Please don't worry about my health. It isn't optimism that makes me say I'm growing better. Everyone speaks of it. I seem fated to live--even tho I've not wanted to live for many years past. I believe Dr. Abrams must have been mistaken about my condition--the slight lesion in my lung may be of longer standing than he thought. early everyone has a touch of t.b. at some time in their lives.

• Clark Ashton Smith to George Sterling, 16 Mar 1917, The Shadow of the Unattained 147

I've been making my way through the letters of Smith (pulp author and poet) and Sterling (California Romantic/fantastic poet), and cross-referencing bits when I ran across this, which was occasion for a diversion.

The "Dr. Abrams" was Dr. Albert Abrams, who peddled various forms of pseudo-scientific medical cures and diagnostics, including Radionics, which Smith was "treated" with.

The first part of the 20th century was a bit of a wild time in American medicine, states slowly moving toward certification of doctors and standardization of medical education and practice - the three most prominent schools being "regular" medicine (evidence-based diagnoses based on symptoms which leaned heavily on advances in chemistry and biochemistry), "homeopathic" medicine (which was holistic, taking into account not just the patient's current symptoms but their history and lifestyle, and focused on herbal cures, and was more widespread and mainstream than the current version of the practice), and "eclectic" medicine (which covered a wide variety of techniques, including osteopathy, electrical treatments, etc.) Many doctors, especially country doctors, would combine aspects of these different approaches, essentially looking for "whatever works." This was the case for Robert E. Howard's father, Dr. Isaac M. Howard in Cross Plains, Texas - I wrote a brief article on Dr. Howard and Pellagra earlier this year - whose wife Hester suffered from tuberculosis, though it doesn't appear that Smith and Howard ever mentioned that.

Tuberculosis in the 1910s and 20s was still poorly understood by the general populace and often carried a social stigma, with some believing that it was congenital like syphilis, or spread like a sexually-transmitted disease, and sufferers were treated by a variety of methods, including sunshine cures, rest cures, etc. Anyone interested can read a bit more about that in this series on Hester Jane Ervin Howard and Tuberculosis by Barbara Barrett.

Does anyone have a reading recommendation on the history of undocumented immigration to the established United States? Especially during the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and also how it became such a major political issue.

Thanks!

Still reading The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party. It's 1848 and Holt's letting his blundering generation freak flag fly. It was tedious long before that and I suspect it's all downhill from here. He's very impressed by how the Whigs contained antislavery and it looks like I've hit the point where he starts castigating politicians for their failure to continue to do so, as if the Mexican War changed nothing.

I'm going through Edge of Empires by Donald Rayfield. It's a comprehensive account of Georgia (the country). Very dark, very tragic and very obscure bits of history. Especially in the 16th/17th century. The country was internally divided while also being attacked from Iran to the east and the Ottomans to the west. There were all kinds of plotting and brutality between the chronically dysfunctional nobility.

Some points of interest from early modern West Asia:

• Not much in the way of honor. Inviting people to an event and then killing them seemed like the preferred way of disposing of enemies

• Nobles frequently engaged in the slave trade for profit (I'm actually not sure if this involved their own serfs, who were at least frequently required as tribute for the Iranians)

• Just conducting diplomacy was difficult because of distance and language. Interpreters were hard to find, there is a case of the Georgians and Russians having to communicate through a third language, I think Greek. Envoys took many months to go from Georgia to Moscow or from Iran to Europe and were often killed by outlaws. There's one case of a diplomatic mission being stranded for about half a year just waiting for mountain passes to open in the Caucasus.

I consider myself to have a novice-level education about recent (last ~100 years) history, and I'm interested in learning more about Nixon and Watergate. Can anyone recommend any books? Specifically, I'd say I'm just looking for a good introduction/overview right now.

Recently finished my research paper into the history of the Salem shipbuilding industry and bankruptcy of Retire Beckett. Pretty fascinating and under represented area of Salem's golden age and while I intend to revisit it - I just need a break for now.

So back to slavery and race in colonial New England. I find the area absolutely fascinating.

I just started Race and Redemption in Puritan New England by Richard Bailey, which came highly recommended, in which he evaluates the interactions between Puritan religion and race and how they influenced each other. Next on the block is Unfreedom: Slavery and Dependence in 18th Century Boston by Jared Hardesty, which I first heard of via the Ben Franklin's World podcast (really worth a listen).

Then, back to professional reading and David Larsen's Meaningful Interpretation. The season is in a downturn and I'd like to get some more training materials put together for the beginning of next season.

And also need to complete 4 book reviews for classes by the end of the month. One on WW1 and American involvement, another on Bailey's piece above, and the other two on Imperial Russia. The first two I'm fine with, but my interest in Russian history is near non-existent and reading them has been a real chore.

Can any experts recommend some books to me on pre-columbian North America north of Mesoamerica? I'm particularly interested in the Mississippian civilizations, but I'd like to learn about all major societies from the current US and Canada.

Reading The Lost Children by Zahra. It is certainly interesting thus far. Not sure if she will be able to deliver on her thesis, but certainly fascinating.