#historical nonfiction

[shipcestuous-two]

Anne/George Boleyn

I watched a documentary series about the Boleyn family called The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family. I wanted to share a very short clip that talks a little about their relationship and specifically about a sweet dedication that he wrote for her. 

https://geo.dailymotion.com/player.html?video=x8y8i9i&

[gaslightwestern]

Hello! Feel free to answer this privately, but I was wondering if you have any advice or resources for researching history in the old west?

And, also do you have any advice on coming up with a good wild west/ western characters names?

Hey! I hope it's okay that I answer this publicly since it may help others. I could write an essay on this stuff but I'll try to keep it short and not overwhelming.

My advice can be applied to writing historical fiction in general:

Keep notes and more importantly keep track of where you learned things in case you ever need to go back.

Read widely and then narrow in. It's good to have a general sense of the era and different perspectives on historical events before zeroing in.

Books are great but don't feel restricted to them. There's many great online resources like academic journal articles, videos, archives, maps, etc. I've even reached out to museums lol.

Don't feel like you need to know everything before you start writing. You can always go back later on and make changes during the editing process.

Seek out resources on groups of people/perspectives that have been largely ignored in history class and by Hollywood. Your writing will be richer for it.

General Old West Resources If there is a particular topic you are interested in, let me know and I'll see if I can find some specific resources.

Online Legends of America Wide-ranging overview across a variety of topics.

Arizona Ghostriders (Youtube) 400+ videos covering a wide range of Old West topics. Lots of great Myth Vs. Reality videos.

Writing Research - American Frontier (The Wild West) by ghostflowerdreams Some of the links might be dead (try the waybackmachine if this happens), but as you can see there are many Old West resources online. :)

Books Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin Ignore the title. It's more of a collection of interesting stories about people, places, and happenings in the Old West than an exhaustive history of Dodge, Earp, and Masterson. Highly enjoyable read.

National Geographic The Old West Provides an overview of big events with wonderful pictures and illustrations. Warning: the text is dry as the desert itself.

The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West (1840-1900) by Candy Moulton What it says on the tin. This one is more if you want to get into details but I included it since it covers six decades.

The Gilded Age by Joel Shrock Only read this if you're a nerd like me you want a bigger picture of the historical era that the "Wild West" falls into. Includes a list of prices for daily life items.

Academic books and textbooks are another good "general" resource but can be harder to find.

Naming Western Characters Aside from using websites like Top Names of the 1880s and looking up Victorian baby names, I sometimes draw inspiration from lesser known historical figures and biblical names. I'm personally not a fan of cowboy/outlaw name generators but that's an option as well. For surnames, censuses are great since they are broken down by decade and region. Here's one for the 1860 in St. Louis Country.

I hope this helps a bit. Again, feel free to reach out if you need help finding more specific resources, (this goes for anyone reading this). Good luck writing your western! <3

[tikhanovlibrary]

Harukichi Shimoi's The Italian War 50% off

After a brief summer hiatus, we're back and better than ever. https://tikhanovlibrary.com/

As well as a new homepage, we've changed the format on all our books to proper pocketbook sizes. Not only is this easier to carry around/looks better, it also reduces costs which lets us pass the savings onto you!

To celebrate, for this month only we'll be selling Harukichi Shimoi's The Italian War for only $5 USD, a full 50% discount. The Italian War was the first book I translated, and seeing the reception is what really inspired me to try to make it in publishing.

For some of you this is old news, but many of you have probably never heard of this book, and I never had it posted on my website. Harukichi Shimoi was a Japanese adventurer/poet who lived in Italy during the Great War and involved himself very deeply in the struggles of the Italian nation at that time. The Italian War is a collection of correspondences between Shimoi and his friends written towards the end of the war, while Harukichi Shimoi was traveling alongside the Arditi as a war-correspondent.

Recently Shimoi has seen a resurgence in popularity thanks to being featured as a final boss in the popular video game Hearts of Iron IV.

It's a very short, very interesting, little book, and you can order a copy here: https://tikhanovlibrary.com/product/the-italian-war/

[elliepassmore]

The Living Medicine review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: nonfiction, STEM books, medical history, antibacterial resistance

Big thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Coming into the book I didn't really know much about bacteriophages except what I learned in middle school honors bio. This book provided so much interesting information in a very easy to understand way. It mixes the science of bacteriophages with the history of how they came to be used as 'living medicine.' I absolutely flew through this book and greatly enjoyed reading about bacteriophages...even if some of the antibacterial resistant stuff scared me a bit (I knew it was an issue, but I had no idea just how prevalent it is).

