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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 14, 2021 11:33:56 GMT -5
Haven't seen the new book yet but my wife really liked David Graeber's earlier book Debt. A quick google shows a very positive review of the new book in The Atlantic and a less positive one in the Wall Street Journal, neither of which is surprising given Graeber's history. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 14, 2021 11:51:18 GMT -5
On the reading front, I'm almost done with Ron Chernow's biography of Ulysses Grant. I'll review it on the books thread when I finish, but damn...what a great (though long) book. I've loved watching the rehabilitation of Grant as "Lost Cause" historiography finally being consigned to the ash-heap.  |
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Post by berkley on Dec 14, 2021 18:39:00 GMT -5
Haven't seen the new book yet but my wife really liked David Graeber's earlier book Debt. A quick google shows a very positive review of the new book in The Atlantic and a less positive one in the Wall Street Journal, neither of which is surprising given Graeber's history. I have yet to read anything by Graeber but from what I've heard about him and his work I think I'm probably in tune with his way of looking at things. For that reason, I have a few of his books on my to-read list, though I have no idea when I getaround to trying any of them. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Dec 15, 2021 12:42:37 GMT -5
My history reading has been more article-driven, for quite a while now. I love history; but, I hadn't been picking up many history books for a long time. I have a bunch of things I want to read; but, haven't really had to time, on top of the other reading I am doing. Most of what I have read in recent years has been military history. Thanks to Babylon Berlin, I have been chasing down on-line articles about Weimar Germany, to compare and contrast with what you see in the series. Most of it is pretty accurate, while mixing in the pop culture elements of things like elements of German cinema, into the narrative (things like Dr Mabuse and Dr Caligari). It's a real mix of crime fiction, actual history, pop culture history and more.
I loved Babylon Berlin, although I have found the storyline muddled after a while and have tired of it after a while. It's a fascinating era of history, and I have ransacked the compelling films made during the era for many of my stories.
I recommend the Jason Lutes graphic novel Berlin, which covers the same era.
Say what you will about the author, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes is an incredible look at the Russian Revolution. Figes gives the necessary background to look at the forces that shaped the Revolution and for a work of such incredible scope it's incredibly readable. Is there a issue with Orlando Figes? I read his The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia and thought it outstanding. A very impressive series of documentaries... It really takes its time and does not go for the flashy tidbits. Sumer has been a favourite subject of mine since reading a YA novel about it in the sixth grade, so this video was a delight! Yeah, they're fascinating for some of the same reasons the Egyptians are: it's spine-chilling to think that these civilisations pre-dated the ancient Greeks by a longer span of milllenia than the ancient Greeks pre-date us today. That alone already blows my mind even before I start thinking about what we know of their history and culture, the mythology, etc .
It's an interest of mine as well, though I've found no many in-depth books on the subject. So many complete cultures and mythologies which have been completely lost!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 15, 2021 12:47:39 GMT -5
Is there a issue with Orlando Figes? I read his The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia and thought it outstanding.
Say what you will about the author, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes is an incredible look at the Russian Revolution. Figes gives the necessary background to look at the forces that shaped the Revolution and for a work of such incredible scope it's incredibly readable. Figes was caught using various pseudonyms to put reviews on Amazon trashing other people's books while praising his own. Specifically books by Robert Service and Rachel Polonsky, who also write about Russian history. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 15, 2021 14:36:41 GMT -5
My history reading has been more article-driven, for quite a while now. I love history; but, I hadn't been picking up many history books for a long time. I have a bunch of things I want to read; but, haven't really had to time, on top of the other reading I am doing. Most of what I have read in recent years has been military history. Thanks to Babylon Berlin, I have been chasing down on-line articles about Weimar Germany, to compare and contrast with what you see in the series. Most of it is pretty accurate, while mixing in the pop culture elements of things like elements of German cinema, into the narrative (things like Dr Mabuse and Dr Caligari). It's a real mix of crime fiction, actual history, pop culture history and more.
I loved Babylon Berlin, although I have found the storyline muddled after a while and have tired of it after a while. It's a fascinating era of history, and I have ransacked the compelling films made during the era for many of my stories.
I recommend the Jason Lutes graphic novel Berlin, which covers the same era.
Say what you will about the author, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes is an incredible look at the Russian Revolution. Figes gives the necessary background to look at the forces that shaped the Revolution and for a work of such incredible scope it's incredibly readable. Is there a issue with Orlando Figes? I read his The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia and thought it outstanding. Yeah, they're fascinating for some of the same reasons the Egyptians are: it's spine-chilling to think that these civilisations pre-dated the ancient Greeks by a longer span of milllenia than the ancient Greeks pre-date us today. That alone already blows my mind even before I start thinking about what we know of their history and culture, the mythology, etc .
It's an interest of mine as well, though I've found no many in-depth books on the subject. So many complete cultures and mythologies which have been completely lost!
Reading a book on Mesopotamian myths a few years ago, I was struck by the melancholy of such statements: "the next two lines are missing due to a crack in the clay tablet". We may never, ever know what those two lines were.  |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Dec 17, 2021 12:05:05 GMT -5
Figes was caught using various pseudonyms to put reviews on Amazon trashing other people's books while praising his own. Specifically books by Robert Service and Rachel Polonsky, who also write about Russian history.
