Thursday Reading and Research is intended as an academic free-for-all, for the discussion of all issues historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:
New developments or discoveries in the field
Recent book releases, old book reviews, reading recommendations, or just talking about what you're reading now
Historiographical discussions, debates, and disputes
Your current research interests or projects
The goings on within the academy
...And so on!
Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion only of matters historical discussion, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
I’ll ask here I guess. I’m wanting to read some books from the book list. That said I’ve found myself listening to audiobooks and reading e-books. Am I out of luck with them being published as e-books or audiobooks?
I've finally gotten around to starting Mike Loades' The Crossbow. I'm maybe a third of the way through it so far. It's a decent introduction to the subject. I inevitably have things I'd quibble with him about, but for the most part it has a reasonable level of detail and represents a good synthesis of the scholarship so far. It's certainly the best introduction to the subject currently available.
If I have two faults with it they are that the references are rarer than I would like (a product of it being an Osprey book intended for popular audiences) and use my least favourite style (in text citations, blech), and that for the most part the physical crossbows he uses in his book are nothing new to me (it's probably unreasonable for me to expect they would be, but I'm always looking for new crossbows and I was hoping there would be more).
Looking for up-to-date literature on the ancient to medieval (or beyond) history of Germanic peoples (Austrians, Danes, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frisians, Germans, Icelanders, Norwegians, and Swedes). Found a book from the 1960s that seemed unsatisfactory given the more recent archeological advances. Any suggestions?