The first chapter provides an overview of antibacterial resistance, how it came about, and just how much risk we're taking by continuing to overuse/overprescribe antibiotics. As much as it seems a distant menace, the threat of a post-antibiotic age is very real, and relatively close at hand, if not already here. The last chapter(s) of the book bring this topic back around, but with a more hopeful tone. By the end of the book we know all about phages and their history in medicine, and the final chapters showcase how researchers and doctors are currently working to get them approved for use, providing us with an invaluable weapon against drug-resistant pathogens.

The bulk of the book discusses how bacteriophages came to be on scientists' radars and the huge controversies that sprung up regarding them, both past and present. I found it super interesting to read about how they occur in the natural world and have been acting as antipathogenic agents for far longer than we've realized. They've acted as protectors against cholera in rivers such as the Ganges and the Mtkvari Rivers, but they also exist in soil and the air.

The middle chapters of the book also deal with the lives and careers of the scientists who studied phages. They were initially laughed off, but over time, phages grew to be taken more seriously, particularly by the Pasteur Institute in France and the (now-named) Eliava Institute in Georgia. The bulk of phage research ended up being carried out at the latter, and Georgia ended up being the rising star of phage research. We learn about the people who studied phages, what their lives and careers were like up until that point, and the ways they changed (if at all) afterward. While this was not meant to be a biography, I found I enjoyed learning about the personal lives of the scientists and liked following their careers from students to stars of their field.

Of course, no good dead goes unpunished, and Georgia ended up under Soviet control, thus placing the country and phages at risk of Soviet-era threats, from a breakdown of manufacturing processes to Stalin's purges. However, for the first period of Soviet rule, the Eliava Institute was able to continue running with great success. They continued to produce cholera- and dysentery-fighting phages, they developed phages that could be used during WWII to save battle wounds and that helped prevent epidemics during front-line sieges. There was even a period after the war when things were going okay...but then the Great Terror came and the Institute nearly fell apart. Phage research likely would've been almost entirely lost if not for the perseverance of the scientists and doctors at the Eliava Institute, both during the purges and later on during the Georgian Civil War.

In part because it was Soviet medicine and in part because a lack of regulations in the early phage period resulted in bad or no outcomes, phage medicine was laughed off in the West even into the 2000s. Even as drug-resistant superbugs were starting to emerge and develop faster resistance to new antibiotics. Again, it was the persevering phage scientists who ensured the research continued and bit by bit phages were (re)introduced into Western medicine until it was deemed okay to use them in lieu of antibiotics for food--apparently a lot of food products are treated with phage sprays to prevent/get rid of infectious pathogens. Once that hurdle was crossed, some of those same scientists began working toward phages for human medicine...and then they started getting approved for human use.

As someone who is allergic to some antibiotics and freaked out by the side effects of others, I'm glad for personal reasons that we're starting to look at effective alternative therapies. On a larger scale, we're starting to look at bacteriophages right when we need to and if clinical trials continue and phages start reaching the market, we have a very real chance of aborting the antibacterial resistant threat before it really consumes us.

[braywright]

Over My Dead Body: A Look Into America's (Literally) Buried Past

Most people associate cemeteries with either a dead loved one or the opening scenes of horror movies, meaning most people either find them sad or creepy. Sometimes both. But my family never went to cemeteries and I barely watched horror movies, so I only ever thought of them as a very maintained garden we occasionally drove by. Later, when I went to a small college with a cemetery right by campus, I began to associate them with cool walks on Fall days and the unfortunate passing of my roommate's pet fish. Long story short, I find cemeteries interesting.

Greg Melville seems to share my curiosity toward cemeteries, though he has been to a lot more of them. Every chapter in Over My Dead Body is about a cemetery he personally visited and experienced, often against the wishes of his less interested family. Rather than view cemeteries as a place of sorrow or supernatural danger, Melville sees them as a literal connection to our past. Each grave marker is not only a monument to the deceased, but also a time capsule of the period that created it.

Going in roughly chronological order, Melville traces the history of America. He starts with Jamestown and Plymouth, moves on to slavery and the Civil War, covers the early natural movements, documents the rise of the funeral industry, and examines his personal feelings toward the modern green death movement. He does a great job of weaving together the large, complex history of our country with the niche, focused history of our cultural death practices. And like any good historian, he never shies away from horrifying truths of America's past. He shines a light on often African American cemeteries of the South and dissects the Indian burial ground trope.

The book does jump around a bit in time, but I can't fault Melville for that. It's hard to explain complex histories in a purely linear fashion. And the small time jumps are usually used to tie the historical to the present, reminding his readers of why the topic is significant to us. Honestly, it's kind of amazing what he manages to cover in less than 300 pages.

It's a great book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in history, even if they aren't particularly interested in the history of death. I would especially recommend it to fans of Caitlin Doughty, who runs the YouTube channel Ask a Mortician. And vice versa. If you like this book, you'll probably like her channel. The history of death and our methods of dealing with it are fascinating.