Hahaha. Oh well, it doesn't effect the quality of his books, but that's sooo low-class!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2021 14:51:27 GMT -5
Wish I had the funds to subscribe to this: buildthetitanic.hachettepartworks.comTotal cost of subscription: £1378.62 (140 issues). The height of the model will be 22.5cm, length will be 134cm, width will be 14.5cm. Materials required: die-cast metal and wooden parts. Hey, if you subscribe, one gift you’ll be given is a pocketwatch. If I win the lottery, this one is mine! |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 14, 2022 11:46:02 GMT -5
Warrior women of the Caucasus!I wonder if these were in any way related to the birth of the legendary Amazons. In any case, they make the Sarmatians in the series Conquests that much more plausible! (These were mostly inspired by Herodotus's depiction of the Amazons).
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 14, 2022 19:00:23 GMT -5
Warrior women of the Caucasus!I wonder if these were in any way related to the birth of the legendary Amazons. In any case, they make the Sarmatians in the series Conquests that much more plausible! (These were mostly inspired by Herodotus's depiction of the Amazons). Unfortunately they want money to let me read the article. It's possible that I have Sarmatian ancestry. The Huns absorbed or destroyed most of the Sarmatian tribes on their way west toward Europe. Two tribes maintained their identities - the Ossetians, who retreated south to the Caucasus where they still live, and the Alans, who moved west ahead of the Huns and entered the Roman empire in the early 5th century along with a couple of German tribes. The Alans settled for a while in the Loire valley and participated in the big battle that stopped Attila the Hun along with the Romans and Goths. Then the main body of the Alans moved south along with their Germanic friends the Vandals and Suebi. The three tribes ruled the Iberian peninsula for a while, then the Vandals and Alans were forced south to Africa, where they had a kingdom together in what's now Tunisia for over a hundred years. Meanwhile, in Brittany, just north and west of the Loire valley, the fifth century saw the first recorded people named "Alan". There was a Saint Alan, Bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure for a while; many children were named after him. The name was popular in Brittany for several centuries and was brought to England by Bretons in the army of William of Normandy. There's no proof that the Breton name Alan came from the Sarmatians who had lived in the area recently, but there's no proof to the contrary either. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jan 15, 2022 10:36:25 GMT -5
Warrior women of the Caucasus!I wonder if these were in any way related to the birth of the legendary Amazons. In any case, they make the Sarmatians in the series Conquests that much more plausible! (These were mostly inspired by Herodotus's depiction of the Amazons). Unfortunately they want money to let me read the article. It's possible that I have Sarmatian ancestry. The Huns absorbed or destroyed most of the Sarmatian tribes on their way west toward Europe. Two tribes maintained their identities - the Ossetians, who retreated south to the Caucasus where they still live, and the Alans, who moved west ahead of the Huns and entered the Roman empire in the early 5th century along with a couple of German tribes. The Alans settled for a while in the Loire valley and participated in the big battle that stopped Attila the Hun along with the Romans and Goths. Then the main body of the Alans moved south along with their Germanic friends the Vandals and Suebi. The three tribes ruled the Iberian peninsula for a while, then the Vandals and Alans were forced south to Africa, where they had a kingdom together in what's now Tunisia for over a hundred years. Meanwhile, in Brittany, just north and west of the Loire valley, the fifth century saw the first recorded people named "Alan". There was a Saint Alan, Bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure for a while; many children were named after him. The name was popular in Brittany for several centuries and was brought to England by Bretons in the army of William of Normandy. There's no proof that the Breton name Alan came from the Sarmatians who had lived in the area recently, but there's no proof to the contrary either. Isn't King Arthur supposed to have Sarmatian ancestry as well? You might be a distant cousin of the king! |
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Post by Dizzy D on Jan 15, 2022 12:17:11 GMT -5
I think this fits in this thread: British Comedian Al Murray, who also graduated from Oxford in Modern History does a small presentation for the Tank Museum in Great Britain. Listing the Top 5 and the Bottom 5 ranks in World War II. It's a joke and his reasoning is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but he does have an important point to make by contrasting these two videos. (The same channel also has other historians going into far more depth on the history of tanks) The joke is that both lists contain the exact same tanks; the point being that there is no "best" tank, because designing something like this always comes with trade-offs. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 17, 2022 23:44:03 GMT -5
I think this fits in this thread: British Comedian Al Murray, who also graduated from Oxford in Modern History does a small presentation for the Tank Museum in Great Britain. Listing the Top 5 and the Bottom 5 ranks in World War II. It's a joke and his reasoning is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but he does have an important point to make by contrasting these two videos. (The same channel also has other historians going into far more depth on the history of tanks) The joke is that both lists contain the exact same tanks; the point being that there is no "best" tank, because designing something like this always comes with trade-offs. I'll have to pass this on to a few friends of mine who are into WWII military history in a big way. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 18, 2022 12:10:28 GMT -5
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 18, 2022 13:21:30 GMT -5
What little I know of the Sarmatian theory of Arthur's origins sounds like b.s. to me. However, I found that Clive Owen movie based on it quite entertaining. |
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