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Read Longitude by Dava Sobel for an excellent history of the development of an accurate clock that could be used at sea. It's truly fascinating both from the engineering perspective as well as the personalities involved. And it clarifies that, prior to this development, navigation at sea (at least in terms of longitude position) could best be characterized as a wild ass guess.
Edit: somehow wrote LATitude when I meant LONGitude! Duh!
Love this guy! Anyone who's unfamiliar he wrote a book last year called The Strange Death of Europe.
Here's a speech he gave that got a lot of traction as well.
This one and Rogue One need a "making of" book like these.
If access was given on that level, we might find out the truth.
you make it sound as if I personally take some EU funds. And you have a really condescending attitude. "You take our money, we helped you, so you must listen as we tell you". From my perspective (I am Czech), it was Germany and Russia who fucked my country up 80 years ago. One side Nazis killing slavic people because they were untermenschen, on the other side fucking USSR. If it were not for these two countries, communism would not have decimated eastern Europe. You need some history lessons
https://www.amazon.com/Bloodlands-Europe-Between-Hitler-Stalin/dp/0465031471
and nowadays we see history repeating itself. Gemany is no more nazistic and imperialistic, but it is spineless and enabling another fascist Regime, which is current Russia. Russia is again threatening other countries
Sometimes if you read you learn things.
The 1842 retreat from Kabul, as previously said was one - 18,500 men, women and children killed in 6 days with one lone survivor. If you want to read a wonderful, fascinating book about it check out the award winning ‘The Great Game’ by Peter Hopkirk, which details the British-Russia fight for India, which mostly took place in Afghanistan. https://www.amazon.com/Great-Game-Struggle-Central-Kodansha/dp/1568360223
Adrian R. Bell is one of the leading experts in this field. He has a few books that might appeal to you. Also, there’s A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Tuchman, which covers a lot about warfare but also other cultural topics.
Thanks! Snyder is a great writer. Bloodlands is definitely worth the read -- it's a look at the mass killings under the Hitler and Stalin regimes. If that sounds like both-sides-ism or something, it's more like 'political mass murder' is itself the center of the story, often told from the point of view of its victims.
Anyone who wants a fairly short, fun-to-read book about how the Church kept literacy and the written heritage of Greece and Rome alive during the Dark Ages should read "How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe". It's a tremendously inspiring and uplifting true story about people persevering as their world collapsed around them - great for these black-pilled times. There's an Audible version, too.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Irish-Saved-Civilization-Irelands/dp/0385418493
Corrupt government payment systems is for sure a 21st century problem.
14th Century problems were more along the lines of Bubonic Plague, Hundred Years War, Brigandage, Rapine, Schism and such.
https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Mirror-Calamitous-14th-Century/dp/0345349571
Christopher Clark - The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 is a excellent book about the reasons of ww1 https://www.amazon.com/Sleepwalkers-How-Europe-Went-1914/dp/0061146668
Conspiracy about Cecil Rhodes, his circle and WW1 https://www.corbettreport.com/wwi/
Thanks :) I can't take credit for the "bitter worms in iron cocoons" part, which is modified from an anonymous poem cited in A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman. I'd also highly recommend that book for anyone out there looking to write medieval European fantasy.
The book that these bullet points come from is called Bloodlands:Europe between Hitler and Stalin, and is extremely in depth and readable.
The Making of Star Wars is a fantastic read. Even if you think you know the majority of the story behind the making of the first film, there's a ton of stuff there I guarantee will be new to you.
Check out Bloodlands if you want see just how bad it was in Eastern Europe and why Russia believes the Ukraine belongs to them.
I would recommend this book (assuming of course your not some disingenuous Marxist arguing in bad faith) it will explain the many reasons why you are wrong!
https://www.amazon.com/Bloodlands-Europe-Between-Hitler-Stalin/dp/0465031471
In Tashkent, yes absolutely. Its actually fascinating how Russian policy to central asia stayed exactly the same from tsar to soviet administration. (I love this book: The Great Game ). But Kyiv has been part of the Russian sense of Russia for longer than the US has been a going concern; Russia traces itself back to the Kievan Rus'.
One alternatively could assess the Ukrainians inherited the hardass part of the Red Army that gave me nuclear war nightmares growing up, and the Russians inherited the part of the Soviet command economy that makes punchlines.
Away from land, people got lost a lot. For a long time we knew latitude using the stars, but longitude was a problem until the 18th century when the chronometer was invented.
This is a great book that probably answers your question in more detail:
https://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-Problem/dp/080271529X
>Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives and the increasing fortunes of nations hung on a resolution. One man, John Harrison, in complete opposition to the scientific community, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land.
Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and of Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
Lucas is a petty, jealous, bitter person, but Marcia must have the best PR team of all time for this myth of her “saving Star Wars” to have spread so far and wide.
She did do a small amount of editing work on the initial cut of Star Wars, but left the project altogether after a disastrous test screening. It was GL who then personally put thousands of hours in the editing room—all uncredited because he didn’t officially belong to the professional editors guild—and saved his film.
