Better Know an Historian! Coming to our aid this week with her lantern aloft, it's /u/nurseangela, to talk to us about the history hiding in our family attics, and also the intense literary appeal of law enforcement...

I've been on a massive Dragon Age kick again this week, and it made me think of the relationship between fantasy and history. Tolkien, generally considered the father of modern fantasy, modeled his world on mythology and fairy tales, and that really comes out in the depiction of the societies. But it seems that most modern authors view their models as history, most famously perhaps with Game of Thrones, which can be somewhat...unfortunate in these depictions.

Fantasy was actually what got me into history, so I'm curious how others see the relationship between the two.

Do we know if Hitler had a favorite color?

How did nations (maybe even belligerents) continue to trade during a war when armies might be roaming the countryside? What would a caravan do if they encountered an enemy army? I'm mainly thinking of Europe but I any other area would work too.

Liberal ideology in Victorian Britain plus James Scott's "high modernist ideology" equals...?

There must be a whole body of literature about this, right? James Vernon? Patrick Joyce? They seem more about subjectivity and democratic subjects, which is related, but not quite the same. Do I need to go and reread all this?

Foucault's biopolitics also speaks to this, sort of. I guess his ideas of both discipline and security/territory/population are relevant.

What the hell is my research even about?

Will the great Reddit Revolt be counted as history?

I'll bite. I have a Masters in history but I have not been working in my field. I had aspirations to write a book composed of a lot of original research but time/funds became an issue and it seems pretty impossible to do now. Tell me, fellow historians with writing experience, how are you financially capable of writing things? Are you PhD students, course assistants, or museum employees? Does a regular Joe Blow schmuck like me have any shot at writing an academic history after spending years away from academia?

Well, it says free-for-all... so here it goes. I'm writing a book and have a million questions about the Civil War from the POV of the Confederacy, so I'll just list all of my questions here and hope I'm not bothering yall.

• How did substitution work during the draft, particularly if someone was offering to go to war in a sibling's stead?

• What would a cavalry lieutenant in 1862 likely be carrying on his person? Would one of those things include a pistol? I know that carbines and sabers were typically carried by the cavalry and not pistols, but would it be common enough for them to carry them? If so, what kind of pistol was the most common?

• What kind of saddles and typical riding tack were used in the cavalry? I know a good bit about horses and modern tack, but I'm pretty sure I won't know much about anything unique they may have used in 1862.

• In 1862, how well fed were Rebel soldiers, particularly officers? Any difference in their supplies at Sharpsburg?

Ok, that's the biggest questions for now, I didn't ask all of them because I'm afraid of sounding really, really stupid. I'll try googling them again even though I did last night.

Reddit is dead. Um, otherwise, what to say? Watching Wimbledon, and I'm wondering, are there any good books out there on the history of women at Wimbledon, both as tennis players and ball girls? I've found some books but not sure what ones are good or not, what ones can be trusted, etc.

What are some historiographical debates between verified/quality submiters on AskHistorians

I would like to learn more about the history of milk bottles in the United States, particularly in the 1930s-1950s. Any resources to suggest?

sort of a meta question: i've started saving comments for those best of [week/month] posts and i'm wondering if there is a better way to hold them than the save function (since i use that already for posts to go back to the next time i log on)? is there a redundant save feature or a way to make private comments on stuff you save without being gilded?

I am a statistician by training. I am wondering if historians employ statisticial / machine learning techniques in academic research?

Okay, so at my work I've started this program called History through film, it's this once a month class dedicated to how films (not exclusively Hollywood) portray history and if it comes out as literally accurate or not. It's going really well and this next month we're doing the invasion of Normandy and I'm wondering what would be the best books other than Overlord, D-Day, and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings?

Thanks.

I've just a got a few questions for the wonderful folk here. Didn't really think they warranted their own thread.

1. Could anyone give me their opinion on the Osprey books? Military history has always been a keen interest of mine, and these books look perfect. If these aren't any good, I would appreciate some suggestions!
2. I'm starting my last year of high school soon and I've been actually putting serious thought into my university courses. I was playing around with the idea of a history minor, or at the very least taking a few history courses while there. Basically I'm wondering about the basics here - what's the workload like, what can I expect, and skills I should possess going in. I don't know exactly what area of history I'd focus on, however. Anecdotes are welcome!