Thomas's comments
(member since May 07, 2008)
Thomas's comments from the History is Not Boring group.
(showing 1-20 of 43)
Good call, Marco. I think it's fantastic that the class is asking us for advice, but one topic is plenty.
The Persian Boy is readable by teens and will probably hold their attention. However, I suspect that parents at even a "progressive" school will be mightily uncomfortable with the autobiography of a boy who undergoes genital mutilation, rape, and sale to a conquering warlord.
An easier choice would be almost any other Mary Renault book, especially The King Must Die (also sexually explicit) and The Last of the Wine (contains a homosexual kiss). I read these last two when I was in your target age group and thought they were great.
Rudyard Kipling isn't usually regarded as a progressive author, but you might think about Kim. The main drawback: Many kids will find Kim boring and probably incomprehensible.
I've heard it, but I have no idea where. It was a while ago, though.
'"I don't believe it," or "There goes the author's credibility."'
The author of a novel about the French Revolution addressed this issue in a foreword by saying that she had made up everything normal and copied from textbooks everything that seemed ridiculous.
The historical novel that fails to add anything novel to the history. Yes, it still takes work to write such a book, but not all efforts are worth making.
Welcome,
I didn't realize they made casseroles in San Diego.
I don't think 300 should be evaluated as any sort of historical document, at least no more than Superman documents American history. It's worth keeping in mind that it's an action movie based on a comic book based on a rather legendary bit of history. Anyway, you really know that the ancient Persians weren't into body piercing? If so, I'd say that the piercing falls into the category of changes that make for the best movie, as they reinforced the impression of Persian decadence.
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame seemed to get a lot of the historical detail right, although a lot of people felt the film's message inverted history. It seems to me that anyone who makes a historical movie (or posts on this thread) is sticking their neck out, as it's a lot easier to shoot down a movie as unhistorical than it is to prove it accurate in every point.
Marian,
I heard about someone pursuing your idea a while back. This is one of many web articles on the subject: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/...
It seems they haven't made much progress.
Since this seems to be a broad current events thread, I'd like to point out that the stimulus spending just kicked into my life. This morning I found myself standing on the side of an interstate highway near Baltimore. Maryland's government needed someone to help get their ducks in a row before the cash starts flowing. They certainly would like to see speedy results, but there's a limit to how fast one can do investigation and design of a high quality.
Still, I'll pledge to do my part and pass on the stimulus money by paying yet another month's extortionate internet connection fee.
Regarding height, everything I've read in the last few years has cited the Dutch as the world's currently tallest people. Not the greatest source of national pride, but I'm sure it gratifies. Better than being in the top ten fattest countries (America, Kuwait, and 8 different Polynesian nations.)
One of my favorite falsehoods is that of horned viking helmets. (Yes, early ceremonial caps featured wings, horns, or other doodads, but battle horns were and are fairly improbable.)
Jarred,
I wouldn't go any younger than high school sophomore. Most people wouldn't even use it in high school.
I have no idea, but it would probably be easy to find eight headlines to support a theory of media bias, provided that one culled the thousands that didn't fit the theory. On the other hand, if all those headlines were from the same paper, they'd have to work pretty hard to justify their point of view.
The Search for Modern China
A book that, although about 20 years old, gives a better historical perspective on contemporary China than a lot of the news I get.
Marco, is there actually a rule against Google? I don't remember seeing one in this thread until a few posts ago. I find I learn something whether I use Google or no.
A giant cheese is a great idea. It's probably a bit late for something along the lines of Queen Victoria's wedding present, but not if we consider that this is 21st-century America. Filling the reflecting pool with Cheese Whiz would probably be appropriate.
That's right, Aimee.
Gunpowder probably works for 1, 2, and 3, but I think 4 rules it out. I think I'll lengthen clue 2.
For what it's worth, I think Charles XII of Sweden was in Narva for the battle in 1700, but General Horn presided over the Swedish forces in 1704.
Anyway, this is not an event, but a thing.
1. Requested by Emporer Kang-Hsi.
2. Made in a hurry, resulting in thousands of mistakes.
3. Its initial purpose was to reduce unemployment.
4. It was commonly used for approximately two centuries.
