Thursday Reading and Recommendations is intended as bookish free-for-all, for the discussion and recommendation of all books historical, or tangentially so. Suggested topics include, but are by no means limited to:
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 of history and books, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
I recently finished Keeping Canada British: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Saskatchewan by James M. Pitsula (2013).
As Pitsula shows, for a few years in the mid-1920s the Ku Klux Klan was quite prominent in Saskatchewan. However this version of the KKK was not like its counterpart in the US, in that it's main concern was not racist attacks on black people (who were not prevalent enough in Saskatchewan to matter), but instead was more concerned with keeping the British character of the province, in the face of increasing non-British immigration and the appearance of an increasingly prominent Catholic influence over public schools. Above all they opposed the dominant provincial Liberal Party, who had been firmly entrenched in government since the creation of the province in 1905, and sought to change that.
The result was a KKK that was quite unique: overwhelmingly popular they grew to play a decisive role in the 1929 provincial election, bringing the Conservative Party to power for the first time, and while being overtly anti-Catholic and pro-British Protestant, were merely parroting the views of most residents of the province at the time, even including their opponents. This also factored into the sudden disappearance of the Klan as a major factor: with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 and the continued influx of immigrants, it was unable to sustain itself, and died out as quickly as it had arrived.
More than a study of the KKK, this is a look at the history of Saskatchewan, and indeed Canada, and how the influx of immigration in the early decades of the 20th century was handled by Canadians. It is a solid read, and quite accessible despite being overtly academic, and many of the themes discussed are still quite relevant today.
I just started a class that covers the Italian Renaissance and the late Middle Ages in Western Europe. I was looking for hood books on those topics.
I'm looking for a good book on medieval heresies, particularly one that focuses on the kind of theoretical side of what the heretics believed, and ideally something accessible to someone without much background in medieval history. Essentially, I want to get a fuller picture of what people like like Dulcinians and the Bogomils believed and why they believed it (to the point that they were willing to die for these beliefs).
Does anyone know how to find original texts of petitions to the English Parliament from the late 1300s?
I'm doing deep dive into historical environmental impacts of trawling fisheries, and found an excellent resource from 1889;
Inside, it contains a reference to a petition to the English Parliament of 1376-77, referenced as such:
The US Commission book contains a quote of the text, which describes the nets being used, states a complaint about degraded fisheries over a period of seven years, and a response that a commission should be made to "inquire and certify on the truth of this allegation" but I'd love to be able see the full text. I know it's a stretch, but tips on how to look for the context surrounding petitions at this time (i.e. who made the complaint, and where did this happen specifically?), and any results of the aforementioned commission would also be greatly appreciated.
I was going to do a full post for this, but saw this thread and thought it might fit better here. Thanks so much!
Any recommendations for learning about early human history and the world in general about 300kya to 2 mya?
Looking for suggestions regarding the history of feminism in the US, 20th century.
You know how ecological history is a thing? Are there books like e.g. Changes in the Land that have been published from within or using the framework of dual inheritance theory? The Wikipedia article lists books about it, but I'm wondering if any historian has tried applying it.
Anyone have any recommendations on the economic changes from late antiquity to the early medieval era in Europe?
I am looking for recommendations for a good social and archeological history of Scotland.
I was watching Rome the HBO show recently. What books can you recommend for this time period surrounding the fall of the republic and the war between Anthony and Octavian?
Could someone recommend a book on the history of early aviation, say from brothers Wright (or even earlier) till WWII? Other media (documentaries, high-quality podcasts) are also welcome.