The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there

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The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there

44 posts & 34 voices | Started 3 years ago by CaptainFlashheart | Latest reply from muddydwarf

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CaptainFlashheart - Member

What period of history is the one that piques your interest? The one that has some form of fascination for you?

I have a fascination for one very recent period of history, the Cold War, and not just for the really cool planes, but also the fact that it really was a worrying period when the world was possibly in very real danger at any moment.

Apart from that, my real passion in history is the Great Game period, partly influenced by these two books;

and

(As well as the rest of the Flashman series and other Hopkirk books.

The Great Game was an amazing period of time, where so much of what we see as the "modern world" today was formed.

So, what tickles your historical fancy?

Posted 3 years ago #
grumm - Member

Love the history of the crusades - studied it at uni and found it fascinating. There are some amazing stories, like the Holy Spear at the siege of Antioch, which inspired the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The fictional Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch is a reference to the mythical Holy Spear of Antioch. The supposed Holy Spear was unearthed from the floor of a Church during the Siege of Antioch (1098) by crusaders on the First Crusade, found by a poor and otherwise unknown monk named Peter Bartholomew. Its "discovery", during the darkest hours of the siege when all hope seemed lost, quickly became a source of contention between those crusaders who believed Bartholomew, and the more skeptical who did not; yet in the end its "discovery" was credited by the crusaders in inspiring them to overcome seemingly impossible odds in breaking through the siege to continue on their quest to Jerusalem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Hand_Grenade_of_Antioch

Basically they pretended to find this spear in order to rally the troops when they were in dire straits, and it worked - genius!

Posted 3 years ago #
uponthedowns - Member

I have an interest in the history of science so for me it would be the period from the 1890s to the 1950's which was a scientific golden age when so many fundamental discoveries were made in nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, astronomy and cosmology. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, Hubble's discovery that the universe went beyond our galaxy and was expanding leading to the big bang theory, discovery of the structure of the atom and its exploitation in power generation and weapons etc etc.

Posted 3 years ago #
jova54 - Member

I have two periods of interest at the moment, although I've loved 'history' ever since I dropped it at school for O level and failed Geography instead.

I've always had an interest in the Napoleonic era and also the history of Japan but especially the rise and fall of the culture of the samurai.

I'm more interested in the technology of the periods and how it shaped the wars.

Posted 3 years ago #
noteeth - Member

MIS 5e to the early Holocene.

Bring back the extinct fauna!

Posted 3 years ago #
trailmonkey - Member

I'm pretty much fascinated by all of human history, which probably explains why I'm doing a history based degree, but if I had to pick any certain elements it would be the social histories of the industrial revoloution and the 20th century between 1914 and 1945.

History is

Additional. In response to your title Flash, sometimes it's quite remarkable how similar a place the past can present itself as.

Posted 3 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

sometimes it's quite remarkable how similar a place the past can present itself as.

Indeed. Perhaps another reason why the Great Game was/is so relevant, given that there are the beginnings of another rush for empire in Africa at the moment. So, swap the NW Frontier for Africa and swap Russia for China. As La Bassey would put it, it's all just a little bit of history repeating...

Posted 3 years ago #
noteeth - Member

History is

Palaeolithic prehistory is (of course) even cooler - what could be cooler than the Last Glacial Maximum?

The Reindeer skin parka, that's mine, ta.

(edited: TM, for the record, I agree entirely! Despite being a "bones n' stones" archaeologist, I have a weakness for Romano-British stuff...)

Posted 3 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

LOL @ "reindeer skin parka"!

Posted 3 years ago #
Moses - Member

Yes, the period of Britain's involvement in India is a fascinating one.
Flashy, have you read "Kim"?
If it's been years since, read it again. It's the most humane story I know. Where else would the heroes be a mixed-race Irish-Paki kid, a Buddhist monk and an Afghan Muslim? As an IMperial story, it preaches tolerance and scorns ignorance. Fantastic.

