#extensive bibliographies

[health-products-mns3]

SALUTE TO AMERICA 250

An Immersive Journey Through American History: A Review of "SALUTE TO AMERICA 250"pen_spark

With the United States celebrating its 250th anniversary, I was eager to find a resource that captured the rich tapestry of the nation's history. That's when I stumbled upon "SALUTE TO AMERICA 250." This unique product wasn't just a book; it was a multimedia experience that transported me on a captivating journey through the centuries.

A Feast for the Eyes and the Mind

"SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" goes beyond the traditional textbook format. Instead of dry text and static images, it boasts a visually stunning coffee table book filled with high-resolution photographs, historical paintings, and captivating infographics. These visuals bring history to life, allowing you to immerse yourself in different eras and appreciate the evolution of American culture, fashion, and landscapes.

SALUTE TO AMERICA 250 Book

Beyond the Images: Engaging Narratives

The captivating visuals are complemented by engaging narratives. The book doesn't just showcase historical events; it delves into the stories of the people who shaped the nation. From the Founding Fathers and revolutionary heroes to inventors, social activists, and cultural icons, "SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" offers a well-rounded perspective on American history.

Interactive Learning Through Multimedia

What truly sets "SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" apart is its interactive multimedia component. The product comes bundled with a code that grants access to a wealth of online resources. These include interactive timelines that allow you to explore historical events in a visually appealing format, along with primary source documents like letters, speeches, and photographs. There are even video clips featuring historians providing commentary and additional insights. This multimedia approach caters to diverse learning styles and keeps the exploration of American history engaging and interactive.

A Celebration of Diversity and Inclusion

"SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" is refreshingly diverse and inclusive. It goes beyond the typical "founding fathers" narrative, showcasing the contributions of figures from various ethnicities, genders, and walks of life. Whether it's highlighting the abolitionist work of Harriet Tubman or the technological innovations of Katherine Johnson, the product celebrates the rich tapestry of experiences that make up American history. This broader perspective allows viewers to appreciate the contributions of often-overlooked individuals and fosters a more complete understanding of American progress.

A Treasure Trove for Learners of All Ages

"SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" is a product that transcends age limitations. While it's an excellent resource for students, its engaging content and interactive features make it equally enjoyable for adults interested in brushing up on their history knowledge. Parents can utilize it for homeschooling purposes, while teachers can incorporate it into their lesson plans to make history come alive for their students. The product's adaptability caters to a wide range of learners, making it a valuable tool for anyone interested in exploring the diverse stories that weave together the American narrative.

A Gateway to Further Exploration

"SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" doesn't just provide information; it ignites curiosity. By delving into the lives of these prominent figures and exploring pivotal historical events, it leaves readers wanting to learn more. The product includes extensive bibliographies for further exploration, allowing users to delve deeper into the individual stories that captivated them. This gateway effect is one of the product's greatest strengths, encouraging a lifelong love of learning and historical exploration.

In conclusion, "SALUTE TO AMERICA 250" is more than just a product; it's a portal into the past. With its stunning visuals, engaging narratives, multimedia resources, and diverse representation, it paints a rich and vibrant picture of American history. Whether you're a seasoned history buff or a curious novice, this product offers a captivating and enriching learning experience.

#SALUTE TO AMERICA 250 #An Immersive Journey #American History #United States celebrating its 250th anniversary #rich tapestry of the nation's history #extensive bibliographies

[officialpenisenvy]

the illinois politician?

omg 😭😭😭 alice palmer the dead girl from 2008 indie horror movie lake mungo

#she is JUST like me fr. see my extensive bibliography on threesomes with adults twice my age and also on corpses&suicidal ideation.

[kvothes]

i spent two days straight reading the entirety of a 400k word count fic and lord, when i tell you i am book hungover—

#one of those ones that’s so extensively researched you half-expect a damn bibliography #anyway it ripped my heart out i’m a shell of a man #personal #fic

[dragonomatopoeia]

you know as the spreadsheets post does the rounds again i keep finding myself thinking "y'know i feel like I've lost this kind of energy and drive as I've aged" and then i look over to the comics sociogram/conspiracy board/what have you that i'm in the process of nailing to my wall and actually. same as it ever was

#or yknow the extensive bibliography i put together for my comics fic that includes investigative coverage of Sewer Systems

[chicago-geniza]

