OK, this is just too wonderful not to share. My wife got to have lunch with Robert Caro (Pulitzer-Prize winning biographer of Lyndon Johnson) last week through her work. She told him that our dog was named Lyndon (which is true fact — my wife is a big fan of LBJ), because like LBJ, he came from the South to DC (where we adopted him), and like LBJ, he is a dog. Caro was incredibly delighted by this, and signed her copy of Master of the Senate both to her and to our dog. How cool is that? So cool.

Today is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers and coincidentally, Veterandagen here in Sweden to commemorate all men and women who has served abroad, most frequently in service as UN peacekeepers.

In honor of the day, here's an interesting fact about the early days of UN Peacekeeping:

The aftermath of the Suez Crisis in 1956 gave the world the first and proper peacekeeping force in the history of the UN. Among the things introduced for the first time, the blue UN helmet and beret made its first appearance during this particular engagement. The reason was due to the fact that the Canadian soldiers that were part of the UNEF were equipped with uniforms almost identical to the British soldiers who had fought in the crisis and there were fears that the Canadian soldiers would be mistaken for British soldiers by civilians and Egyptian soldiers. The new headgear was meant to distinguish the soldiers from combatants and has lived on ever since as a symbol of the UN peacekeepers.

I read Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre last night, straight through in one sitting. First, how did I get to this point in my life without reading it? Why didn't anyone tell me it was THAT good? I mean, I knew it was a classic, but it's fucking amazing. Second, I can't wait to assign it to students next year. Third, this all happened after 10pm, and I'm wrecked.

I'm done with high school! And I got an A on my history research paper!

As I mentioned last week I got an update from my fieldwork at a Viking chief's farmstead.

We got around to completely excavating one of the small huts. A few of the things on the floor of the hut were a loom-weight (a piece of clay holding the thread tight when you're weaving textiles) and a fireplace. Otherwise the hut was almost empty, except for some kitchen trash (ashes, burnt cooking stones, burn animal bones, small bits of ceramics). In any case, the loom-weight tells us that there had been textile-working going on in this house, which in the literary references from the period is almost always done by women. The hearth also tells us that this was not just a temporary working shed, but actually a place where people lived. It confirms our suspicions that this location was actually taken over/re-used by 'poor people' later on, instead of being attached to another big house. We have two more of these huts to dig out in the next two weeks.

We also got around to digging some of the soil-marks of the foundations of the big houses. One of them is truly monumental. Normally the foundation pits of the posts carrying the roof of these buildings are about 50 cm, or 2 feet, deep. However, our Viking chief's hall had foundation posts that were over 150 cm, or 5 feet, deep! This building must have had a much higher roof to have required such strong foundations. This really puts into perspective a passage in Beowulf, where the 'golden roof' of the king's hall was the symbol of his status:

The men did not dally; they strode inland in a group Until they were able to discern the timbered hall, Splendid and ornamented with gold. The building in which that powerful man held court Was the foremost of halls under heaven; Its radiance shone over many lands

Some of these posts were dug down all the way to the ground-water table, making it quite difficult for us to dig by hand. The effort that people in the past made to dig through so much hard, compact sand and clay must have been much greater still, with wooden spades or digging sticks. It is hard to imagine it was the Viking chief himself, or his family, who did the hard labour here.

SO I have been working at my new archives for about 2 months now! And I have already descended into taking unflattering, greasy-faced selfies in front of the rare books in the stacks. But what is truly amusing, is that all the carts here are named after Star Trek officers, which is super cute. If you haven't uttered the phrase "Janeway and I are no longer on speaking terms because she steers like crap" then truly you have not lived. (Also as you can see we are a bilingual friendly workplace.) My favorite cart is unexpectedly Nurse Chapel. Small, limber, solid wheels. You can only move 4 boxes on her, but she gets in and out of a tight spot with aplomb.

Is there such a thing as an annotated version of the Poetic or Prose Eddas similar to annotated versions of the Bible that explain, in a secular academic way, the various allusions and oddities?

In terms of languages, I'm a native Icelander, but haven't studied Old Icelandic. I could struggle through something in Danish/Swedish/Norwegian if necessary.

We were just informed this afternoon that the introductory prose/poetry/drama classes that we have to teach to the undergraduates each year may now be officially advertised with themes we have chosen. Previously they had been kept deliberately broad and survey-like, in spite of the impossibility of such a thing in a 13-week class, but now we can develop syllabi based on any set of ideas or critical concerns we want and present them as choices for students who might actually choose them out of real interest!

