Hi, I have to do a presentation about the Republic of Venice next week, are there any good books about the topic which are not too long?

Thanks

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Edit: any material that is not books is also appreciated.

For instance communication between Roman and Persian empires with China or European explorers in America, India, Japan etc.

I’m not personally a communist, but I am still very fascinated by learning about how these countries that called themselves communist have operated in the past. I don’t want to read far right or far left sources that will distort the history of what happened in these countries to fit their narratives, but I’d like to read about them from someone who holds them accountable for the awful things they’ve done, while also showing what communist countries were able to do well.

I’ve really enjoyed listening to Stephen Kotkin’s lectures on Stalin, wherein he acknowledges that Stalin was a tyrant with blood on his hands, but he also emphasizes that Stalin really believed in the ideology behind these awful actions, and that Stalin wasn’t a cynical fascist, but someone who genuinely thought they were making the world a better place (even though he failed miserably, and allowed his unchecked power to corrupt him).

So I guess ultimately I’m really just looking for historians/sources that don’t do communist apologia but that also don’t give into the red scare narrative that communists want to eat your babies and communalize your toothbrushes.

Thanks!

I have looked at the wiki and boock lists and everything seems to focus on the Stalin and pre Stalin era or the collapse. I really want to learn more about the USSR after Stalin but before Gorbachev. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

As the title says, it seems the most impressive monuments we have today, such as the Great Pyramid at Giza etc. were built in some of the earlier dynasties (such as 4600 years ago in the 4th Dynasty for the mentioned pyramid at Giza). Why is this? Why did they stop building such great monuments in later dynasties? I would think that as their civilization grew in size and complexity, and they developed more tech, they would be able to create larger and better monuments still. What changed?

Greetings Historians,

I’m not sure if this is appropriate or not to post here, but I was hoping to get some help with a gift idea I had for a family member is who deeply interested in medieval studies. To put it short: She’s read nearly everything I can think of in terms of pop culture books as well as some academic works on the history of medieval Europe. We’re talking a person who has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the royal families and geopolitics of the era, and I’d really like to surprise her with something special.

So, here’s my idea:

I’d like to find some harder to access materials that wouldn’t be on your typical bookstore shelf, or perhaps wouldn’t be the first items that would come up in a search for information on the era. I have access to research databases, so I was considering gathering some more interesting papers, reviews, and articles as well as maybe a major academic text or two. She’s also reported a gap in her knowledge related to the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, which I’ve been able to look more deeply into thanks to some other helpful subreddits.

What I’m looking for would be suggestions of papers and other reading that might be intriguing to someone who I’d say has around an intermediate or upper intermediate understanding of royal lineages and geopolitics of the era; however, I don’t necessarily want something so technical that it’s overwhelming in terms of statistical analyses, etc. Maybe some watershed papers or ones that present controversial information you don’t typically see in published books (or that haven’t appeared yet in secondary sources). Ideally, something more academic than the pop culture books, but something less intense than meta-analyses and theoretical approaches that might require a dedicated degree to unravel.

Hopefully this post is okay, and hopefully you can help me find that sweet spot for her!

And thank you so much for your suggestions!

I've read occasional mentions of black markets that existed in Communist nations - for example, of collectivized farms that kept one set of books for the authorities and another that reflected illegal exchange with trusted community members.

What are some good written or verbal accounts of such private trade that went on in defiance of collectivization? I am guessing there was little documentation kept at the time, due to the underground and highly illegal nature of trade. But, maybe something exists in the form of memoirs or interviews?

If countries such as France, Germany and England by the early medieval period did not have substantive knowledge of ancient technology and science, such as Rome's, how were engineers of that era able to build such complex and gigantic cathedrals? For example, Notre Dame? Did engineers re-invent certain technologies?

Also, steering well clear of the 2000 A.D. cutoff for this sub, Nader seemed to have runaway success and a lot of clout among politicians in his early years, but although he still kept up his original campaigns after 1980, he seemed to lose effectiveness as a changemaker. Why wasn't he able to get much done after 1980?

This question is regarding American slavery. Slaves were regarded as property, so not humans the same way free persons and white people were. Was this done just as a legal justification (and perhaps also for one's own conscience) for the owning of slaves, or did people wholeheartedly believe that slaves were nonhuman?

I'm writing an essay about this period, and I need a bibliography to use for it. I already have those books:

W. G. Beasley, "The Modern History of Japan"

Marius B. Jansen, "The Making of Modern Japan"

W. G. Beasley, "The Meiji Restoration"

Donald Keene, "Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World"

I need to add another book to that list. I need it in a pdf form though, since I don't have time or money right now to import a physical verion to my country. I'd prefer if it was also written by a Japanese author, but that's not necessary.

What did free people in the US who thought slavery was wrong typically think of "illegal" resistance to slavery before the Civil War? Did abolitionists tend to think that slaves were justified in attempting escape or (violently) resisting their captors? Or did most believe that the rule of law was more important?

Was the prevailing attitude "I hope slaves fight like hell," or "lawbreaking is still wrong, they should wait for the law to change?"

I imagine this might be difficult to answer, as public figures might feel compelled to condemn illegal action to avoid personal legal consequences, regardless of beliefs... perhaps private letters have been surveyed?

What were ways that black fashion in the 1950's (early days civil rights movement) differed from white 'mainstream' fashion?

When I've looked, websites seem to clump the 50's solidly in with the 60's, but they seem such different eras to me - were women starting to wear their hair naturally with fit and flare dresses?

Recently I found out that the UK's abolition act involved compensating the slave owners for their economic loss, so the government in fact bought the slaves and freed them. Why did the US not follow the same path?