It would be very funny if I did take one of Agnes's classes because by all accounts she's awful about disability accommodations and I would translate it out of bureaucrat-kantselyarit and make it Her Philosophical Problem. She hates the common good? Well let's attack this problem from the side and start with a critique of utilitarian bioethics and go from there, everyone in this house hates Peter Singer. By the end of this argument you will let me type my notes on a computer and find me a little bit attractive

#philosopher polycule tag #there have been 2 times when I didn't talk all term except to tear someone apart for like 30 uninterrupted minutes with #an extensive bibliography and one of them was a critique of the institution of marriage and one of them was #a critique of Peter Singer I can take Agnes lol

[carmeloffie]

guy who gets so emotional when a book has all the nonfiction text features a girl could ever hope for

#THIS BOOK HAS THREE MAPS TWO TIMELINES (ONE HAS A COMPARISON BETWEEN SOURCES) AN INDEX A FULL BIBLIOGRAPHY AND EXTENSIVE TEXT NOTES #LIKE WHAG MORE COULD I EVER ASK FOR #samael speaks

[swankpalanquin]

only twelve pages into this book and if it weren't a library one i would be underlining like every sentence

#this book has everything: smashing of written vs oral tradition dichotomy; connection between language and poetry; #listing the latin antiphons that influenced the advent lyrics; extensive bibliography; tolkien #missing old english hours (again)...

[soc-x-tcoa]

References

Bardugo, L. (2015). Six of Crows. New York: Henry Holt And Company.

Bardugo, L. (2016). Crooked Kingdom. New York: Henry Holt And Company.

Lawler, R. (n.d.). Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo book review - Fantasy Book Review. [online] www.fantasybookreview.co.uk. Available at: https://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Leigh-Bardugo/Six-of-Crows.html.

Poe, E.A. (1846). The Cask Of Amontillado. [online] Edgar Allan Poe. Available at: https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/the_cask_of_amontillado.pdf.

Saxton, A. (2017). Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism The Devil’ s in the Details: A Characterization of Montresor in Poe’ s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. Journal of Literary Criticism, [online] 10(1), p.16. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1187&context=criterion.

Sheehan, J. (2015). ‘Six Of Crows’ Is A Well-Turned Heist Tale. [online] NPR.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2015/10/01/443413805/six-of-crows-is-a-well-turned-heist-tale.

W, I. (n.d.). Book Review: The Cask of Amontillado | PPLD.org. [online] ppld.org. Available at: https://ppld.org/book-reviews/cask-amontillado.

#english extension assignment #reference list #bibliography

[graysoncritic]

A (Negative) Analysis of Tom Taylor's Nightwing Run - Introduction

Introduction Who is Dick Grayson? What Went Wrong? Dick's Characterization What Went Wrong? Barbara Gordon What Went Wrong? Bludhaven (Part 1, Part 2) What Went Wrong? Melinda Lin Grayson What Went Wrong? Bea Bennett What Went Wrong? Villains Conclusion Bibliography

I want to start this essay by admitting I’m actually embarrassed by its length. Why did I spend so much time on something I dislike? The truth is, I did not begin this with the intention of creating such an extensive, formal study of the Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing run and how it reflects the wider problems with DC’s handling of one of their most iconic characters. I was just trying to organize the thoughts that came up during discussions with other Dick Grayson fans. Before I knew it, I had enough material, enough desire to challenge myself, and enough frustrations to vent to properly create this monstrosity.

I did not begin this Nightwing run determined to hate it. In fact, I was ready to love it. As Taylor promoted the run before the first issue was officially released, I was so excited for it. As I read short interviews where he discussed Heartless, I could not wait to have a new, incredible villain. Foolishly, I believed Taylor when he said he loved Dick Grayson. 

Needless to say, I was disappointed. Then frustrated. Then angry. The beginning of any story is a period where writer and reader form an indirect bond, and as the story progresses, so do the highs and the lows of said relationship. As such, a reader’s tolerance for negative factors will either increase or decrease depending on their experience up until that point.

In other words, if the writer fails to earn the reader’s trust and instead takes their attention for granted, even seemingly insignificant details become irritating in a way they would not be if presented in a better story. In such scenarios, the reader can no longer overlook those minor moments because there’s little good to balance them out with. It is a death by a thousand cuts. 

In the case of Taylor and Redondo’s run, along with those thousand cuts are also broken bones, internal bleeding, head trauma, and severed limbs. A weak plot, simplistic morality that undermines the story’s stated themes, and, most importantly, a careless disregard for Dick Grayson and everything he stands for utterly destroyed my enjoyment of this series. 

