(Part 2) Best products from r/HistoryPorn

So Botswana was taken over by the British from Germany after WW1 and administered by South Africa (under a similar apartheid reign). Botswana peacefully gained independence in 1966 (with a descendant of one of the more powerful chiefs/kings being forefront in the movement and becoming the first president.)

About 6 months after independence and sovereignty within the British Commonwealth was granted, huge diamond deposits were discovered in parts of the country.

Instead of exacerbating wealth gaps through nepotism and privatization of these, the diamonds were kept under government authority.

The revenue from these diamonds was invested in infrastructure and education to build a brighter future for the people of Botswana.

This is all from a chapter in "Whatever you do, don't run" which is mostly in Botswana.

There's a pretty good book about work in Oak Ridge called At Work in the Atomic City. The author seems to have done quite a bit of research, based on what was available, but it's one of those books that leaves so many questions unanswered. Nonetheless, it's short and easy to read (considering it's a history book). It gives a pretty good picture about what working & living at Oak Ridge was like.

I have a variety of hats. My favorite summer hat is a Henschel similar to the 2950. Before I started wearing hats I thought of summer as headache season. Hats ended the summer headaches for me. For cool weather I have a couple of nice wool fedoras that are nice and warm. I am blessed with having a Stetson hat factory outlet here in town. They carry a lot of very nice hats besides cowboy hats, and they have very good bargains at the end of the season.

EDIT: I have a variety of hats for yard work, boating, and so forth. Form follows function and also the style of what else you are wearing. Hat storage is actually a problem at our house.

This and many like it are featured in a collection at the Sydney Police and Justice Museum after being lost for many years. I forget the exact context but my neighbour worked on the initial collection and many of the old police files were lost due to buildings being transferred between departments. Eventually a building, then belonging to the Historic Houses Trust, was flooded and boxes of hundreds upon hundreds of these glass negatives were found in original condition however the attached notes were destroyed. Peter Doyle has (I'm sure along with many other people) worked for a number of years to put together information on these and created a book called City of Shadows which we gave to our neighbour last Christmas and was captivating just to look into these people's faces, stories, and I really loved the emotion in their eyes.

We went there back in Year 12 a few years ago and they were telling us how the criminals were allowed to adopt any pose they desired, but with the photography at the time (early 1900s) were essentially long exposures so some have blur as one of the men in the picture. Other images can be found here including the man who refused to open his eyes . Doyle has also noted that many faces appear several times with differing names and outfits showing the success of their alias'. Cool Stuff.

Oh yes, many many escaped over the war. Infact the countries of the imprisoned officers (British, French, Polish, etc.) had a running competition of sorts to see who get the most 'home runs', escaping to allied territory. I've forgotten who got the most but I think it may have been the Dutch.

A lot of the escapes are absolutely fascinating to read about. Years ago I went through an obsessive phase with Colditz, I read a lot of books about it. This is by far the best one, I recommend it highly:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colditz-Story-Military-Classics-Series/dp/0330509993/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415042233&sr=8-2&keywords=pat+reid

A close second best book I think is by the German officer who was in charge of security at Colditz. All about what they tried to do to stay ahead of the the escapees. My lasting memory is of the immense respect the Germans and prisoners had for each others' efforts. I would say Colditz really was a prison for gentlemen.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colditz-German-Story-Reinhold-Eggers/dp/1844155366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415042320&sr=8-1&keywords=reinhold+eggers

I can understand liking The Pacific and wanting to stick up for it in the face of all the "BoB was better" talk going on; but are you honestly going to act like it's absurd people are comparing the two? C'mon.

They're even sold as a fucking gift set together: https://www.amazon.com/Band-Brothers-Pacific-Special-Gift/dp/B005GYSV4M

I'll give the articles a read, but since you seem genuinely interested in the subject, i'll propose something as well: http://www.amazon.ca/The-Sleepwalkers-Europe-Went-1914/dp/006114665X
This book is great, not only in a historical sens, also in the way the author writes it. Nothing at all to do with the usual history book, trust me, give it a read. And if you doubt me, go to the local bookstore, read the first few pages and see for yourself. The author backs everything up with sources and all so you can go verify what he is saying yourself, and he is objective throughout in his wording.

Thanks. It's paraphrasing a quote printed in a book called "Lost New York", but I do not remember who made the original quote or what newspaper it was printed in.

(By the way, it's a great coffee-table book for lovers of New York history. Here it is on Amazon, though I think this is a newer edition, since the book I was looking at was printed in the 1980s or so, while this book makes reference to things lost in 2007.)

Left to Tell is a great book by an amazing young woman who survived the Rwandan genocide. It's one persons experience, but you really get an idea of the complexities of the situation. Her whole family was murdered...all under different circumstances. She was saved by hiding in a small bathroom of a Hutu priest with nine other Tutsi women for 100 days. It's an easy read and quite compelling.

Correct, I don't have the numbers for you. However, I have given you a wonderful lead on finding something that you seem interested in. The book, Postwar, is a rich and in depth book about Europe prior to and post war. Reviewers noted the book's wonderful ability to dissect more modern history. If you're willing to write something like this:

>Yeah I'm sure a banking system lasting hundreds of years is nothing in the face of the holdings of 200 Jews in the 30s. The entire country is founded on that, definitely

Then, I'm certain you're willing to do some research beyond what you've already accomplished. You didn't seem to reference much in that quote, but I'm interested in where you've found your information.

Yep, should have posted them originally: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/russia.hitler.remains/index.html

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and

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this book is also cited as a source, but I haven't read it (yet). Been on my Amazon wish list for years.

