It's been almost a year in planning, but I'm finally packing for a dig in Mongolia, right on the edge of Siberia. I've been mulling over the question of how applicable history as a discipline is to the area though, because literary and documentary sources of any worth essentially begin in colonial times. Has anyone had to deal with this in their own work? Do you think historical methodology is widely applicable even in the absence of strong documentary traditions?

Hey Historians,

reddit is a predominantly English-speaking, American-dominated platform. This is well and good, but I often feel like there could be more non-AngloSaxon historiography on the sub. Does anyone else think the same?

For instance, I think French historiography is rich with many traditions and some fundamental work (see M. Bloch) in the field. Granted I am biased, since I'm French and was taught History in college by french professors. I wish I knew more, I wish I was able to answer more often, but I didn't become a Historian and oftentimes I don't have sources at hand; so I remain silent.

Battling to write chapter draft. Have three days to complete, because next deadline is the 10th, and then the 15th, and then the 17th, and the 22nd. Must return to glowing screens underneath rock now. They will see me if I dally. Conserving words for writing. Shhhhh.

[Meta] Does anyone else get tired of seeing so many questions about Nazis and the Romans every day?

s'up /r/askhistorians, know-nothin' here with a small question

is "having a recollection of history that fits your worldview" a thing and is there a name for it

googling "that thing where people's recollection of history fits their worldview" gets me confirmation bias but there might be a more specific name out there

Getting ready for Howard Days next week, a celebration of the life and works of pulp writer Robert E. Howard in his home town of Cross Plains, Texas, and was reminded of this particular anecdote:

Things I have discovered to be of most use, I learned mostly without formal teaching. What little knowledge I have picked up in a rudimentary manner here and there was mainly the result of reading for amusement. Yet that is not the word, either. As a boy and a youth in my teens, I read purely for the love of reading. I can say with confidence that no man, however mature, ever loved reading for its own sake more than I. I did not read because of any particular urge for learning, or to merely pass the time, or to escape the realities of life. I read simply because I loved reading for its own sake alone. The printed page was like wine to me. Books were scarce in the country. I could not go into a library or book store and select what I wanted. I had to read whatever came to my hand; and I did, and generally enjoyed it supremely. Perhaps that accounts in part for my still rather indiscriminate taste. If I had tried to pick and choose in my early youth, damned little I’d have ever read. I was not critical; I never tried to analyze what I read; I was simply and sincerely grateful for whatever chance put it into my hands. Often I would read a book through, and without pausing, turn back to the first and read it through again — sometimes repeating this three or four times. As a youngster, I would sometimes skip a paragraph here and there, in order to thrill over its newness when I re-read it. My own library was generally the largest in the place I lived, but it was small. I generally was given a book on Christmas and on my birthday. Occasionally between times a book was bought. For the rest, I borrowed whenever I could. My main source of reading material were the hand-made bookcases which served for libraries in the country schools. Each tiny school had one, and the contents were small, but varied. In the summer I regularly raided those “libraries”. During the long summer vacations which usually lasted six or seven months, schools and bookcases were kept locked and barred. Then I made my raids. Occasionally I could obtain the key and permission to read the books so guarded. But refusal did not halt me. In my passionate quest for reading material, nothing could have halted me but a bullet through the head. With a flour sack tied to my saddle-horn, I raided isolated school houses far up the creeks, in the hills, and in villages. I jimmied the doors or windows of the buildings, and pried the locks off the solidly made book cases; if that failed, I removed the hinges. Then with my flour-sack saddle-bag full of books, I departed in a cloud of dust, oblivious to the maledictions sometimes directed my way. I did not steal those books. I always returned them in as good shape as I took them. But I had to read, and I did read, even in the teeth of threats to have the law on me. It was a matter beyond my control; literature, of one sort or another was meat and drink and the wine of Life to me.

• Robert E. Howard to H. P. Lovecraft, Jul 1933, Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard 85-86

It's a point of interest that many of the leading writers of Weird Tales during the 1930s - Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith especially - had very limited education; neither Lovecraft or Smith graduated highschool. Rather, they were all voracious readers and autodidacts, from a very young age, inquisitive and critical, and while formal education was generally inaccessible (due to a combination of cost, inclination, and geographic isolation), they retained a respect for those who had it.

Someone in another sub wished they could've seen "pictures of Apicius's cooking creations." Does anyone by chance have any images of modern recreations or imagery from the Roman era?

We have an abundance of theories focusing on the colonial experience, for both the periphery and the metropole; and an increasing amount of critical theories of nationalism in colonial and European societies. But it seems to me (bearing in mind that I'm merely a measly MA student studying a premodern society, and thus I don't come into contact with these kinds of things that often), there haven't been many theories examining the semicolonial experience.

Am I wrong? Have there been many theoretical works and approaches which deal with nationalism or the relation to colonial powers in countries such as Iran or China?

Can anyone recommends some foundational texts/essays for someone interested in reading about Colonial Latin American history?I took an intro course a few years ago and loved it but don't really know where to go from there.

I'm looking for a medium-to-short book on Cuban history from its colonization to at least the fall of the Soviet Union (later is better, though). Any recommendations?

Does anyone have much experience with the politics that goes on behind the scenes in academia? I have long heard rumours of the bitter feuds that can rage, but recently I got a shock when some Ph.D students I know described their supervisor's 4 year long conflict with the head of our history department. It was gruesome, with accusations of sexual misconduct, mental illness, funding cuts and assorted bullying. Is this a common occurrence? Or something really out of the ordinary?

I'm looking for detailed information on Soviet long-range bombing missions during the night between 23-24 July 1942. Planned targets, mission information, after action reports, losses and so on.

One of the planes, probably heading for East Prussia judging by the very limited information I have been able to find, got lost and bombed Öland, Sweden. My theory is it was an inexperienced crew or compass error, or both, and I'd really like to find out if they made it back and if so, what their AAR said.

The only problem is I don't know any Russian. How would you suggest I get this information on a tight budget?