Still doing the research for my next book, which involves digging through the letters of H. P. Lovecraft for references to his beliefs and prejudices regarding different races, as well as connected subjects like evolution, the KKK, the Confederacy, slavery, the Scottsboro Boys and the Massie Trial, and of course the Nazis. I've gone through the bulk of the published letters collections, with only about six chapbooks to go.

It's..."eye-opening" feels too generic. My collection of quotes pulled from HPL's letters on the subject(s) has broken a hundred pages. But you have to keep in mind that that is from several thousand letters and 20+ volumes of published correspondence. So it was a relatively minor, but recurrent (and sometimes pervasive) part of the conversation during the 1920s and 30s. What kills me is that some of the earliest collections of letters were obviously (when compared to later collections) edited to tone down the racist sentiment - replacing "the N-word" with "negro," or "Chink" with "Chinaman" for example - so I'm going to have to go back and do some more direct comparisons to see the extent of the editing.

Roughly half way through finishing Tribal Nation: The Making of Soviet Turkmenistan by Adrienne Edgar. It details how the early Soviet Union delineated and then established the Turkmen SSR (which became modern Turkmenistan), and effectively established the concept of a Turkmen identity. The published version of Edgar's PhD dissertation, it shows the mechanisms of Soviet nationality policy as they were applied in Central Asia during the 1920s and 1930s, and how he concept of nationality and identity were formed by the communists in this era.

The book has come up several times over the course of research during my MA, and I have indeed used it as a source itself, as there is some overlap in that I'm also dealing with nationality policy (to an extent). Though I did want to read this book prior to starting my research, because I have an interest in Central Asia and there is a dearth of information (in English at least) on the region, especially somewhere like Turkmenistan. And I have to say that despite its source being a dissertation, Edgar's writing is really clear, concise, and easy to follow, and really engaging. That it has continually been cited as a major work on Soviet nationality policy since being published in 2006 is also a testament to its arguments, and anyone interested in the subject should definitely take a look.

Picked up Inside Hitler's High Command, To Lose a Battle, and Path to Blitzkrieg from the library the other day.

Apparently Rob Citino didn't want to use the word Blitzkrieg, since it's Not A Thing, but the publisher said it raises sales 12%, so he went with it. He's working on Love Sonnets ... of Blitzkrieg and a cookbook called Great Recipes ... for Blitzkrieg.

I just started reading Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles. So far I have only read the introduction, but I am enjoying it. The writing style is readable for someone like me who hasn't read a history book in years. I also liked the way he took the time to discuss each of the Greek and Romans historians and the way their inherent biases affect modern views of Carthage. I am excited to learn more about the culture.

Reading Sources of Chinese Tradition Volume One: from earliest times to 1600. Really good collection of primary sources, even if I have trouble remembering all the names and remembering all the distinct philosophies sometimes! Has anyone read any of the other Sources of Asian Civilisation series, and if so are they worth picking up?

Finished Bruce Levine's Half Slave and Half Free, a solid book that I would have learned a lot from were it not my fourth or fifth antebellum survey. I don't think I picked up any new insights from it, but the bibliographic essay looks good and I'll probably get some use from that.

I was going to start in with Most Blessed of the Patriarchs, but I looked at the ebook price, recalled that I've listened to one and am listening to another founder biography as audiobooks, realized that a large portion of my reading for the past year has dealt with the Early Republic, and decided to go with Drew Faust's The Ideology of Slavery instead. It's an anthology of proslavery writers with critical introductions, which looks promising so far. I might be a tad biased by how the opening remarks let me know that I'd independently hit on where the historiography was back in the early 80s, though.

I was wondering if anyone had good material on the trace italliene forts. Any scholarly works would be great!

Currently doing research on the shipbuilding industry of Salem, MA; more specifically the businesses of Enos Briggs and Retire Beckett and the decline of the industry following their deaths. While Briggs account books are available at the Phillips Library in Salem, Beckett has been elusive to say the least.

I found a reference to his 1803 bankruptcy records in a small ship model journal, and have an appointment at the National Archives to take a look in hopes that his account books were logged for the case. Beyond that, the author who wrote the article died a few years back, so I really do hope I strike gold.

I never thought the record of Salem shipbuilding would be this sparse, at least compared to the surrounding area. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

I've always been fascinated by ancient military strategy, and have decided I want to learn more about it.

Particularly, I am keen on Hannibal and the battles of the Second Punic War, although all elements of Greek, Roman and Carthaginian warfare interest me.

I'm looking for any book recommendations on this subject. I've found a few detailing Hannibal's personal life and the politics of the Punic Wars, but I'm looking for something a bit more focused on military strategy? Any ideas would be greatly received!