Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
Welcome one and all to another fabulous edition of the Sunday Digest! The greatest collection of hand crafted, free range history posts fed on a diet of organic scholarship. We’ve got some good stuff for you below, but don’t forget to check the weekly features, thank the authors, and feel free to call out any you enjoyed in particular!
NEW PODCAST! AskHistorians Podcast Episode 169 - Gaelic Work Songs with Meg Hyland.
Some fun banter in the Friday Free For All!
/u/Starwarsnerd222 continues to rock the Saturday Showcase.
A good meta question was Why questions about ancient Romans and Nazism are so popular in r/AskHistorians?
Another good meta question, and actually something I keep meaning to look at. I'm curious about the process of how the FAQ is maintained.
And that wraps me up for another weekend Digesters (Which sounds… foody? Maybe), you all have yourselves a great week and I’ll see you next Sunday!
Time for another installment of "The Real Questions", where take a look at the wilder side of r/AskHistorians! Here, I give a shout-out to people asking the more atypical questions on this sub: questions that investigate amusing, unique, bizarre, or less common aspects of history, as well as ones that take us through intriguing adventures of historiography/methodology or niche/overlooked topics and moments in history. It's always a wide (and perhaps confusing) assortment of topics, but at the end of the day, when I see them I think, "Finally, someone is asking the real questions!"
Below are my entries for the week - questions with a link to an older response are marked with ‡. Let me know what you think were the realest questions you saw this week, and be sure to check out my full list of Real Questions.
We also try to draw attention to those interesting yet overlooked questions that still call out for an answer. Feel free to add your own, shout out any that caught your eye, or that inspired you this week!
/u/CalicoJack_81 asked Why was the left flank of a Spartan formation so dangerous?
/u/TauvaVodder asked In 17th Century naval warfare, how did the opposing forces find each other?