I received a most valuable lead on my research from Google Alerts this week.

I castrated someone from the Sassanid Empire, which gave them the Eunuch trait which means they could no longer have children.

My 'Eunuch' keeps producing offspring... surprisingly faster than ever before. He has about 1 - 2 illegitimate kids per season, so far I have 12 illegitimate kids.

I don't even think killing him would stop him making children. D:

[...]

Now it's at 15... there are so many, it's now doubling up on names.

[...]

I now have a secondary problem... XD When the father of my ruler rebelled due to low disloyalty, and was then killed... by my army. His descendants, including my ruler, stopped appearing on the family tree. I can no longer select my ruler through the family tree, nor his children... or anyone related through the bloodline.

Good news is... he can no longer add to his illegitimate children. We were up to 17.

So what do the WWI peeps think about this documentary series going around /r/documentaries?

Beyond that, this is a question I asked a few weeks ago that I am curious about: In the Vietnam War the Hmong are generally thought of as allies of the US mission (or "imperialist stooges" for those lacking self awareness), but in the 1950s they had conflicts with both the north and south government. How were they "turned", or were they not and the problem is that we only focus on the groups that fought alongside the US? And did they ever have a meaningful alliance with the South outside of US mediation?

I continue with my way-out-of-my-area newly adopted temporary research project and have a potentially very silly question: Where does one go to find out what a WWI Canadian kit would look like? Is it even a Canadian kit, or a British one? Were they all the same, or do I need to look further to find out what my specific group-of-interest would have had?

Also, what odds that people currently serving in the regiment would be collectors of this sort of WWI...memorabilia (word choice?).

The project is otherwise swimming along nicely and has a shape, which is nice because it was a rather amorphous blob last week. And I'm happy to report that it DOES have research involved after all, which I thought it wouldn't.

And EU4's newest expansion, El Dorado, is finally out yesterday, together with the 1.10 free patch update. This expansion is heavily focused on Mesoamerica culture, giving Aztecs, Inca and Maya their own religion mechanics and added a exploration mechanics for the conquistadors and explorers to explore the New World. It also added a custom nation creator, for those who loved to create alternative history. Unfortunately my budget is a bit tight now (thanks to Homeworld Remastered, which is a wonderful effort by Gearbox to preserve and update a classic and beautiful game!), so I will be skipping this expansion for the time being.

So for our Mesoamerica experts, are you happy that there is more media exposure to your field? Would you buy this expansion if you're into EU4's style of gameplay?

I was wondering about this and wasn't sure it would make for a good standalone question - plus it could violate the 20 year rule - so I'll ask here.

How has all the violence in Iraq and the Middle East in general impacted the study of history and archaeology in the area? This was largely prompted by the recent ISIS video of destruction in an Iraqi museum, but I've also read briefly about study in the area being hampered or crippled by things like the Iran-Iraq War, both Gulf Wars, and just the general state of the region. How do historians of the area deal with things like this? Does it slow down or discourage study? Are there ways of working around these issues?

Job interview went really well!

Never really thought I would have the chance to work in higher education, but was asked to interview for an entry level admin position with one o the DC schools. Even if I dont get it, major moral booster!

How do you guys pick out a new history book?

Let's say you find yourself in or near a new or used book store, and you think to yourself "Hey, I've been meaning to pick up a new book on the Franco-Prussian war, or World War 1 (for example)!" What factors, other than price and available funds, go into your decision to buy or not buy any given book that you're looking at in the store?

I ask because I keep meaning to pick up more history books, but every time I find myself in the history section, I get overwhelmed by choice. Partly because I'm relatively new to most history topics that aren't ACW and don't know where to start, but also (and even when I am looking for an ACW book) because I don't know if I'm getting a good, legitimate history book, or a quack theory, or if the book is out of date, etc. And more often than not, I walk out empty handed.

My AH podcast came out today! :D

Give me feedback and ask me questions!

Are there any good books that explain the Balkan Wars? I'm in particular interested in how the allies in the first balkan war became enemies in the second balkan war.

I always found the history of the Romans to be interesting. Does anyone have any free online resources they could recommend I look into they think would be interesting?

Hi, I'm trying to do research on the Algerian War of Independence for my paper and I don't know French. Is there a good website that contains translated French government documents? Any tips for searching for primary sources on this topic? I figured since its a important event there would be lots of sources but I've been having trouble find them or they're in French.

I'm still cruising through A Kim Jong-il Production. It's well-written and fairly fast-paced, but it maintains a fair amount of historical context. My wife's family has some connection to Shin and Choi, so it's filling in a lot of details I should probably have known already.