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Post by Tim on Mar 6, 2020 0:54:10 GMT -5
Sounds like U.K. kids got a better deal.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Mar 19, 2020 10:16:10 GMT -5
I’m reading a book on the history of Egyptology in popular culture, Egypt has always fascinated people throughout the ages. In Medieval times people thought the pyramids were used to store grain like in the Biblical story of Joseph and the pharaoh since no Europeans had been inside. With Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt there came a better understanding of Egypt since he brought along scientists with his army. Then of course with the discovery of King Tut’s tomb kicked off a surge of Egyptomania that’s been consistent since, with all sorts of crazy theories and groups who find dubious evidence from Egypt
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Post by Tim on Mar 19, 2020 23:41:28 GMT -5
Europe pretty much lost contact with Egypt when the Roman Empire collapsed.
Yeah, it is a fascinating subject.
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Post by Squad 51 on Mar 20, 2020 6:13:18 GMT -5
Yeah, mummies everywhere in these centuries! Napoleon started a fever for many people.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Mar 20, 2020 7:58:41 GMT -5
Yeah, when Napoleon went to Egypt he brought along scientists and archaeologists who discovered a lot of Egyptian artifacts and in fact the French discovered the Rosetta Stone. Plus the French were the first to translate hieroglyphics, that set off a wave of Egyptian mania and it only got more intense when King Tut’s tomb was discovered in the 20s since it wasn’t looted. Tut’s tomb is amazing and he was a minor pharaoh, imagine what the tomb of Ramses or Cheops must have looked like
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Post by Tim on Mar 20, 2020 12:28:19 GMT -5
I have a book on order from Amazon called The Trial Of Adolf Hitler. I read it decades ago and enjoyed it.
The plot was basically what if Hitler was found to be still alive (at the time of the books publication, he could have been) and his subsequent trial for War Crimes.
Can't wait to read it again.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Mar 20, 2020 13:17:34 GMT -5
My books on order from Amazon are the Oxford History of Egypt and English translations of the Bhagavat Gita and the Ramayana. That book on Egypt whetted my appetite to learn more plus since Ian in My Favorite Things is a Hindu I thought I’d read them to understand Hinduism better. They’re all used so only spent about $24 in total on the books. Most of my personal library I got from flea markets, garage sales, library sales and discards, and used on Amazon. The other day someone left a box of books on top of a public mailbox that one could take for free, I found an excellent book on ancient Babylon and a paperback anthology of Poe
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Post by Tim on Mar 20, 2020 16:07:12 GMT -5
Thank God for Amazon
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Mar 21, 2020 12:10:53 GMT -5
My books on Egypt and the Bhavagad Gita came in, I’m still waiting on the Ramayana and history books on India and Japan
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Apr 8, 2020 8:50:53 GMT -5
I’ve just finished reading this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five:_The_Untold_Lives_of_the_Women_Killed_by_Jack_the_RipperIt’s about the canonical five victims of Jack the Ripper and it’s quite depressing, all the victims had such sad lives. The first four were homeless alcoholics who were the Victorian equivalent of bag ladies and only the last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, was an actual prostitute and she was the most badly mutilated. All of the victims came from poor families, had bad marriages which broke up and serious drinking problems which led to them being homeless.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Apr 8, 2020 15:00:23 GMT -5
Unfortunately until 1928 when women got the vote they always played second fiddle to men.
Thankfully nowadays that's changed obviously.
I know in whatever films I've watched on Jack The Ripper the victims were always prostitues.
Side note my aunt went on a Jack The Ripper walk through Whitchapel once with work colleagues on a walking tour there they do finding out stuff about him which she enjoyed doing.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on May 22, 2020 10:18:00 GMT -5
I’ve finished reading a biography of Alexander the Great by Robin Lane Fox, which is the one Oliver Stone used as research for his movie. The book is nearly 500 pages and has 100 page bibliography, so it’s a very academic book. It goes into detail about the background of Macedonia and Alexander’s family, how the land and society differed from other Greeks. It also goes detail about the various battles and campaigns with maps that show the exact form of the battle formations of the Persian and Macedonian armies.
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Post by Tim on May 22, 2020 11:31:15 GMT -5
Sounds like a good read.
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on May 23, 2020 10:54:21 GMT -5
It is a good read but one needs to concentrate since the battle details are very precise and it’s more for people with a real acute interest rather than casual readers, but I can see where Oliver Stone got much of his inspiration
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Post by Tim on May 23, 2020 11:15:13 GMT -5
Yeah, the movie did excellent battle scenes.
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