I'm also fascintaed by the Enclosures and the early industrial revolution; and how the rich stole so much from the poor.

Posted 3 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

Flashy, have you read "Kim"?

Does the Pope like a balcony?

Of course I have! See also Greenmantle, Buchan's tale of the drag nach osten shortly before and during the initial stages of the first war.

Posted 3 years ago #
CaptainFlashheart - Member

Flashy, have you read "Kim"?

Does the Pope like a balcony?

Of course I have! I suppose that was a period that created some great storytelling, as there were some great stories to tell.

See also Greenmantle, Buchan's tale of the "drang nach osten" shortly before and during the initial stages of the first war.

Posted 3 years ago #
nickc - Member

very very early prehistory, that and the period just before the great war. Ages and ages of peace, a "Golden Era" then all of a sudden the most bloody conflict the world had ever seen, fought by people who had not a clue what they were doing, the Edwardians fighting a 20th century individualistic war...weird.

Posted 3 years ago #
crikey - Member

The late Victorian period; I like the language and the emphasis on manners and decorum as pictured in the Sherlock Holmes stories, as well as the sense of promise in scientific and social terms. The architecture, particularly in towns and cities has never been bettered, and shames the pathetic attempts of the 60s, 70s and onwards.

Posted 3 years ago #
finbar - Member

MIS 5e to the early Holocene.

Hehe, MIS 3 and 4 for me - sea-levels were much lower then so the vast majority of evidence for how people spread across the globe from Africa has been washed away. It would be tres interesting to see how it really happened.

Posted 3 years ago #
noteeth - Member

Hehe, MIS 3 and 4 for me

Currently doing a part-time MA in Palaeolithic Archaeology [as a distraction from the grind of the NHS], following on from my original undergrad degree. Endlessly fascinating - IMO, of course!

Posted 3 years ago #
guido - Member

Palaeolithic archaeology!!!
thats just making stuff up LOL

I personally like the late Iron Age early Roman period.

Posted 3 years ago #
colnagokid - Member

Went on a spur of the moment trip to Egypt a few years ago, sunshine in December sounded good!
Visiting the valleys of kings/queens & the other temples round Luxor totally amazed me, the sheer scale of it all- been fascinated ever since.
Plus local industrial stuff, late 1800's onwards, to see photos of places you know as they develop, I love that

Posted 3 years ago #
JulianA - Member

WWI, WWII, Minoan stuff, Mycenae, Delphi, John Pendlebury, Dudley Churchill Perkins, anything Greek, The Villa Ariadne and any of Dilys Powell's Greek books, Peter Hopkirk (Foreign Devils On The Silk Road anyone?), Francis Younghusband, Sven Hedin, The Great Game, anything by George MacDonald Fraser, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Dalrymple, Tim Mackintosh Smith, SOE, WWII resistance, industrial archaeology, archaeology, Ur, C Leonard Woolley, Pausanias: the list goes on and on and keeps getting longer the more I read!

If I live long enough I might get to read all the books I have and want to have!

Posted 3 years ago #
psychle - Member

I'm curious... has anyone ever done a book along the lines of "A complete History of Everything?"

Covering from the Big Bang right up until now? Would such a beasty be possible (and just how thick would it be?? )

Posted 3 years ago #
furry_marmot - Member

by all means call me a peasant, but I have no real interest in the past beyond trying to learn from mankind's mistakes. I'd far rather change the future than spend time dwelling on other people's previous achievements.

Posted 3 years ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

Civil Wars have always intrigued me - because they are often the saddest of wars. The one's that split families, towns, states and countries in half. The two that interest me most are the American Civil War (more americans killed than in every other conflict in which they've fought put together) and of course the Irish Civil War in the early twenties. Both wars were highly devisive split tore their countries asunder - obviously Ireland still suffers and as for America - the southern states still feel like they're a separate country sometimes.