In all, a happy day.

Why do I always see people recommending Graham Hancock on /r/history? And why do they get offended when I point out to them that he's a kook?

So I saw Mad Max: Fury Road yesterday and thought it was absolutely terrific! One of the best action films I've seen in awhile. Only bad thing is that the original films aren't on Netflix!! Anyways, highly recommend.

Also, paging /u/agentdcf ;-)

I got offered the complete work of Aeschylus and Euripides. I think it's time to apply for an "Ancient Greek History - Zeus' involvement in human affairs" flair.

More seriously though, I wonder, are ancient greek plays considered reliable primary sources regarding life, etiquette, ... in Ancient Greece?

Found this steel penny from 1943, pretty neat!

For one of my class projects I got to use microfilm! It was very confusing (and hard to manage if you have an uncooperative body and bad eyesight) but I found what I was looking for. The librarian helping me said using microfilm is one if the historian's rites of passage.

Is "historical geography" a thing?

It's a sort of combination of two things I'm interested in, but I generally don't hear much about it. I could ask for a place to read more about it but I probably won't, so I'm just going to ask what you think about the field? (if it exists anyway)

The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia (http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/) is having their Summer 2015 Call for Authors. So if there are any historians out there looking to work on a quick research essay about the Philadelphia area, there is a list of available topics here: http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/summer-2015-expansion-new-assignments-available/.

I've recently started researching Romanticism & Esotercism in 19th & 20th Century Europe. Why was there such a big interest in Intellectualism & Occultism? Especially in Germany & Austria-Hungary? E.g. Movements like Ariosophy & Thule Society.What psychological effects did these have on women? In Russia there was also a keen interest in mystics like George Gurdjieff & Gregori Rasputin. Where did this sudden belief come from?

Did these movements have an effect on things like Nordic mythology? For example why was there such a big surge in the Eddas & Íslendingasögur? Thank you to anyone that can answer my queries. :)

Most hyperspecfic academic book in your discipline ?

Hi Historians!

History is my not-so-secret hobby. I love reading about it, I love discovering new things to improve my knowledge, and I love sharing it. While I never studied History academically, I am a scientist by training and I work as a scientist. I know what it takes to "do well" at the doctoral level.

My question is, what are good avenues for an academically-oriented, scientifically-trained amateur History enthusiast improve his/her knowledge? I have never worked with primary sources. Is this something that I should consider? I am starting to be aware of the more "meta" aspects of history, such as geographic determinism, heroic actors, the Annales school. But I have never read about the History of History. What books or means of studying do you recommend?

If it helps, my current love is with Early Modern Europe, the Spanish Empire, the Europe's religious wars. I recently applied for a flair even though there is no feedback yet. But no news is sometimes good news, right? ;-).

I look forward to your suggestions, thanks!

This might sound weird but when did the modern day shoe come in to popularity? I know ancient Romans and Athenians wore sandals but when did the modern day shoe come about?

Thanks :)

For anyone else that lurks on this sub for Mongols info like I do;

Having utterly exhausted the series by Conn Iggulden, reading each book about 3 times, I found a book called 'Empire of the Moghul; Raiders from the North' by an author called Alex Rutherford. Basically, it plays out around 200 years after height of the Mongol Empire, and is set in and around Samarkand. The main character is a descendent of the man himself.

So far (around a quarter way through) the book is an excellent follow-on read.

I'll post this in the Saturday Research thread also, but...

I'm looking for a good overview book on Meiji and Taisho era Japan. Perhaps something that deals with the antecedents present in the Tokugawa era as well, but in any case is brief. Also, something with a hefty bibliography would be great - I'm thinking of designing a self-study seminar for myself in the fall. Thanks

I am studying for the written portion of my comprehensive exam in September. I have 60 books to read this summer. We're now at the end of May and I am dragging major, major ass. Does anyone have any tips on preparing for and taking these kinds of things? I'm trying to use Evernote to organize my thoughts, but that brings me online, which invariably leads to me Facebook and Reddit, which destroys my productivity.

Question: I just read Child 44, a crime thriller about a state security officer investigating a serial killer in the USSR in the 1950's. In the novel, the protagonist is constantly hampered by his superiors, who are so ideologically uptight that they refuse to acknowledge that this type of crime could occur in their "perfect" society. It gets to the point that the protagonist's persistence in his investigation gets him branded as a traitor.

How accurate is this portrayal of the Soviet approach to the investigation (or lack thereof) of non-political crimes, particularly homicide?