional territory for the expansion of slavery? Were they too busy dealing with the Civil War to put much thought or effort into plans for future expansion? What, if anything, did they have to say on the subject?

-So I have a BA in History that I received in 2011 from CSUSB and something was brought up in one of my history or economic classes: -A theory stating that one of the major reasons why the USA is not as susceptible as a nation to the whole "empires lasting 250-300 years before crumbling" rule of thumb is because North America was discovered on the east coast (much harsher lands, less fertile soil, etc.) settled and populated; and we then expanded westward (to the much more sustainable lands). It was like a reverse marginal utility returns type of deal. Does anyone out there have any info backing something like this up? I've attempted to find stuff but nothing really too credible.

I was wondering if there are any accounts of PTSD like symptoms in ancient warfare, or if it is more of a "modern" war disorder. The earliest I normally hear about are things like Shell-Shock.

If there are any examples of place names like this in the Americas, or even other areas colonized by Europeans, feel free to point them out. I always found these odd place names in France and England.

Im doing an essay for school and I think this will be something useful to include in my paper. I'm having trouble finding famous POW camps for some reason. Thanks :)

I am interested in how gem stones were mined in the early to late middle ages, I'm most interested in medieval times since there was a general lack of mechanized equipment, and in most areas chemistry was just barely beginning and surely was not sophisticated enough to extract minerals.

Were gemstones just found incidental to mining for known precious metals? What techniques were used? How was the ore processed for stones as opposed to crushing or leaching ore for metals? I am fascinated and perplexed with how and where gemstones came from in this early era of mining especially since gemstones in jewelry was such a major status symbol. How does one go down a torch lit tunnel and come out with a rough stone?

Any GENERAL information on the gemstone trade during these times is also welcome. Thanks

I know that's not a question, but I'm wondering if there were any mothers who were pregnant while at a camp? I'd assume that the stress killed the baby, but are there records of any babies being born? What about the expectant mothers when they arrived, how were they treated?

Edit: Not sure why I'm being down voted, it's an honest question that I struggle to find any answers to.

I've heard this wasn't documented until WWI but I find that hard to believe. Are there written descriptions of soldiers behaving in such a way going back to the dark ages or even ancient times?

Fettucine alfredo, spaghetti and marinara/meatballs, etc. How did this happen? Any other tidbits about the history of pasta's various forms are associated as well.

Roman society was so advanced, so why was Feudalism, which was directly after The Roman Empire so devolved. Their dumped their feces outside their houses and had a horribly decentralized government.

How would historic monarchs have pronounced their own names?

Many of the names of the kings of England were Norman French in origin. Take Henry. I assume this would originally have been pronounced like the French, with a dropping of the initial H. But by the time of Henry VIII, Early Mordern English would have started to kick in. Would He have pronounced his name with the H? If so, when would the change have come about?

Were their names much different from how we write them in the modern, e.g. Elizabeth or something like Elisabeth? I'm guessing someone like Estienne de Blois would have been given the name Stephen only much later. Was John actually Jean or something similar? Was George a name introduced to England with the Georgian kings? Our modern pronunciation seems quite archaic, yet very different from how I presume George I would have called himself (/gei org/).

More recent monarchs have taken to assuming a regal name different from their given names. When and how did this practice begin?

Would appreciate any fun info you can spare!

When did 911 become the standard emergency number in the United States?

Who thought of it, and what kind of opposition did it face in its development?

How long did it take to become widespread across the country?

Did political parties lobby for its creation?

It amazes me the extent that the American industrial base was so quickly transformed to produce wartime weapons and equipment. The complexity and sheer size of this undertaking would surely necessitated some pre-planning wouldn't it?