What 3 books should someone new to history start with? I'm going to have about a month in the summer with nothing to do, so I'd like to read some history.
>>977955
That depends on where you want to start/
>>977966
I'm not really fussed. If the 3 books had some continuity that would great, but is not necessary. It could be a book each to represent a different period (antiquity, medieval period, etc.)
Something related to empires, collapse of societies, war, revered historical figures, etc. would be interesting.
To get a general idea of the scale of human history, I would recommend these titles. The first two are not actually textbook history books, but have helped me comprehend my history textbooks, as they are easily readable and give insight into the facets of what human culture consists of. I'm bretty sure each and every virgin paraplegic autist on this site will tear their neckbeards in half and stomp on their byzaboo dioramas in a hysteric fit when they see my suggestions, but then again - this is just my opinion, and the books I've listed have helped me greatly.
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Shitty ruler(s) thread.
>>977705
>waiting for the Wehraboos
Dis gon b gud.
/his/
What was the greatest empire ever?
Not just military power and pure size, but also influence and culture.
Rule: The Empire has to have had at least two rulers.
Also the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Empire are separate.
>>973157
The answer is still the Roman Empire.
The human empire.
Ask and discuss.
Best ruler?
Worst ruler?
Discussing Normand and Outremer history also welcome.
Best: Napoleon
Worst: Maximilien Robespierre
>let's murder all of France's intellectuals and scientists
>nothing can go wrong
>>969922
I'm still pissed about that.
Lavoisier's death lead to the stagnation of the field of Chemistry for roughly half a century, if not more.
Was Louis XIV actually a good ruler? Did he deserve the title of "The Sun King"?
Has /his/ discussed this yet?
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colossal-bronze-age-battle
As many as 4,000 people fought in a battle over a river crossing 3200 years ago in Pomerania of all places. Weapons were mostly bronze, cavalry were involved, and the warriors came from all over the place, many from Southern Europe. Maybe Northern Europe during the Bronze Age wasn't as big a backwater as we think
Intredasting
>>956885
HYPER WAR GET HYPE
hot damn this is interesting
What is the theory called that says that free will can only exist if God exists?
Basically, the summary I heard was that if there is no divine being, and if we dont have souls, then we are moving forward from the natural prime movement. If that the case, then every atom is merely an object in motion staying in motion, and thus all of our actions and movements are predetermined. The only way we can have free will is if given free will by a divine being, with souls that are able to counter physics?
I dont know if thats completely it, but does anyone know what Im talking about?
Determinism?
Inb4 thread devolves into shit flinging
>>979861
>What is the theory called that says that free will can only exist if God exists?
Madness.
>>979861
Seems like it's touching on sovereignty.
Let's talk about the meaning of life on a societal level. Why should we as a society keep struggling, keep advancing?
I don't remember who but I think some Swedish philosopher said the meaning of it is that we can reach a society in which everyone has comfort and can reach self-fulfillment. Where people can spend their days reading books, painting, etc. That should be the greater point of technological advancing.
(Yet interestingly, our society shames people who spend their days going after pleasure and comfort.)
What do you think?
>>979225
For anal. It's always about anal.
>>979225
>Why should we as a society keep struggling
Struggle is only a matter of perception anon. While a life may seem like a struggle to one man, those same conditions would be a breeze for another.
Being self-satisfied and not getting frustrated by others having different beliefs/methods. Learning how to be democratic with the whole world.
I'm pretty sure that would sort out 90% of humanities issues.
>>979246
/thread
Refute this claim /his/
Credit unions are the 2nd worst thing in history after Holocaust.
Pro tip - you can't.
Who's the qt?
pretty sure business conglomerates are worse tbqh
>>978939
>Le Holocaust worst thing to ever happen
Are you a normie?
How do we define this once and for all? Can we?
Implications?
Sexual intercourse without the permission of the other person
>>978917
/thread
>>978907
Sexual intercourse without the permission of the other person's male guardian
You are transported back in time and placed in the body of Alexander the Great on the day of his fathers death, you combine his knowledge with yours.
What do you do?
start picking scabs off of cows
Bury all my valuables in a spot only I know the coordinates to.
Make fucking crossbows. Use Roman tactics. Don't go to India. Expand north instead. Start training someone to replace me when I die. Name less cities Alexandria and more after my horse.
Which of the following civilizations is the biggest disappointed to its former glory?
1) Egyptian
2) Greek
3) Mesopotamian
4) Finnish
5) Latin
6) Korean
Please explain your answer.
>>977190
Who told this guy he should have that haircut?
>>977190
Definitely Finnish, they'll probably never fully recover from the Hyperwar.
The Greeks of today are barely Plato's Greeks. Mesopotamians have a good excuse, being overrun by Mongols and then dominated by Turks. Koreans were never formerly glorious.
So it's clearly the Latins or Egyptians. Egypt has fallen lower on an absolute scale, but there is clearly a greater gap between the greatness of Rome and the greatness of Italy than there is of the greatness of Egypt now and 2000 years ago.
So, Rome/Latins.
Why was Protestantism so enticing to Germanics and Nordics?
>>976564
Because it was started by a German who liberated the North from its Latin yoke.
>why was overthrowing the power of the Catholic church so appealing to power-hungry German princes
>>976574
This. Who wouldn't rather get their religion from their own country men over an Italian months of travel away.
What can /his/ tell me about this man? Was it true that he was a Neocon? I never got the sense that he ever arrived at a solid political, or even philosophical position apart from "esotericism is pretty neat niggas"
>>944391
Your instinct I agree with, having read most of Strauss's published writings, but also the transcripts of his lectures. My suspicion is that he's a Platonic skeptic, i.e., he thinks knowledge of the whole is improbable if not impossible, and that the fundamental questions are more knowable than the solutions and answers. This also means that politics is a bracketed subject, with respect to the question "What should be done?", since all that's maybe evident are the worst abuses and dangers.
Neo-con?...
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>fuck the average person
>if a Tyrant would make a better environment for a philosopher, then we need a Tyranny
>>945329
>natural law
>universal
>moral
>political
>counter-enlightenment
>plato
Are Heidegger and Strauss the most beautiful (in a tragic, pitiful sense) instances of cognitive dissonance philosophy, in response to Nietzsche?
I have a few questions about Christianity. Who were the wives of Adam & Eve's sons, Cain, Abel and Seth? Were the sibling marriages allowed back then or I'm dumb?
Pope says don't question it, so don't.
t. catholic cuck
>>978817
i'm not catholic
Adam and Eve had about 50 children in the end, they were genetically perfect so the usual danger of inbreeding wasn't there. Sibling relations were allowed out of necessity
It doesn't really matter since Genesis isn't supposed to be a literal historical account
Did Nazis actually have soldiers from all races in their army or is an exagerated myth created by /pol/ to justify their ideology ?
the black soldiers were mostly an effect of love between black french occupation soldiers and local german galls, all of which were sterilized.
>>972164
>nazi considered colored people as subhuman
Not a myth
>nazi plan to exterminate all colored people
Is a myth
by 1943 they accepted any volunteers and actively conscripted anyone who could hold a gun and point it at russians