I am currently researching 1880s Prague for the sequel to my first published novel. I was wondering if some of you wonderful people could help me out with a few details that I'm unable to work out.
How would someone travel from say, Abilene, TX all the way to the Czech Republic capital of Prague? (Any good historical sources on what that journey would have been like?)
What was daily life like for a person in Prague, specifically, during the winter?
What was the political/social climate like?
What are a few things that might surprise us about Late 19th Century Prague?
How prevalent was Paganism in European Bohemia at this time?
I'll probably have more questions along the way, so I'd love to start building a relationship with anyone who might have a vested, academic interest in answering questions as they crop up in the narrative.
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your novel, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists, based on past experience: some aspiring novelists have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.