It is still too early to tell what sort of impact Taylor’s (as of time of writing, still unfinished) run will have on Dick Grayson’s future portrayals. But just because we cannot predict its long term significance, it does not mean we cannot critique it. Currently, we simply lack the benefit of hindsight. 

If this essay were to have a thesis, then it is this: Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s Nightwing not only fails to tell a compelling Nightwing story, but it also exemplifies a cynical, self-serving, and shallow approach to storytelling that prioritizes creating hollow viral moments to boost the creators’ own online popularity over crafting a good story, honoring the character in their care, and respecting his fans – fans who have, historically, often been women, queer folk, and other individuals who felt othered by a cisheteronormative patriarchal society. Taylor and Redondo’s thoughtless and superficial narrative not only undermine the socially progressive ideals they supposedly care for by propagating a cisheteronormative patriarchal worldview, but they also demonstrate a lack of love and understanding for the character in their care. At best, Taylor and Redondo have no interest in getting to know Dick Grayson, nor any respect for their predecessor and their contributions to this character. At worst, they despise Dick so much that they wish to reinvent him into something completely different, tossing away everything that was special to his fans in order to appeal to a readership that never cared about Dick Grayson. 

I structured this essay so that, hopefully, each part will build on the ones that came prior. Naturally, because all aspects of a story are interlaced, there will be overlaps between each of the sections. As it may have become obvious from this introduction, I’ll be focusing primarily on the writing of this run. That is not to say that I will not address the art, but writing is the field I know most about, and so it feels only fair to focus my critique on that. 

I hope that by the end of this essay, I will have successfully proved that this run’s mishandling of different narrative elements betray a cynical appropriation of progressive ideology and a disregard and disinterest in what makes Dick Grayson so special to so many people. This is an attitude that is present within DC Comics’ current ethos as a whole.

Now, who is this essay for? Honestly, it’s probably not for Tom Taylor fans. I do not believe I’ll be persuading anyone with my writing, and, to be quite honest, neither would I say I wish to do so. Taylor and Redondo’s run has won numerous awards and has many dedicated fans who adore it for what it is. If that is you, then I’m glad. I wish I could be among your numbers. I wish more than anything that I could love this story. But I do not, and I know many others agree with me, and it is to them, I think, that I’m speaking to. As Taylor’s run is praised to heaven and back, I needed a safe space to voice my thoughts. This essay became this safe space. And to others who also feel unseen by the constant praise this run is getting, I think this could speak to you, as well. To be cliche and cringe, this will hopefully let you know that you are not alone. 

Finally, I want to acknowledge some people whose thoughts greatly contributed to the creation of this essay. For around three years now I’ve been having wonderful interactions with other Dick Grayson’s fans, and those discussions were not only incredibly fun and cathartic, but also provided great insight into what needed to be included in this essay. My best friend especially gave me a space to vent when I got frustrated, and my original outline borrowed a lot from the messages I sent her, as well as notes I took for our discussions.  

I’ll also be directly quoting four different Dick Grayson fans (identified as Dick Grayson Fans A, B, and C in order to allow them to keep their anonymity). Their analyses were so critical to the formation of my thesis and for a lot of what will be addressed in this essay that I actually feel like they deserve co-credit in this essay. Dick Grayson Fan B especially deserves a shoutout in helping me track down a couple of pages used as supporting evidence, as I knew what pages I was looking for but was having a hard time remembering in which issue they were located. I’m quoting them with permission, and crediting their ideas and contributions whenever relevant. 

Now, without any further ado, let’s get started. 

#nightwing #dick grayson #anti tom taylor

[pathetic-gamer]

Pentiment's Complete Bibliography, with links to some hard-to-find items:

I've seen some people post screenshots of the game's bibliography, but I hadn't found a plain text version (which would be much easier to work from), so I put together a complete typed version - citation style irregularities included lol. I checked through the full list and found that only four of the forty sources can't be found easily through a search engine. One has no English translation and I'm not even close to fluent enough in German to be able to actually translate an academic article, so I can't help there. For the other three (a museum exhibit book, a master's thesis, and portions of a primary source that has not been entirely translated into English), I tracked down links to them, which are included with their entries on the list.