10/10 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[peonybookblog]

I’m reading The Bright Ages right now and really enjoying it (if you’ve read the Goodreads reviews you’ll know it has its detractors, but I think it’s an interesting way of looking at things, and I love when I can tell an author or authors had fun writing a book)! I also look longingly at Ravenna whenever I’m in at a book store that has it because I love the cover, and after starting The Bright Ages, I might finally have to buy it! Not the reading theme I had in mind for myself this spring, but here I am.

[prideprejudce]

The Ocean is terrifying!

Here are some book recommendations to prove it!

[leannareneehieber]

HELLO!

(Yes, this is me as Sarah Winchester for Halloween. Also, yes, this is pretty much my general wardrobe give or take a lace layer. Yes, I wrote a long chapter in this book about Sarah Winchester because I really love her and find her to be fundamentally misunderstood.)

I just wanted to drop by and say it's still Women's History Month and it's still a GREAT time to read about historical women and how their stories resonate with us today. BONUS: you can do this through ghost lore! Here's how!

A HAUNTED HISTORY OF INVISIBLE WOMEN: TRUE STORIES OF AMERICA'S GHOSTS examines women's history by using ghost stories; unpacking how we talk about women, alive and dead. Available wherever books are sold, in paperback, audio and digital! Retailer links here!

Word-of-mouth is so important for books like ours, so if this book interests you, could you please share? Thanks so much and Happy Haunting!

[swampthingking]

the thought of cracking the spine of a book makes kevin nauseous. he like opens it just enough to see the words and holds the book at such uncomfortable angles to read— anything to keep the book pristine and intact. he does not let people borrow his books because he is a control freak (as a term of endearment) and does not trust them to take care of them the way he does.

and andrew is the complete opposite, cracking the spine as soon as he opens it. he annotates in pen. he dog ears the pages because who the fuck has time to find a bookmark. he throws books out of anger. he throws them at aaron for fun. he lets them get smashed and torn in his bag. he always keeps them, he just prefers them to look like they’ve been read.

[sessayyys-corner]

GOMBURZA (2023) - MMFF REVIEW

“Vivan Los Filipinos. Mabuhay ang mga Filipino.”

This film is the story of the three martyr priests. Three Filipinos who were part of the native community who were once under Spanish colonial rule and oppression. If you have been updated, or have been listening in your elementary Philippine history classes, it’s GOMBURZA, not MAJOHA. 

Despite it being produced by Jesuit Communications, the film was able to execute (No pun intended) a factual depiction on a turning point of Philippine history without overused emphasis of religion. It was able to capture how the Catholic faith was used as an instrument of oppression during the Spanish colonial period (This was especially ironic considering how return of the religious orders, including the Jesuits, were the reason for the silencing of the secularization movement). What also impressed me is that almost every single detail in the movie, even in the dialogue, came from actual events in history. It is evident that enough research was made to make this film as accurate as possible.

The film’s cinematography was able to capture life during the period whether it was amongst the Filipino liberals, the Spanish priests, the Governor-Generals, or even the three main characters in our story. With every other scenes of the film shifting from light to dark atmospheres, this symbolized the reality of Spanish colonization — warmth, acceptance, and friendship amongst fellow Filipinos; and ruthlessness, inhumanity, and oppression from the Spaniards (and even traitors). Adding emphasis to GomBurZa’s (2023) cinematography is its sound design. Just by feeling the cinema floor rumbling and the deeply-voiced voiceover in the film’s ending segment, this film can come to a point where it deserves its own IMAX screening.

Dante Rivero and Cedrick Juan showcase over-the-top stellar performances as Padre Mariano Gomez (played by Rivero) and Padre Jose Burgos (played by Juan). Both actors have embodied their roles, not only due to the fact that they, especially Juan, share a slight resemblance with the real life Mariano Gomez and Jose Burgos. It is also because that they were able to portray their emotions from having a friendly conversation, to later condemning their unfair arrest, trial, and death.

Pepe Diokno's time and effort in conducting research and including every important detail in the production is evident in the whole film itself, as it was not only ACTUALLY based on true events, but was able to evoke emotion and outrage, just like how the Filipinos of the 1870s did at the time.

With all of this said, GomBurZa (2023) is not only a history lesson, but also an immersion into the Spanish colonial rule and the lives of the three priests. Being a history nerd and a cinephile who has since learned the names of the three martyr priests as a little girl in elementary, I can definitely say that this was one of the only film experiences where I had witnessed the breaking of the fourth wall. The whole time I was in the cinema, it felt like I was part of their conversation, like I was a witness to their lives and execution.

What also added to this experience was that I watched the film on Rizal Day, and what better way to commemorate our national hero's contribution to Philippine independence than to learn about where it all started? Like what I always preached to my family:

Without GomBurZa, there will be no Jose Rizal. Without Jose Rizal, there would be no Andres Bonifacio. Without all of them, the Philippines and the Filipino would not exist.

