Nazis, Trolls and the Grateful Dead! It's a small piece I wrote for Folklore Thursday, also available here. The subtitle is "Turmoil among Sweden's Folklorists." That said, the main title is a study in how to seize the eye in a world flooded with too much information.

Once,* I was asked to give a talk on the history of the West. I suggested we attempt to pack the house, so I proposed the title "Sex and Violence on the Comstock": sold out in a few days; standing-room only with 125 people in a hall that could only hold 80 safely. But it was the Comstock, so no one cared.

*in a previous century ...

Sometimes I think there should be a seperate subreddit for "ask military historians" so military history doesn't clog this one up so much (and I say that as a military historian).

What do you think about the big amount of "why" questions being posted, their appropriateness and historicity, especially of those regarding motivation and fundamental aspects of human life?

There seems to be this tendency to ask questions regarding some aspects of the past that aren't even remotely clear concerning the present. For example just now, about whether Greek philosophers would be followed by the common masses... just considering how terms like "Marxism" or "Faschism" are getting thrown around today - how do you go about explaining other's frame of mind or motivation?

It seems like those questions are provocatively asking for an oversimplification.

Is there a way in which historians balance examining people's self-awareness and our perspective on what they were/did "whether they knew it or not"?

Afternoon everyone, I was hoping I could get some suggestions from y'all. I'm trying to come up with a way I can use my research and writing skill set for a freelance/consultant business. To give a little background into myself my academic focus with in US History (1900-1950 military and political foreign policy), I worked in banking for a year, I have extensive small business management experience, I successfully started two companies, and I'm currently a Naval Officer (who finally has some down time).

I'd like to build my portfolio a little bit while also making some money on the side. In a couple of years I'll be pursuing my masters and after completion of service I'll look to work either at a think tank or in the foreign relations/intelligence field.

Any suggestions would be great because I'm seriously struggling to come up with how I can spin this into something that can be a viable business.

Today I randomly learned about the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545, and the 92 "fairly complete" Skeletons along with it. I can't stop wondering how all those remains stayed so well preserved for all these years.

I keep thinking about the Titanic and how those remains apparently disintegrated rather quickly due to sea life/I think pressurization? At the bottom of the ocean. At least that was what I learned years ago.

And all the pictures of shipwrecks, or artifacts from shipwrecks that I've seen that are incredibly beat-up due to being in the ocean for so long.

I mean, I'm sure there is a massive difference between the depths of the bottom of the Atlantic and the Solent, and that probably has a lot to do with it.

But that also makes me think about how many incredibly well-preserved artifacts and remains from ages ago there could be just laying around the sea.

Are well-preserved artifacts and remains from shipwrecks a common thing to find? Especially from as long ago as 1545? Or is the Mary Rose an outlier?

I'm an undergrad history major, switched at the start of my junior year so fortunately I didn't lose any progress or have to backtrack any. I'm currently embarking on some extracurricular research so I can start presenting at conferences to help build up my resume for future college/job applications.

So I'm starting to research on a guy that doesn't have an enormous amount of information written about him. I decided to choose William Dudley Pelley and so far I've only been able to find one source focusing on just him, and it's from 1978.

My question is, for those of you that do research into people that may not have a lot written about them, or the historiography is just small in general, how do you go about finding information and writing some decent research on them? I've gone to my library and even spoken with my advisor that's over my research, but I'm still not finding a whole lot. So far I've found 3-4 books/academic articles that mention him and a few biographical news/blog articles. I've even gone and used the bibliographical sources that they used for him.

Should I give up and find an easier topic? I'm really fascinated with the guy and I don't want to give up, but if there's not much meaningful research/a new angle I could bring to the historiography of him, I'm unsure if it's worth it. Any and all insight and help is encouraged. Thanks!

Heyo! Need someone fluent in Latin to proof and polish this: " Per Mater, Regina et panis. Anno autem dominus noster MMXIX "

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It's for a bread knife I'm in the process of making myself. The idea is to give a nod to weapons made under contract for various 15th-17thish century rulers. It should roughly translate to "By Mother, Queen of Bread. In the year of our lord 2019" (I'll remove the punctuation and use little heraldry marks in place of them)

Anyone else get super excited when the Battlefield theme comes on?