My grandfather was a member of the IRA and my mum and her brothers have fascinating stories of some of his escapades. Apparently, the house in which they grew up was mentioned in the commons once because The Times was fed a picture of it supposedly burning down as a reprisal by the black and tans for a raid by my grandfather's brigade...until an observant MP saw the gas-lamp burning in the background and pointed out that the only place with gas-lamps back then was Dublin.

I keep meaning to find out a little bit more about the Spanish Civil War too...must read Laurie Lee's "As I walked out...". Of course, a lot of Irish marched off through France and Spain to fight fascism too.

Nice thread Flash...much better than recent nonsense.

Posted 3 years ago #
epicyclo - Member

I'm fascinated by the early bicycle period and amazed at some of the long distance journeys.

Almost all our "modern" metal technology follows from there. It took technology into the home, lead to usable roads (without which, no cars), and helped emancipate women. A new and inventive artisan class was created.

It's also interesting to see how cycling trickled down from the wealthy to the worker changing society a class at a time.

Posted 3 years ago #
aP - Member

I'm interested in fin de siecle, then art and architecture post WW1 leading up to about '35, then post WW2 art and architecture including Festival of Britain up to about Ronan Point.

Posted 3 years ago #
Trampus - Member

'tis true, CF, the "Great Game" leads directly into the "Cold War", leads directly to the present day. Follow the poppy seeds.

Posted 3 years ago #
Travis - Member

Slightly different perspective;

I'd would have liked to have been Marco Polo, to be one of the first people to travel into the unknown at that period of time
If he actually travelled there that is

Posted 3 years ago #
Stoner - Member

My interest is in very early mathmatics - Euclidean geometry. Symmetry and the development of the language of mathmatics.

The main reason being that since Euclid worked in only 2 and 3 dimensions I can keep up with the theories of 2,000 BC. Anything more recent and it blows my head up

Posted 3 years ago #
trailmonkey - Member

I have no real interest in the past beyond trying to learn from mankind's mistakes.

A valid enough reason in itself to study history

I'd far rather change the future than spend time dwelling on other people's previous achievements

Rather morbidly, I find it's the failures and struggles of history that interest me. Without studying these, I don't think it's possible to address your first point.

Posted 3 years ago #
case - Member

psychle take a look at A Little History of the World

At the moment I have been reading a lot about the Habsburg Empire and that whole central Europe late 19th early 20th century world. Fascinating in terms of the politics but also in the cultural output

Posted 3 years ago #
bartat - Member

Flash, I'll second Hopkirk and recommend to you 'First footsteps in East Africa' by Burton (as in Burton and Speke).

I'm fascinated by the group of people, who at huge personal risk set out to explore parts of the world that were completely outside their knowledge. Ostensibly driven by glory, economic or military gain, when you read their own writings they are just consumed by the excitement of discovery.

Posted 3 years ago #
yossarian - Member

Its the european neolithic for me. The introduction of agriculture, the errection of massive temple sites, the beginnings of long distance trade routes and the tracking of the seasons and heavenly bodies by people who were true pioneers. I have long suspected that they had an inate connection to the land and its other inhabitants that we have long since relinquished in favour of 3 piece suites and turkey twizzlers.

Posted 3 years ago #
andrew - Member

Recreationally: Neolithic to Bronze (yep, hippy megalith visitor)

Intellectually: Second christian millennium but mostly for the heretical/millennial/millenarian cults and sects that emerged - so, I guess that would be favourite historical theme as opposed to period. Victorian Britain is quite fascinating for the rich foment of ideas (the utterly bizarre as well as the deeply insightful) and for its ongoing legacy.

Posted 3 years ago #
willard - Member

Whilst I appreciate the Rennaisence period a lot for the intrigue and explosion of creative thinking in Europe, I find feudal Japan hugely fascinating.

Posted 3 years ago #
noteeth - Member

thats just making stuff up

"Piltdown"? Never heard of it...

Posted 3 years ago #
ransos - Member

Neolithic interests me - stuff like Skara Brae and the various henges in the UK. It's quite clear that these people were functioning, civilised societies - 5,000 years ago!

Posted 3 years ago #

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