If you want to read one of the journal articles but can't access it due to paywalls, try out 12ft.io or the unpaywall browser extension (works on Firefox and most chromium browsers). If there's something you have interest in reading but can't track down, let me know, and I can try to help! I'm pretty good at finding things lmao

Okay, happy reading, love you bye

Beach, Alison I. Women as Scribes: Book Production and Monastic Reform in Twelfth-Century Bavaria. Cambridge Univeristy Press, 2004.

Berger, Jutta Maria. Die Geschichterder Gastfreundschaft im hochmittel alterlichen Monchtum: die Cistercienser. Akademie Verlag GmbH, 1999. [No translation found.]

Blickle, Peter. The Revolution of 1525. Translated by Thomas A. Brady, Jr. and H.C. Erik Midelfort. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985.

Brady, Thomas A., Jr. “Imperial Destinies: A New Biography of the Emperor Maximilian I.” The Journal of Modern History, vol 62, no. 2., 1990. pp.298-314.

Brandl, Rainer. “Art or Craft: Art and the Artist in Medieval Nuremberg.” Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg 1300-1550. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1986. [LINK]

Byars, Jana L., “Prostitutes and Prostitution in Late Medieval Bercelona.” Masters Theses. Western Michigan University, 1997. [LINK]

Cashion, Debra Taylor. “The Art of Nikolaus Glockendon: Imitation and Originality in the Art of Renaissance Germany.” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, vol 2, no. 1-2, 2010.

de Hamel, Christopher. A History of Illuminated Manuscripts. Phaidon Press Limited, 1986.

Eco, Umberto. The Name of the Rose. Translated by William Weaver. Mariner Books, 2014.

Eco, Umberto. Baudolino. Translated by William Weaver. Mariner Books, 2003.

Fournier, Jacques. “The Inquisition Records of Jacques Fournier.” Translated by Nancy P. Stork. Jan Jose Univeristy, 2020. [LINK]

Geary, Patrick. “Humiliation of Saints.” In Saints and their cults: studies in religious sociology, folklore, and history. Edited by Stephen Wilson. Cambridge University Press, 1985. pp. 123-140

Harrington, Joel F. The Faithrul Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.

Hertzka, Gottfired and Wighard Strehlow. Grosse Hildegard-Apotheke. Christiana-Verlag, 2017.

Hildegard von Bingen. Physica. Edited by Reiner Hildebrandt and Thomas Gloning. De Gruyter, 2010.

Julian of Norwich. Revelations of Divine Love. Translated by Barry Windeatt. Oxford Univeristy Press, 2015.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. Routledge, 2017.

Kerr, Julie. Monastic Hospitality: The Benedictines in England, c.1070-c.1250. Boudell Press, 2007.

Kieckhefer, Richard. Forbidden rites: a necromancer’s manual of the fifteenth century. Sutton, 1997.

Kuemin, Beat and B. Ann Tlusty, The World of the Tavern: Public Houses in Early Modern Europe. Routledge, 2017.

Ilner, Thomas, et al. The Economy of Duerrnberg-Bei-Hallein: An Iron Age Salt-mining Center in the Austrian Alps. The Antiquaries Journal, vol 83, 2003. pp. 123-194

Lang, Benedek. Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008

Lindeman, Mary. Medicine and Society in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Lowe, Kate. “’Representing’ Africa: Ambassadors and Princes from Christian Africa to Renaissance Italy and Portugal, 1402-1608.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Sixth Series, vol 17, 2007. pp. 101-128

Meyers, David. “Ritual, Confession, and Religion in Sixteenth-Century Germany.” Archiv fuer Reformationsgenshichte, vol. 89, 1998. pp. 125-143.

Murat, Zuleika. “Wall paintings through the ages: the medieval period (Italy, twelfth to fifteenth century).” Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, vol 23, no. 191. Springer, October 2021. pp. 1-27.

Overty, Joanne Filippone. “The Cost of Doing Scribal Business: Prices of Manuscript Books in England, 1300-1483.” Book History 11, 2008. pp. 1-32.

Page, Sophie. Magic in the Cloister: Pious Motives, Illicit Interests, and Occullt Approaches to the Medieval Universe. The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2013.

Park, Katharine. “The Criminal and the Saintly Body: Autopsy and Dissectionin Renaissance Italy.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol 47, no. 1, Spring 1994. pp. 1-33.

Rebel, Hermann. Peasant Classes: The Bureaucratization of Property and Family Relations under Early Habsburg Absolutism, 1511-1636. Princeton University Press, 1983.

Rublack, Ulinka. “Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Female Body in Early Modern Germany.” Past & Present,vol. 150, no. 1, February 1996.