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EDIT: As others here have said, it is probably impossible to know, with complete confidence, what happened to Hitler's remains. Berlin was in ruins when he shot himself, his staff were fleeing, and I wouldn't call the KGB a fully trustworthy source. However, the account of Hitler's remains being kept under Russian lock and key until 1970, and then disposed of in the river, is the only consistent story.

Even more impressive : the USA hadn't even hit its full stride in production when the war ended, we were just ramping up still. Its one of the reasons that the Marshall plan was so important and its why post WWII we converted to a consumption based society. All of that capacity had to be used.

The US Industrial Machine is one of the most impressive things mankind has ever created when its running at full tilt with no budgetary constraints.

The Arsenal of Democracy ( https://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Democracy-Detroit-Quest-America/dp/0547719280 ) is a great read about the effort and just how amazing it was, what it created and how it transformed the world.

If you watch any of the documentaries on the JFK assassination (not conspiracy ones) the room was tense and the family and the president's staff almost had to steal the body to get it on Air Force One and back to Washington. They even thought that Dallas police wouldn't let the plane take off. I'm not sure I have the entire story correct but the History Channel has a relatively new amazing documentary about that day.
edit: I'm pretty sure this is it., it's fascinating.

But some of these questions are a bit ridiculous. "Do you believe in what you are saying?" C'mon, man. You write for Time-fucking-magazine.

To be honest, ask any musician to define their music or who they are and they are going to have really think about it. IMO, people who give definitive answers to those questions are way more pretentious. I think Bob Dylan made the point clear (whether it was intentional or not) about how asinine interviews were. I think these interviews are fantastic and wish more people defended what they did like this now. However, anything popular today doesn't seem to have as much meaning or value to the like of what Bob Dylan and the Beatles were doing at this time.

I don't think he was a saint in the least bit. He pissed many people off by stealing songs from them and "turning away" from a community. A very balanced view of him is this biography

Plus, he is like in his early 20's.

Currently reading 'The Devil's Disciples: Hitler's Inner Circle' (http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Disciples-Hitlers-Circle/dp/0393326977)

This is a pretty cool shot and puts some names to faces through out the book - excellent post, thanks!

I'll leave this here for anyone interest in this subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Sky-Extraordinary-Climbers-Deadliest/dp/0393079880

Great book. It provides a really great perspective on Himalayan climbing.

You should check out this /r/AskHistorians thread: When did men wearing hats become so universal and when did it cease?

It's worth reading all of the posts, but here's the highest voted one, with paragraphs added by your's truly:

> The reason men no longer wear hats is three-fold: changes in transportation, hygiene, and hair.

> A man's hat was used primarily as a means of protection against rain, dust, cold, and the sun. With the growing popularity of the automobile as the transportation of choice for many Americans, the hat became less necessary as men were no longer required to walk long distances outdoors. The images you've seen of streets in, say, New York was probably a veritable sea of men in felt hats precisely because walking was one of the only means of getting from point A to point B. Because automobiles offer built in protection from the elements, the hat became redundant.

> The second reason the hat lost its popularity is because of the emphasis on hygiene that developed in the late 20th century. In the 1950's, hair washes were weekly instead of the daily ones that we do today. Because hair washes were done infrequently, a hat was necessary to keep the dust and dirt away.

> Finally, the hair fashions of the 1960's and 70's meant that men cared more about their hair and how it looked. In the golden age of hats, men typically had trimmed hair in order to ensure that extraneous strands of hair over their forehead would not stick out from underneath their hat. As men started to care more for how their hair looked, the less reason there was to wear a hat that might crush or mess up their hair.

> Source: "Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion" by Bernhard Roetzel

I recommend a book:
http://www.amazon.com/To-Conquer-Air-Wright-Brothers/dp/0743255364

Long story short: Two guys from Ohio did what "The World's Best Scientists"(tm) couldn't because they realized that such a machine would have to be forced into stability by a human being, rather than having some sort of 'automatic' stability control incorporated into the machine. Sorry about the "spoiler", but still..if you can find the book, read it. Tobin actually paces the thing like a good novel.

Here's the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Stalingrad-The-Fateful-Siege-1942-1943/dp/0140284583

I'd highly recommend it. Definitely accessible for a non-historian (such as me). It was just amazing how the Soviets recovered from almost losing Moscow. The Germans continually thought the Soviets were on their last legs, just one more push before they'd collapse - but it never happened, and the Soviets kept forming up division after division, manufacturing tank after tank, way beyond what Germany thought they were capable of doing.

Now I'd like to find a good book about the aftermath - the gradual multi-year fighting retreat Westwards of the German army until the end.

I'm reading a book about the Endurance right now! I'm about halfway through and so far it's very exciting. Give it a read if you haven't!

https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881

The book Endurance about their 1914 expedition is an amazing read.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465062881/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Ojl3AbQFEHQVT


This was an excellent read about this voyage

I would like to read that thread. In Stalingrad by Beevor he says that the NKVD would execute them, which is why many of them fought alongside the sixth army.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0140284583/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481376503&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=beevor+stalingrad&dpPl=1&dpID=51Rdczaix2L&ref=plSrch

This is a very late response, but before.

The ship was originally named the Polaris when t was completed. Shackleton renamed it the Endurance to be in line with his family's motto: "Fortitudine vincimus," or "By endurance we conquer."

Here's a photograph taken by Frank Hurley, their official photographer. This was taken between the crush that forced them to abandon ship and the eventual sinking, a span of a little less than a month. You can see Endurance on the back of the ship.

And an obligatory "you have to read Lansing's Endurance." It was re-released in a 100th anniversary edition last year.