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Favourite History Period/Historical Event

  • 05-04-2003 10:15am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 958 ✭✭✭Mark


    No Poll as God knows theres not enough options :)

    Personally for the first topic I'd go for Napoleans Great French Adventure (1799-1815).

    I just seem to find everything about the period fascinating and Napoleans genius as a General makes for good reading (the fecker just seemed to *keep* winning, excluding Russia in 1812 and Waterloo but a good try nonetheless)

    Of course the old standbys WW1 et 2 get a mention also, notably 1917 on the Eastern Front in the former and 1942 and 43 in the latter.

    And a final nod to Alexander the Great for the sheer balls of taking on the Middle East

    As regards a favourite single historical event, Im plumping for either Stalingrad or the siege of Troy :cool:

    Opinions?


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 14,483 ✭✭✭✭daveirl


    This post has been deleted.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,155 ✭✭✭ Trey Fast Eyeglasses


    World War I

    from 1914 - 1918
    with the build up before hand and the aftermath....

    horrific in some places, romantic in others....



    Hannabil takes on Rome

    This Carthage warrior takes Spain and then flies thru the Alps to smash the Roman armies......




    Favourite event

    Battle of Kursk.....


  • Registered Users Posts: 14,761 ✭✭✭✭Winters


    1933 -> 1945 really. The rise and fall of Nazi Germany. :)

    Cuban Missile Crisis is good but there is just not enough behind it. You can and do always learn something new about WW2 no matter how much you know. Its great :)

    Sure, who would have known that Hitler had a 1% Beer made just for him ..... strange man.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 14,483 ✭✭✭✭daveirl


    This post has been deleted.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭ Lisa Embarrassed Fullback


    Irish History : The years between 1890 and 1924, A very interesting time in Irish history where changing English governments came in with totlly different causes. Home Rule failed. Britain made martyrs of the leaders of the 1916 rising, which started a chain of events which lead to Irelands independeance.


    European History :

    Much of Russia's history, in particular, the Russian revolution and Georgi Zhukov (a genious of a general ). A very interesting period. Anything on Stalinism I also enjoy.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 958 ✭✭✭Mark


    Originally posted by SearrarD

    Hannabil takes on Rome

    This Carthage warrior takes Spain and then flies thru the Alps to smash the Roman armies......

    Never bothered to learn much about Hannibal but this post finally got me off my lazy arse to check :)

    So for others like me

    All you need to know about Hannibal


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,639 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Being maudlin and quoting Stephen J. Gould, this period, which has the highest change of children survivng into adulthood.

    For fun though, either during the latter half of the 18thC, as part of the Merchant Adventurers of the East India Company exploring the Moghul Empire of India and experiencing that unique civilisation or else part of the Crusades during the 11th century, and this time we'll hold Jerusalem come what may :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭richindub2


    The late medieval years - I just find the large battles and the way of life fascinating. Favourite historical event hmm I guess the Seige of Constantinople would be a contender.


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,397 ✭✭✭✭azezil


    the reformation was kinda cool, and of course the spanish counter reformation ala the spanish inquisition :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,967 ✭✭✭Dun


    I love the history of Egypt, but not as much as that of South and Central America during the periods of the great civilisations.

    I think it was the "Mysterious Cities of Gold" that grabbed my fascination at an early stage. :D


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  • Registered Users Posts: 12,309 ✭✭✭✭Bard


    I wouldnt mind being able to go and live in Medieval times in Ireland... experience the feudal system, the battles, life in bustling castles, etc.

    Would also be interested in experiencing 1960's America, and the end of the 2nd World War.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,476 ✭✭✭Samba


    Bit of everything really, WWI, II and general conflicts intrigue me.

    Ancient History, such as land settlment and settlement patterns around the world.

    For example it was recently discovered that it was actually the French who first came to America (shocking I know) and the history books are being rewritten. (god bless National Geographic :))


    Renaissance is a beautiful period of history.

    The most bizarre and fascinating aspect of History I find is the History of Madness, will get book titles for you, will have to dig up all the old Anthropology books. (this ties in with the Witch hunts).

    Just to give you a taste, some of the cures for mental illness which were "revolutionary" and "groundbreaking" for curing Melancholy would be to perform a blood transfusion, but replacing the taken blood with calves blood.


    Funnily enough Irish History I have very little interest in, always dreaded it in School. (different strokes etc.)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5 Manesni


    heheh WW2 no doubt about it :) love reading about battles fought during the war


    Manesni


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,738 ✭✭✭Barry Aldwell


    The Crusades. Heading off across Europe towards the Middle East, all because a king told you to. Pure madness.

    God, we need another one of those. Oh, wait, we have one :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 20,617 ✭✭✭✭PHB


    I was always really interested in Cuman na Geadheal from 1922-32.
    All the political backplay such is realy intriguing :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 76 ✭✭Dónall


    The Spanish Civil War. I've been living in Spain now for a few years and their civil war doesn't have the fascination for Spaniards as it does for many foreigners. We've tended to see it as Europe's last "romantic war" in very black and white terms. It was in fact very messy and dirty, with atrocities on both sides. There's been a sort of unspoken agreement here in Spain to not go on too much about it, until recently at least. Until everyone involved is dead I suppose.
    A fascinating period to try and get you teeth into though.
    The Irish dimension is interesting too, with Frank Ryan on the Republican side (getting rescued by the nazis from Burgos prison, showing up the peculiar contradictions of Irish politics that are very hard to explain to people outside Ireland) and Eoin O'Duffy's Blueshirts on the Francoist catholic church sanctioned fascist side.

    As Truckle mentioned the period leading up to independence is very interesting in Irish History.
    Going back furthur I'd love to read more about Gaelic Recovery in the period prior to the Tudor conquest in the 16th century. Living abroad I've become more and more obsessed with how our native language began it's catastrophic decline, and the usual stuff about the famine and the penal laws doesn't explain it enough. The roots of rot seem to go much deeper in history than that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,838 ✭✭✭DapperGent


    Japanese history.

    From the feudal stuff - daimyos and the odd Shogun especially the interaction with Western civilisation when it came about.

    Also their involvement in WW2 and in particular the events leading to it.

    Fascinating stuff.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,692 ✭✭✭Lorddrakul


    I like Early Christian and Early Medieval myself, with a smattering of Ancient.

    The Templars, Hospitallers, all that sort of stuff, plus Akhenatun, Rameses the Great and all that.

    Particular favourites would be the Order of the Temple, Priory of Zion and the whole mystique that surrounds them.

    Early Christain is fascinating too in trying to establish the historical personages at the heart of what is now a "Disney" story.

    Malcom Barber's The New Knighthood and the trial of the Templars are both good, Piers Paul Reid's The Templars and any of the mythos stuff is generally good for reading on this area.

    LD


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,335 ✭✭✭Éomer of Rohan


    Archidamian War 431 - 421 BC or if really pushed to it, Athenian Democracy 511 - 323 BC


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 41 loveheartsandnicotine


    methinks id have like to have witnessed the Battle of Troy.........nothing like Greek mythology for blood guts and gore:))


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,335 ✭✭✭Éomer of Rohan


    There was no single battle of Troy - the archaeologists who examined the site theorised that there were actually several battles at Troy - not just the epic Agamemnon vs Troy story as portrayed by Homer. There was no 10 year seige and Troy was burned down several times apparently.


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