Salvador, Matteo. “The Ethiopian Age of Exploration: Prester John’s Discovery of Europe, 1306-1458.” Journal of World History, vol. 21, no. 4, 2011. pp.593-627.

Sangster, Alan. “The Earliest Known Treatise on Double Entry Bookkeeping by Marino de Raphaeli.” The Accounting Historians Journal, vol. 42, no. 2, 2015. pp. 1-33.

Throop, Priscilla. Hildegarde von Bingen’s Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and Healing. Healing Arts Press, 1998.

Usher, Abbott Payson. “The Origins of Banking: The Brimitive Bank of Deposit, 1200-1600.” The Economic History Review, vol. 4, no. 4. 1934. pp.399-428.

Waldman, Louis A. “Commissioning Art in Florence for Matthias Corvinus: The Painter and Agent Alexander Formoser and his Sons, Jacopo and Raffaello del Tedesco.” Italy and Hungary: Humanism and Art in the Early Renaissance. Edited by Peter Farbaky and Louis A. Waldman, Villa I Tatti, 2011. pp.427-501.

Wendt, Ulrich. Kultur and Jagd: ein Birschgang durch die Geschichte. G. Reimer, 1907.

Whelan, Mark. “Taxes, Wagenburgs and a Nightingale: The Imperial Abbey of Ellwangen and the Hussite Wars, 1427-1435.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 72, no. 4, 2021, pp.751-777.

Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Yardeni, Ada. The Book of Hebrew Script: History, Palaeography, Script Styles, Calligraphy & Design. Tyndale House Publishers, 2010.

#pentiment #early modern history

[transmutationisms]

maybe it’s because I’m a newish follower but I haven’t seen your posts on zotero…. say more pls… how do u make use of it… what are your methods/systems to maintaining it or coming back to it? I’ve only heard of it mentioned once by a professor I admire (I asked how do u keep track of all the articles and texts lol) but then completely forgot to actually look into it.

>:) zotero is a free* and open-source citation manager, meaning it's designed to help you keep track of books, articles, podcasts, archival material, &c &c that you may be wading through for whatever reason. the basic structure is just a library of metadata: authors, publication info, and so forth. you can organise this into however many folders and subfolders as you might want, and (assuming you make sure the metadata are accurate) zotero also allows you to generate a bibliography from any of these folders with 1 click. also, it gives you a convenient notes function so that your notes are all attached to the material they correspond to (& are text-searchable), and when you use it as an app downloaded onto your computer (which you should), it automatically syncs with the web library, meaning your work is basically cloud-backed or whatever. you should also download the zotero web connector extension onto your browser; then, when you're looking at an article, book, or webpage online, you just click the extension and it'll let you put all of the metadata into your zotero library. i have no idea how people do large amounts of reading on any topic without a citation manager tbh. zotero.org to change your life forever

*u get a limited amount of storage for free, but the paid storage plans are at p reasonable rates (comes to 10 USD/month for unlimited, and if you upgrade in the middle of a yearly pay cycle they pro-rate it)

[dresshistorynerd]

Do you know of a good way to find reliable reading lists/bibliographies for specific historical periods? I’m currently reading James Laver’s book and want to delve deeper into Renaissance and Victorian fashion afterwards.

I've been relying on a reading list by a retired dress history professor of the Helsinki University! It's very extensive and though it has some leaning on Finnish history, almost all the books there are in English and about general European/western fashion or with an English/French focus.

@clove-pinks also had gathered a reading list of good books that are free on Internet Archive, some of which fit your area of interest! Generally I would always check if Internet Archives has a book you want to read, if it's not in your local library.

I have also made a post about how I do research into dress history, where I mention both of these reading lists too among all the other resources I tend to use.

Also when determining weather a book might be a reliable source or not, a good way to check is to look up the writer. Does the writer have any credentials or background in history, art history, dress history etc? I've read book by fashion journalists, and it was pretty clear they didn't have a very deep understanding of the historical context (it was general enough that it was still fine even if there were some questionable parts). Especially with dress history another aspect is the age of the publication. It's such a new field that older books are necessarily a bit outdated at least. Older publications that have been made by well credited writers are still very much valuable (like books by Janet Arnold), but especially if it's several decades old and the writer doesn't have a relevant background, it's probably not very reliable.