The academy awarded Oscars to the editing team, but left out GL—again, not a member of the guild—which I believe Lucas took as a huge slap in the face after putting in more work cutting and splicing celluloid than virtually the entire editing staff combined.
Should mention that despite GL’s resentment of her work and recognition, some of her influence on Star Wars persists. Most notably, Leia kissing Luke “for luck” as they make a daring escape from the Death Star was 100% Marcia’s suggestion and exists in all cuts of the film today.
source: film historian J.W. Rinzler’s excellent The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
I've joked before about how the ignorant Russian soldiers don't know what an indoor toilet is but here is a quote from a truly superb book I'm reading at present, Bloodlands - Europe between Hitler & Stalin. (can't RECOMMEND it highly enough!)
When Germany & Russia secretly agreed to 'share' Poland - in Russia's portion, they brought in Russian communist party persons to take charge of this area:
>"The Soviet Citizens who now ruled Eastern Poland were falling off bicycles, eating toothpaste, using toilets as sinks, wearing multiple watches, or bras as earmuffs , or lingerie as evening gowns."
I joked but the TRUTH is not far off - this is a quote from a truly superb book I'm reading at present, Bloodlands - Europe between Hitler & Stalin. (can't RECOMMEND it highly enough!)
When Germany & Russia secretly agreed to 'share' Poland - in Russia's portion, they brought in Russian communist party persons to take charge of this area:
>"The Soviet Citizens who now ruled Eastern Poland were falling off bicycles, eating toothpaste, using toilets as sinks, wearing multiple watches, or bras as earmuffs , or lingerie as evening gowns."
Funny thing is I made the joke before I read this portion of the book!
I can recommend Peter Hopkirk's book - he has written several other books about the history of the area as well
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Sounds like the typical communist mass murder psychosis driven propaganda against religion. If you must read something that stirs up your humanity, I recommend this book: Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder
>According to some sources, the total number of Christian victims under the Soviet regime has been estimated to range around 12 to 20 million. At least 106,300 Russian clergymen were executed between 1937 and 1941.
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution\_of\_Christians\_in\_the\_Soviet\_Union
People out here bragging about that one lesson they learnt in school.
Before Nazis, there was another, "ambitious" breed growing in Germany. If we dare to look deeper, it wasn't just shooting some barely liked heir apparent that started the most horrifying war, dragging the entire continent (and their colonies) into the first ever World War, that went on for 4 years and created the modern military complex. You can consider it the "proto Nazis". There were far-right leaders like Hugenberg and Schonerer (another Austrian, I think), who could've been the Hitler a decade ago, if they had the chance.
Britain and France were worried about the "Pan Germania" movement in Germany. Britain especially had just dealt with Russia in Afghanistan, bickering with other members of the Colonisers Club around the globe, while also ~~oppressing~~ managing its territories overseas. They did not like the idea of Germany becoming another contender (and arguably, a challenging one). William II's obsession with building a German navy on par with British was not that much liked by Western Europe either.
Get the book "A Distant Mirror", it's exactly what you're looking for. It's all about the 14th century, the 100 Years War, and France in particular. VERY good book
https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Mirror-Calamitous-14th-Century/dp/0345349571
Unfortunately, the causes of World War I are far more complex than you might think. Like I said, the Central Powers fired the first shot, but this does not mean that they were completely responsible. I can link you some reading material on the situation in Europe pre-WWI if you're interested.
Sleepwalkers gives a good overview of how and why we started WW1
https://www.amazon.com/Sleepwalkers-How-Europe-Went-1914/dp/0061146668
Is Serbia guilty? Yes, but not more than Germany, France, Russia, ... They were all willing to start a war, preparing for it and looking for a match to throw in the powder keg.
In the end, Russia, Germany and Austria lost their emperor and Serbia suffered exceptional loss of live in WWI, something that is often forgotten
Here’s a great book about the mechanical clock revolutionized ocean navigation:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time https://smile.amazon.com/dp/080271529X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_5M3X25QDZW616QB2ST23
i would note that she was the "saviour" of the trench run mainly becuse that was her part of the movie, and the edits to the trench run was made during a time post the first cut (not to be confused with the john jympson rough draft) which the three editors and george was working together.
>EDITING, THE SPIRIT OF ’76
>
>Following the first cut, there was a new temp cut every couple of weeks, which only the same small group would review. After the first major structural changes, other adjustments were made to the successive cuts...
>
>The end battle was also running too long, so Luke’s two trench runs were combined into one. This created tighter storytelling, but also several editorial challenges. Within one trench run, the following would now have to be conveyed either visually or verbally: Luke’s initial intention to use the computer, Ben’s dialogue, Vader’s actions, R2-D2’s drama, Han’s arrival, the fate of the other pilots, Leia’s feelings—all within the believable length of physical space along the trench. To draw out the suspense, Lucas had decided to shoot second-unit footage at ILM of the Death Star preparing to fire, some of which would be added to this sequence, along with coverage taken of Peter Cushing, stolen from an earlier scene that had been shortened. “It was all editorially manufactured,” says Marcia Lucas, who, just after Thanksgiving, left the picture to help Martin Scorsese on New York, New York.
source: The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film