I received a note from my press today: the series editors have accepted my revised manuscript, and I'm clear to go to copy editing. So aside from that and indexing, this book is done, and it means we should have our 2014 press date. Hot damn!

In other blaring of trumpets, I actually managed to clear enough shelf space to shift my books and integrate the volumes stuck between the tops of other books and the shelf above. I have too many books. No, wait, no I don't. What am I saying?

Humblebrag alert, but I absolutely had to reach out to this anonymous Redditer and this seemed the most likely place for him to see it.

So earlier this week, I received a system message that I had been gifted an entire year of Reddit Gold. A short note accompanied it saying that the anonymous benefactor appreciated my posts here and my work moderating. To say the least, I am quite floored by the generosity, and wanted to make sure the Anon knows he or she has by most sincere thanks. It is no small gift, and truly made my week to know someone considered my contributions here worthy of it. I'll make sure to live up to it! ^^^At ^^^least ^^^for ^^^the ^^^next ^^^12 ^^^months...

In honor of Easter that was a couple weeks ago, I give you the Anglo-Saxon version of Jesus' arrest by the Romans:

Christ’s followers, wise men deeply distressed by this hostile action, held their position in front. Then Simon Peter, the mighty, the noble swordsman flew into a rage; his mind was in such turmoil that he could not speak a single word. His heart became intensely bitter because they wanted to tie up his Lord there. So he strode over angrily, that very daring thane, to stand in front of his Commander, right in front of his Lord. No doubting in his mind, no fearful hesitation in his chest, he drew his blade and struck straight ahead at the first man of the enemy with all the strength in his hands.

There is also a Hellenistic adaptation of several Old Testament stories into Greek Tragic form by a Jewish Alexandrian writer named Ezekiel, but I can't seem to find any good texts online.

Minor Question: What is you're favourite theory/theorist to use in your history papers?

Mine is Max Weber and his idea about the state's need to monopolise violence. Also Hans Diller, since his name means "His Wong" in Danish.

I've asked before, but no harm repeating myself: Does anyone know of modern scholarship on the runrig farming system or can talk about it themselves? The most recent I can find is from the 1970s...

Today i saw a question about a Slavoj Žižek quote posed here, are his theories (especially his notion of Ideology as an unconscious fantasy that structures reality) useful tools for historical inquiry? or is it just too idealistic?

I've finished my introduction and gotten approval from my advisor, the dissertation will be filed May 16th and I will be Done With Grad School.

Writing an Intro and Conclusion was surprisingly difficult for all that they are just largely summaries of the chapters!

After the recent storms across the southeast United States I've been wondering...to what extent did Americans know about weather patterns and meteorology prior the 1900s? Did they already generally grasp that weather moved West to East or collect reports from other areas to make predictions?

Edit: Posted this as a general question in the subreddit here.

Is there a good starting point to learn about Chinese diaspora into SE Asia in the 19th century? My fractured understanding is that following the Opium Wars many western powers had power bases in different parts of China. With the end of the African slave trade in the mid- to late-19th cent, they had to go to the next cheapest sources of labor, namely China and India.

Thus, we have today descendants of Chinese laborers in Cuba, Indian laborers in South Africa, and Chinese laborers in SE Asia, depending on which western colonial power was where and where their Chinese power base were.

Anyway, I'd love to read more about this fascinating period of history.

Thanks in advance!

Apparently I should have asked this here instead - since it's already got some discussion in its own thread, I'll post this link and summarise in a TL;DR -

A common fictional trope sees military commanders at various levels of seniority sending soldiers on suicidal missions with absolutely no military benefit, solely for the purpose of assassinating one or more members of the unit, reducing the number of soldiers available to a rival political faction etc. Are there any examples of this in real life, or is it a fictional trope?

To what extent the cost of shipping grain from North Africa/Egypt to the city of Rome (and later Constantinople) underwritten by the Roman state?

an anecdote Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault?

Does anybody know a good place to verify quotes? I wrote down this quote from class but forgot to write down the date and now can't even find it online to get a vague date on when it was said. And now I'm doubting it was even said at all...

Georges Clemenceau: "It is human nature to love life. Germans do not have this instinct. On the contrary, they are imbued with a morbid, satanic nostalgia for death. How they love death, these people! Quivering as if drunk, with an ecstatic smile, they look upon death as a sort of divinity. For them war is a pact with death."

I have a small question. Let's say we don't know the answer to a question but we do know where it can be found. Would it be rude to tell them where to look? Or is it too much like saying "just google it."?

If there's any historians of math around, I would greatly appreciate any corrections or addendum to my post on the development of infinity.

Can anyone suggest some history themed magazines? Any type of history would be fine, but I'd prefer something general.

I was given an iPad as a birthday gift, so it they have a good ipad ap, that would be cool... but if not... that is also fine.

Is anyone here an economic historian? I am interested in going to graduate school, but it seems my options are limited here in the states. I would really like to talk to someone who has taken the plunge.

Was there a Greek equivalence of Mos Maiorum? What was it called and was it as important to Greeks as the Romans?