#resources #answers #research

[cryptotheism]

Oh by the way, I don't know if anyone has asked this specifically, but given the book you're writing is introducing people without foreknowledge of it to the history of the occult as much as possible, will there be recommendations of what to read if you're interested in specific fields within that or is it like... You once said about a different text that when it sites something it's a sign you need to stop and read that, so will what's referenced in and of itself point to where to look next for various topics

My bibliography will be extensive, and I will be recommending that readers check out the texts cited!

[handweavers]

may I ask what you're researching? I'm very intrigued now!

i'm researching the history of textile manufacturing and trade in kano (a city in northern nigeria, one of the original hausa kingdoms) during the sultanate of kano and fulani rule under the sokoto caliphate from the late 1700s to about the 1880s, just before the british conquered the region. kano was a centre of trade on the trans-saharan routes for centuries and 'the' centre of cloth production in west africa for a very long time, with the majority of the city devoted to extensive cotton production, spinning, dyeing, and weaving (as well as leatherworking, agriculture, and the slave trade, among others). cloth from kano was traded across africa and into europe, west asia, india, and onward.

because of my background in weaving and craft, i'm not only studying the history of the trade and production but the actual production itself; as in, i am trying to figure out exactly how they processed the cotton, dyed it, wove it, what equipment and techniques were used in this process, etc. and understand how these relate to the economic and cultural history of the region <3

if you're interested in my bibliography so far i uploaded the list for viewing here (and if you want any of the documents and don't have access to them via jstor or whatever send me a private mssg and i can send them to you)

#i actually have more readings i havent added to the list yet but im lazy rn ill update it later #a couple of the works cited are physical books so i cant send pdfs of them but most are just pdfs lol

[jeannereames]

I see you talk a lot about historiography! What would you consider the most important development of Alexander’s historiography?

What the Hell is Historiography? (And why you should care)

This question and the next one in the queue are both going to be fun for me. 😊

First, some quick definitions for those who are new to me and/or new to reading history:

Historiography = “the history of the histories” (E.g., examination of the sources themselves rather than the subject of them…a topic that typically incites yawns among undergrads but really fires up the rest of us, ha.)

primary sources = the evidence itself—can be texts, art, records, or material evidence. For ancient history, this specifically means the evidence from the time being studied.

secondary sources = writings by historians using the primary evidence, whether meant for a “regular” audience (non-specialists) or academic discussions with citations, footnotes, and bibliography (sometimes referred to as “full scholarly apparatus”).

For ancient history, we also sometimes get a weird middle category…they’re not modern sources but also not from the time under discussion, might even be from centuries after the fact. Consider the medieval Byzantine “encyclopedia” called the Suda (sometimes Suidas), which contains information from now lost ancient sources, finalized c. 900s CE. To give a comparison, imagine some historian a thousand years from now studying Geoffry Chaucer from the 1300s, using an entry about him in some kid’s 1975 World Book Encyclopedia that contains information that had been lost by his day.

This middle category is especially important for Alexander, since even our primary sources all date hundreds of years after his death. Yes, those writers had access to contemporary accounts, but they didn’t just “cut-and-paste.” They editorialized and selected from an array of accounts. Worse, they rarely tell us who they used. FIVE surviving primary Alexander histories remain, but he’s mentioned in a wide (and I do mean wide) array of other surviving texts. Alas this represents maybe a quarter of what was actually written about him in antiquity.

OKAY, so …

The most important historiographic changes in Alexander studies!

I’m going to pick three, or really two-and-a-half, as the last is an extension of the second.

FIRST …decentering Arrian as the “good” source as opposed to the so-called “vulgate” of Diodoros-Curtius-Justin as “bad” sources.

Many earlier Alexander historians (with a few important exceptions [Fritz Schachermeyr]) considered Arrian to be trustworthy, Plutarch moderately trustworthy if short, and the rest varying degrees of junk. W. W. Tarn was especially guilty of this. The prevalence of his view over Schachermeyr’s more negative one owed to his popularity/ease of reading, and the fact he wrote on Alexander for volume 6 of the first edition (1927) of the Cambridge Ancient History, later republished in two volumes with additions (largely in vol. 2) in 1948 and 1956. Thus, and despite being a lawyer (barrister) not a professional historian, his view dominated Alexander studies in the first half of the 20th century (Burn, Rose, etc.)…and even after. Both Mary Renault and Robin Lane Fox (neither of whom were/are professional historians either), as well as N. G. L. Hammond (with qualifications), show Tarn’s more romantic impact well into the middle of the second half of the 20th century. But you could find it in high school and college textbooks into the 1980s.

