Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
One thing I love about old books yard sales is the annotations. You get the school text, where someone had duly and thoroughly underlined the preface and half of chapter one; the odd nonsensical remark or phone number scribbled in the margin of page 243; the random postcard sent from someone's vacation place in 1964; long and elaborate dedications in the most unassuming of paperback editions; I also have a few books from local historians, with comments ranging from "Doll. 3 - 22" to "What the actual fuck!"
Anyways, I also wanted to take the chance to say hi to those who happen to spend the holidays alone - either by choice or because of traveling restrictions - since I have to admit that it feels slightly off...
Also - why not? - to those who spend the holidays with their loved ones, and to those who don't happen to have any holidays for whatever reason.
As above, hi from Italy, and take care!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to one of the most awesome communities on the internet. May your day be filled with joy and cheer, with your holidays filled with health and happiness!
Merry Christmas everybody!
What are the fundamental books to read in order to better understand European and American history for the last 200 years? I'm compiling my 2021 reading list and would like your opinion. I'm looking for books that give me a general vision rather than dive deep in a subject.
Thanks!
Happy Christmas to all present! May your dinners be filling and your presents satisfying.
I would also like to register my immense dissatisfaction that the Ionian Sea is, in fact, on the far side of Greece from the region of Ionia, which happens to be in Asia Minor.
So, part of what I've been doing for 2020 has been a good chunk of archival research (remotely, because of the pandemic) involving H. P. Lovecraft's collaborators. Found some fun stuff! This week I did a three-part-series on my blog looking at his revision client Zealia Brown Reed Bishop...if anyone is curious, here are the links:
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, December 18 - Thursday, December 24
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 6,629 | 65 comments | For centuries, the Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) believed that they were the last of the jewish people in the world. How was their reaction to the knowledge that there are other jewish communities scattered around the world? |
| 5,305 | 189 comments | In Ancient Rome, slaves could attain great material wealth, and sometimes used this wealth to buy their freedom. However, their master still held near absolute power over them. What, legally or socially, stopped a master from just taking a slave’s wealth? |
| 5,086 | 98 comments | [Great Question!] The year is 1200. My wife and I run a small barley farm in rural Scotland and we just found out she’s pregnant. What’s the plan for delivering the baby? Would I know what to do? Do we send her to her mother’s? Is there a doctor in the nearby village? |
| 4,907 | 69 comments | [Great Question!] What the heck was going on in New York at Christmas in the 1770s? Wikipedia's history of Santa Claus describes "aggressive home invasions," "sexual deviancy" and a weird parody of Dutch culture. |
| 3,421 | 42 comments | How was Andorra, a country right inbetween France and Spain with fewer than 200 sq mi / 500 sq km and just 77 000 residents, able to stay sovereign? |
| 3,373 | 119 comments | How the heck did people survive in prehistoric times when they had babies?! |
| 3,171 | 145 comments | Why weren't deaths HIGHER in WWI? |
| 2,706 | 99 comments | Why is "Jesús" a common name in Spanish but not English? |
| 2,260 | 25 comments | How did Monaco survive, while so many other tiny Italian states didn't? |
| 2,094 | 47 comments | We now know the effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy - up until very recently this wasn't recognised. Is there any known historical recognition, or any historical figures who might have suffered from FAS? |
###Top 10 Comments
Merry (late) Christmas!
Is there a historian consensus on why France's birthrate was so low in the 19th century?