Hi,

So I have been perusing the book list, but there are so many that I feel overwhelmed. What do people recommend as a good start to historical / non-fiction reads? I want to broaden my horizons with what I have been reading, but I have a verrry limited historical background. Are certain authors more enjoyable or easier to read than others? What’s a good place to start? I’m not too worried about topics, the only thing that doesn’t excite me is military history / wars. Many thanks for your help!

Greetings fellow people I got a question about Finland today is because I always was interested in those northern European countries and of course I have always been confused on why do some mention that Finnish people are different from other Europeans by genetics and haplogroups. First of all I have absolutely no idea about genetics or haplogroups. Some mention they arrived from eastern Asia meanwhile most mention that they lived in Finland for very long time up today and that their genes were Nordic. Idk honestly what am I saying if anyone knows please let me know.

Another key detail; the Zulus were able to achieve the element of surprise.

I know we are not allowed what if questions so perhaps what elements British military doctrine allowed them to counter such large forces and can they really be implemented in hours?

So, I was wondering if "jus primae noctis" was in fact real, and in the affirmative case, how common...

Personally, the whole concept just seems a little bit ridiculous, even for medieval times, and it sures seems like a good way to piss of a bunch of peasants.

Say there is a Soviet rifle corps on the eastern front with a frontage of 10 miles, would the infantry be spread equally over 10 miles or would they be in "clumps" with large gaps in between?

and what was the situation ancient medieval and Napoleonic times?

This weekend, I was listening to a podcast that was mentioned that although the Black Plague is commonly thought to have been generated by a Yersinius Pestis variant, there are several reasons why it might NOT be Y. Pestis. The arguments went to time to spread (too fast for Y. Pestis) and contagiousness (too high for Y. Pestis). The podcast went on to mention some researchers think the real culprit could be an Ebola-style hemoragic (sp?) fever, or even many different diseases that hit hard all at once.

What are/ were the bacterial/ viral candidates for being the Black Plague cause, and how did historians and/or the medical community settle on and/or dismiss each candidate?

For example, now it would be quite ridiculous to give someone a red rose with the words "let's just be friends". Was there an equivalent in ancient Greece or Rome? If so, do we know anything about how the tradition started?

Cattle have changed significantly in the last 50 years with carcase weights increasing to around 400kg for finished steers in the UK. Plus we now have cattle breeds which specialise in milk or beef and also tailored to the farms they live on. We have moved from predominantly native breeds 50 years ago to mainly rearing cattle breeds originating on the continent. This may swing back again breeds like Aberdeen Angus continue to grow in numbers year on year.

Most UK herd books date back to the mid 19th century but i am keen to know about before then.

I would like to know if there is any archeological or historical information on cattle breeding and how they looked a long time ago. Also were there breeds which were more used for milk, beef or draft? And was there any evidence of changes in populations of cattle like the introduction on British breeds to the new world. One of the issues I can see would be the difficulty of keeping a big population of livestock alive through winter.

I'm curious about early newspapers in the United States, or the colonies. Did they serve a particular purpose, were they created as a long-term means of communication or in service to a short-term goal? Basically, I'm wondering what the early publishers had in mind when they made the decision to start a newspaper. (Also, is there a difference between a "newspaper" and a "broadsheet"?)

If it was indeed used in combat, you'd think there would be value to things like katas and self defense moves, but you never see these forms or techniques being used in MMA or street fight videos, etc. Are these techniques truly what ancient man used to fight for their lives with or did something get lost along the way?

Haven't been able to find much about this online. I appreciate anyone that can enlighten me.

Hello, what I mean by Greek architecture is their temples the columns the triangle at the front and all of those styles .. I know them as Greek but I’ve noticed a lot of other civilisations had the same style like the Petra in Jordan or the Jewish temple before it was destroyed or a lot of others Petra if I recall correctly was built way before the Hellenistic era

So why was it built that way by Arab traders? Is that just generic ancient architecture and the Greeks are just more famous and appropriated it?

Or was Greek influence so strong even before the Hellenistic era that everyone at that time just copied them completely ?

Thanks to Reddit I have managed to further my digging into my family history - with specific reference to my maternal grandmother. She was born in Russia, identified as Ukrainian and in all documents prior to Australian citizenship stated her religion as orthodox, not jewish.

I've always known that she was in (at least 1) Labour camp which involved factory work. I have also always known she had a tattoo which was always meet with her killing the conversation (not in an angry way) saying "ït doesn't matter".

Until recently I thought everyone in the camps was tattooed but I've come to find out in was only done at Auschwitz. Is it possible that people were moved from there to other Labour camps? Where could I look? My nan once punched a guard for hassling someone else in the camp.

My documents and sleuthing have her arriving in Germany from the Ukraine in 1942 though not sure exactly where. The next location on paper is her being in Frankfurt am Main when liberated in 1945, where there was a camp named Walldorf and slave labour was also used to build the airport.

Thanks for reading!

Did Stalin actually believe in Marxism-Leninism or was it all just for show and a path to power? Or perhaps it was it both? I understand that he joined the Bolsheviks years before the October Revolution. Did his political attitudes change over time? Is there anything in his personal writings and the accounts of people close to him that can shed light on this? I know that pinpointing motives can be difficult.

What was the cause of the American Civil War? Some people say it’s about states’ rights, taxes, agriculture vs industry and so on. Others say it’s slavery if you boil it down. What what exactly caused the southern states to secede from the union and formed the Confederate States of America?

Hey everyone, in s5 e16 of History Channel’s “Vikings,” a character purchases a small image of Ho-Tei and told by its owner that it is “The Buddha.” Did History Channel really get something so huge wrong or is there a historical reason an East Asian person of that era would so heavily conflate the two figures?