The first really big shift (especially in English) came with a pair of articles in 1958 by Ernst Badian: “The Eunuch Bagoas,” Classical Quarterly 8, and “Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind,” Historia 7. Both demolished Tarn’s historiography. I’ve talked about especially the first before, but it really WAS that monumental, and ushered in a more source-critical approach to Alexander studies. This also happened to coincide with a shift to a more negative portrait of the conqueror in work from the aforementioned Schachermeyr (reissuing his earlier biography in 1973 as Alexander der Grosse: Das Problem seiner Persönlichtenkeit und seines Wirkens) to Peter Green’s original Alexander of Macedon from Thames and Hudson in 1974, reissued in 1991 from Univ. of California-Berkeley. J. R. Hamilton’s 1973 Alexander the Great wasn’t as hostile, but A. B. Bosworth’s 1988 Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great turned back towards a more negative, or at least ambivalent portrait, and his Alexander in the East: The Tragedy of Triumph (1996) was highly critical. I note the latter two as Bosworth wrote the section on Alexander for the much-revised Cambridge Ancient History vol. 6, 1994, which really demonstrates how the narrative on Alexander had changed.

All this led to an unfortunate kick-back among Alexander fans who wanted their hero Alexander. They clung/still cling to Arrian (and Plutarch) as “good,” and the rest as varying degrees of bad. Some prefer Tarn’s view of the mighty conqueror/World unifier/Brotherhood-of-Mankind proponent, including that He Absolutely Could Not Have Been Queer. Conversely, others are all over the romance of him and Hephaistion, or Bagoas (often owing to Renault or Renault-via-Oliver Stone), but still like the squeaky-nice-chivalrous Alexander of Plutarch and Arrian.

They are very much still around. Quite a few of the former group freaked out over the recent Netflix thing, trotting out Plutarch (and Arrian) to Prove He Wasn’t Queer, and dismissing anything in, say, Curtius or Diodoros as “junk” history. But I also run into it on the other side, with those who get really caught up in all the romance and can’t stand the idea of a vicious Alexander.

It's not necessary to agree with Badian’s (or Green’s or Schachermeyr’s) highly negative Alexander to recognize the importance of looking at all the sources more carefully. Justin is unusually problematic, but each of the other four had a method, and a rationale. And weaknesses. Yes, even Arrian. Arrian clearly trusted Ptolemy to a degree Curtius didn’t. For both of them, it centered on the fact he was a king. I’m going to go with Curtius on this one, frankly.

Alexander is one of the most malleable famous figures in history. He’s portrayed more ways than you can shake a stick at—positive, negative, in-between—and used for political and moral messaging from even before his death in Babylon right up to modern Tik-Tok vids.

He might have been annoyed that Julius Caesar is better known than he is, in the West, but hands-down, he’s better known worldwide thanks to the Alexander Romance in its many permutations. And he, more than Caesar, gets replicated in other semi-mythical heroes. (Arthur, anybody?)

Alfred Heuss referred to him as a wineskin (or bottle)—schlauch, in German—into which subsequent generations poured their own ideas. (“Alexander  der  Große  und  die politische Ideologie  des Altertums,” Antike und Abendland 4, 1954.) If that might be overstating it a bit, he’s not wrong.

Who Alexander was thus depends heavily on who was (and is) writing about him.

And that’s why nuanced historiography with regard to the Alexander sources is so important. It’s also why there will never be a pop presentation that doesn’t infuriate at least a portion of his fanbase. That fanbase can’t agree on who he was because the sources that tell them about him couldn’t agree either.

SECOND …scholarship has moved away from an attempt to find the “real” Alexander towards understanding the stories inside our surviving histories and their themes. A biography of Alexander is next to impossible (although it doesn’t stop most of us from trying, ha). It’s more like a “search” for Alexander, and any decent history of his career will begin with the sources. And their problems.

This also extends to events. I find myself falling in the middle between some of my colleagues who genuinely believe we can get back to “what happened,” and those who sorta throw up their hands and settle on “what story the sources are telling us, and why.” Classic Libra. 😉

As frustrating as it may sound, I’m afraid “it depends” is the order of the day, or of the instance, at least. Some things are easier to get back to than others, and we must be ready to acknowledge that even things reported in several sources may not have happened at all. Or at least, were quite radically different from how it was later reported. (Thinking of proskynesis here.) Sometimes our sources are simply irreconcilable…and we should let them be. (Thinking of the Battle of Granikos here.)