GomBurZa (2023) is a cathartic experience that is definitely for the family. This film is a testament to the importance of appreciating and learning our history. Hopefully it serves as a reminder of our collective past, national identity, and the importance of our freedom.

[Metro Manila Film Festival 2023]

(my film review of "GomBurZa" is also available on letterboxd!)

[a-typical]

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine - Ilan Pappé (2006)

[shipcestuous-two]

I have such a big place in my heart for Caligula and Drusilla. He has such deep affection for her, trusted her more than anyone else. He may not be the nicest guy in history, but I think he genuinely loved Drusilla so much and she brought him a lot of stability in his life, until she died 😭

He loved her so much!

[aidanchaser]

me: im not going to do absurd research for this new fic im just going to fucking write it based on vibes and fun okay

me, 6 months later: 3 tabs on early paris fashion houses, an entire collection of getty film clips of post wwi paris, three articles on 1900s paris fashion, two tabs on french mafias of the turn of the century and criminal activity over the decades, four maps of paris, images of the seine during wwi...

[isfjmel-phleg]

This is a personal post.

My younger self found Dear America too depressing because almost all the books featured a death, but I loved The Royal Diaries, which also featured a lot of death, including some pretty tragic stuff (the Anastasia diary was one of my favorites). Doesn't really make sense. Is it less depressing if it happened in real life and therefore has to be part of the story, rather than a fictional death contrived to add obligatory Drama to the narrative?

[elliepassmore]

Women in the Valley of Kings review

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: archaeology, Egyptology, ancient Egypt, women's history

Big thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book offers an interesting overview of the women who shaped Egyptology and helped ensure its continuation as a discipline. All but one of the women was British, and the one who wasn't was American, so Sheppard does note that even when women stepped into the field it remained very Euro-centric. Initially, a lot of the women who joined Egyptology did so because they had the money to go on a European tour or a change-of-air health tour and found what was going on in Egypt interesting. This means that the field skewed definitively toward wealthier people.

I enjoyed learning about the women and how their contributions often weren't as obvious as men's (i.e., they weren't the ones doing the digging) but were as important and arguably more so. Many of the women here were integral for ensuring the proper recording, sorting, and preservation of artifacts, not to mention were often involved in processes like getting money for the projects to continue.

It was interesting to see how the field changed and how for a period of time it was relatively normal to see women on Egyptian archaeological sites before a misogynistic turn in the 1920s/30s. I also found it interesting to see just how interconnected the field was. Everybody seemed to know everybody. Flinders Petrie and James Breasted were very involved and knew a lot of the women mentioned in this book. Likewise, a lot of the women in this book knew each other, and some of them were even partway responsible for introducing each other to the field.

My main issue with this book is that I think the chapters are too long for how little they say. I think a lot of them could have been shorter or with editing could have cut down on some of the fluff to increase the amount of information provided on the women and still be the same length.

Overall this was a pretty interesting overview on women in the field of Egyptology. I enjoyed seeing how the field changed over time and how the women engaged in different activities that nonetheless were integral to the survival of the field and to artifacts.

[braywright]

The Crusades by Zoé Oldenbourg: Informative, but Exhausting

The Crusades by Zoe Oldenbourg is a 1966 nonfiction text about the Medieval crusades. And given how beaten up the book was when I first got it and the kind of book store I found it at, I assume this copy was from one of the first couple of printings. I picked it up mostly because my history classes never talked about the crusades. My teachers often hopped directly from the fall of Rome to rise of the Mongols. I figured with my love of history and reading habits, this is would a quick and easy way to learn about the crusades.

I was very wrong.

I bought this book and started reading it in my freshman year of college. I finally finished it two months after graduating college. Let me phrase that a different way. It took me over three years to finish reading this book. Not because the book is incredibly long (though it does manage to squeeze 700 pages in the size of a regular thriller novel) but because it was such a slog to get through.

The prose was detailed but incredibly dry at times. Most of the characters had the same or similar names, which made it nearly impossible to skim through. The writing style also assumes that you have some prior knowledge about the geography of Europe and the Middle East. It will just list place after place after place, accompanied only occasionally by small, blurry, black-and-white maps. The author did include family trees at the back, but they are upside down and awkwardly structured. And given the complex political situation at the time, this made it all very hard to follow who was in control of what area at what time. (Also, the index is completely wrong).

I did enjoy some aspects of reading this book. But they were few and far between. In general, I would advise readers to pick up a modern book or find a documentary crusades. They would likely be easier to follow, or at least more interesting. I will hold onto this book, but only because it is cool to own a book this old, not because I am planning to re-read it.

⭐⭐⭐ 3/10