I want to read about the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and about the Indian run. I found The Portuguese Empire in Asia 1500-1700 - A Political and Economic History by Sanjay Subrahmanyam very interesting but I want to have more options. I'm looking for an updated and good book so I can make a critical review of it.

It can be in English, Portuguese, Spanish or French.

Were the Fatimid Caliphs more or less tolerant than other Muslim rulers of Egypt either before or after them ?

For instance, I'm a dude under the reign of Ethelred the Unready, and I pop in to the pub. What's on the menu, drink and food wise, and where did it all come from?

I've noticed that most Japanese swords are either a longer or shorter variation on the Katana. Why did such a uniform design emerge?

Sorry if the title is confusing. So, I’m NOT talking about our modern conception of time zones. I’m thinking more of like, did people 500 years ago know, realize, think about, plan around the fact that noon in Australia is not the same as noon in England. Or is that something people never had to think about until we had the ability to send message over long distance?

Thanks!

Say, we dropped the bomb in open waters or somewhere visible enough for the coastal areas to see it or sent them a message recording how powerful of a weapon we've developed to scare them into surrender. Was that tried and if not, couldn't that have worked?

I was asked this question by a student of mine last week, and it's been knocking around in my head ever since. Etruscan art, especially architectural art, is made of terracotta: they are rightly famed for their coroplathy. Of course, the Etruscans also sculpted in bronze and sometimes in stone, but the latter does seem to be the exception.

Why was this, when the Etruscans did have access to marble quarries? Did they not know about them, did they just not care about them? Or was it just a sort of "they weren't particularly interested" kind of thing that you can't really explain beyond that.

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts about this.

I enjoy reading about naval history, so it came as a shock to me that a man named James O. Richardson existed as a significant part of the American prewar buildup without me even noticing!

Starting in around June 1939, he was commander of the Battle Force (pacific fleet) and later promoted to commander of both fleets starting in January 1940. However, he was sacked for both his protest against the moving of the pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor (he claimed it would be the place the Japanese would strike first in a potential war!) and his insistence that carrier aviation was the future (which played a large part in America’s failure at Pearl!)

His replacement in the pacific, admiral Husband E Kimmel, was fired after Pearl Harbor for going against his advice. James didn’t retire until October 1942! So, my question is, why didn’t they just bring him back? He had served in the position, and the reasons he was fired for turned out to be correct on his part! Why bring in Nimitz and not bring back Richardson?

For example, what foods did they eat, what celebrations did they participate in, what were their political beliefs, etc.

From "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud":

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way

That "on" feels odd, but what did people think the Milky Way was back before we had a decent idea about the galaxy and all that? Some sort of cosmic smudge? Something nearer than the sun or something very far away?

I have always had an interest in the people behind these gatherings of representatives. I was wondering if anyone had interesting reads about them and I had a specific question that hopefully one could answer. How were the representatives of the third estate chosen? I can't imagine that there was much national organization among the peasants. Was it a matter of "just show up" or were people chosen. If so, how?

I'm trying to get a better understanding of the lives of kids with learning disabilities such as ASD/ADD/ADHD and how it would differ from my experiences with them as a kid.

What did their parents, teachers, and communities think of them with them? what did psychologists of the time think of them and was there anyone who tried to help people who showed neurodivergent behaviors? Sources would be much obliged.

I realize that this covers a wide spectrum of mental challenges and there was probably a wide range of experiences for a wide range of peoples.

A quick google search showed me that Mandarin wasn't standardized until 1930. I also know from prior knowledge that there are dozens of Chinese languages spoken in China. Did people use a lingua franca before Mandarin, or is Mandarin the first lingua franca in China? I also know that China has been unified several times in the last couple thousand years, I'm assuming they must've had a lingua franca back then too. But thousands of years is more then enough time for a language to split into many others, kind of like what happened to Rome and Latin. Are most of the Chinese languages new in the sense that they came from one lingua franca of a long gone empire, or are they more different from each other like German and Spanish are from each other?

I know the answer is probably going to be a mix of both, but I just want a more comprehensive picture of the Chinese languages' history, like I have of European language history

Austria said if any harm comes to the royal family the revolutionaries will pay in blood, so then why did they allow him and the queen to both be sent to the Guillotine? Surely the news of his trial reached them.

Basically the title. A friend of mine very gravely explained to me that this secret society never actually ended. In fact that they still operate to this day putting symbols of their organization in the media and on buildings to "flaunt their power and only those who are awake can see." She proceeded to show me examples of their "satanic" symbols across different mediums. These symbols appeared to be taken grossly out of context or blatantly misinterpreted to fit the "all powerful satanic secret society narrative." Upon trying to explain to her the arbitrariness of symbolism and point out some of the logically fallacious reasoning, I was promptly shut down.

Looking into this Bavarian society's history myself, I haven't been able to find any reliable sources that indicate they did any of the things she claims they still do today. And nothing to indicate they were at all satanic or connected to black magic. In fact from what I have found so far they were not religious.

So what is the actual history of the Illuminati? Any reliable/in-depth documentation of their history?

I'm an amateur historian and I'm trying to study the early Portuguese empire and early Spanish Empire. I've had a lot of trouble finding material on the Portuguese invasion of Ceuta. I know about who participated in the invasion (at least I know who invaded, not very much on the defenders themselves) and the amount of soldiers were used in the invasion. However nothing more than the later attempt to retake it by Sultan Abu Said Uthman III in 1418. Anything more I cant find. I don't own any books on the subject at all, and if you do know books about this please link them or name them as I would be very grateful. Is there any free courses I can take on this topic? I trying to study really hard and my local library nothing but high school textbooks on the subject. Please if you could help me in my endeavor I would be very grateful.

Zawahiri, Abu Ubaydah, Saif al-Adl, Abu Hafs and others. I guess Sayyid Qutb was an ideological progenitor, but beyond that?