THIRD/SECOND-AND-A-HALF …a growing awareness of just how much Roman-era attitudes overlay and muddy our sources, even those writing in Greek. It would be SO nice to have just one Hellenistic-era history. I’d even take Kleitarchos! But I’d love Marsyas, or Ptolemy. Why? Both were Macedonians. Even our surviving philhellenic authors such as Plutarch impose Greek readings and morals on Macedonian society.

So, let’s add Roman views on top of Greek views on top of Macedonian realities in a period of extremely fast mutation (Philip and Alexander both). What a muddle! In fact, one of the real advantages of a source such as Curtius is that his sources seem to have known a thing or three about both Achaemenid Persia and also Macedonian custom. He sometimes says something like, “Macedonian custom was….” We don’t know if he’s right, but it’s not something we find much in other histories—even Arrian who used Ptolemy. (Curtius may also have used Ptolemy, btw.)

In any case, as a result of more care given to the themes of the historians, a growing sensitivity to Roman milieu for all of them has altered our perceptions of our sources.

These are, to me, the major and most significant shifts in Alexander historiography from the late 1800s to the early 2100s.

#asks #historiography #alexander the great #arrian #curtius #plutarch #diodorus #justin #w.w. tarn #fritz schachermeyr #a.b. bosworth #peter green #n.g.l. hammond #mary renault #robin lane fox #j.r. hamilton #ernst badian #classics #ancient history #ancient macedonia

[whencyclopedia]

Alexander the Great: A New Life of Alexander

"Alexander the Great: A New Life of Alexander" by Paul Cartledge offers a detailed yet accessible exploration of the legendary figure's life and legacy. The author's expertise and engaging storytelling provide fresh insights into Alexander the Great's conquests and their historical significance. This book is recommended for scholars and general readers alike.

Alexander the Great's profound impact on Roman culture is undeniable, particularly when considering the fusion of Greco-Oriental influences during the Hellenistic era, which permeated Rome and, subsequently, Western Europe. His conquests paved the way for cultural diffusion and laid the groundwork for religious and imperial ideologies. His ideological legacies include figures like Pompey and Caesar. The territories Alexander the Great once controlled formed the foundation of Rome's eastern dominion, often considered the culturally and economically richer half of the empire.

However, understanding Alexander himself proves challenging due to conflicting ancient sources and continuous reinterpretations throughout history, often reflecting the agendas of interpreters.

In Alexander the Great: A New Life of Alexander, Paul Cartledge offers a captivating and comprehensive new examination of Alexander the Great. With his trademark storytelling prowess, Cartledge, chair of Cambridge University's Classics Department, guides readers through the life and conquests of Alexander with precise detail and an engaging narrative that balances discussion on Alexander's achievements with acknowledgment of places where we lack historical evidence.

Cartledge challenges prevailing notions about Alexander's motivations, particularly regarding Alexander's aim of spreading Hellenism. Cartledge argues that while Alexander was indeed attached to Hellenism, his driving force was personal glory and conquest. This nuanced perspective adds depth to our understanding of Alexander, presenting him as a complex figure driven by ambition and a thirst for success.

Central to Cartledge's exploration is Alexander's military genius. Through detailed chronicles of Alexander's battles with the Persians, Tyrians, and Babylonians, Cartledge highlights the young leader's strategic brilliance and innovative tactics. He demonstrates how Alexander's love of hunting served as a metaphor for his approach to warfare, as he adapted hunting strategies such as the surprise attack to achieve military success. This analysis sheds light on Alexander's mindset and sheds new light on his military achievements.

The book is enriched by many appendixes, including a glossary and an extensive bibliography, which enhance the reader's understanding and provide valuable resources for further exploration. Cartledge's skillful storytelling brings history to life, making the ancient world feel vivid and immediate. His vivid descriptions and storytelling make for an absorbing read that will appeal to both scholars and general readers alike.

Overall, Alexander the Great: A New Life of Alexander is a masterful biography that offers fresh insights into the life and legacy of one of history's most iconic figures. With its diligent research, engaging narrative, and nuanced analysis, this book is sure to become a definitive work on Alexander the Great for years to come. Whether the audience is a seasoned scholar or a casual reader with an interest in ancient Greece, this book is a must-read.

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#History #RomanEmpire #AlexanderTheGreat #Caesar