tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post3591151866902971320..comments2023-11-30T00:24:08.458-08:00Comments on Laughing Ferret: A to Z: HistoryLaughing Ferrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649878935225675051noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-389444887676907522012-04-10T02:41:03.324-07:002012-04-10T02:41:03.324-07:00Thanks Mr.Lee!
Dunc: I'm a big fan of history...Thanks Mr.Lee!<br /><br />Dunc: I'm a big fan of history, I got a couple degrees in it, so I'm biased. I'm also tempted to make a crusades army in 15mm, but there are some really nice 28s now, plastics from Conquest, and new ones coming from Fire Forge.. so tempting. <br /><br />Great quote Paul, and strikes me as very true too.<br /><br />Pete: I suppose there is a lot of boring stuff, so if a history class only focuses on the boring, then it could be found to be boring, but what a shame, since there is so much that isn't boring! ;)<br /><br />LL: I think people love the war leaders because of the vicarious thrill of power. You've stumped me, who? I'm just surprised there is any length of time where there wasn't war! <br /><br />Fizzle: isn't it? and in such a short amount of time too. depending on how far back you measure our species, civilization all together is only 5-10% of our species' entire past. <br /><br />Thanks for the visit Magic27! Wow that class you describe does indeed sound dull! I've had classes like that, just a list of laws passed and people elected with no analysis, no life to it. <br />-That's something I always find interesting, how the same events are taught by different cultures. Odd about England/Britain: I'd have thought France would know when to use one or the other. Not surprised Napoleon is taught as a great national hero there, and not surprised to hear the U.K focuses more on the defeats- makes sense for both. The aspect of him that always interested me the most is how willing the French seemed to be to throw away the republic and set up what was effectively another Monarchy: all that work for nothing. Granted he enacted a lot of good reforms based on the enlightenment, but gone was any chance of self-governing. Maybe they'd lost hope by then of a republic ever working since the various versions of it had been either corrupt, ineffectual or cutting off anyone's head who disagreed. I guess that could kind of sour a person's confidence. But still... why not find a way to make it work? How could they throw their rights away? On the other side, the European power's claims to go to war with Napoleon to overthrow him and bring back a Bourbon I have no respect for either. Such a complicated time & issue... deserves to be questioned from both sides. At least your daughter has you to provide the other side of the questions!Laughing Ferrethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649878935225675051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-79412632513681240032012-04-09T20:18:56.062-07:002012-04-09T20:18:56.062-07:00Great post!
I hated History at school because my n...Great post!<br />I hated History at school because my nice-but-misguided teacher chose the "British social and economic history" syllabus (biggest yawn-fest EVER) over "world history" (which would have included the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian civil war and other such amazing episodes). As it was, we waded through the repeal of the Corn Laws, the implementation of the Window Tax, Lord Shaftesbury and bla-bla-bla. Yawn.<br />Now, I love history and get so mad at how badly it's taught.<br />What's interesting to me now (and more than a little annoying, it has to be said) is how my elder daughter is being taught history at school here in France. She's pretty much a French kid in a French school in France, and the way episodes of history involving Britain and France are taught on either side of the Channel is fascinating. Right now, her teacher is doing Napoleon and the focus is much less on his defeats than when I learned about him in Britain! Napoleon's flaws are glossed over, as are his mistakes (one line in her text about the disastrous Russian campaign...) Oh, and the fact that French texts always refer to "England" and not "Britain" drives me batshit insane...but that's another (hi)story...Magic27https://www.blogger.com/profile/08701211538213404730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-43433640764747774312012-04-09T14:26:10.823-07:002012-04-09T14:26:10.823-07:00I always found history to be my most engaging subj...I always found history to be my most engaging subject in high school. It's amazing how old the earth is and how far mankind has come.<br /><br />http://fizzvideo.blogspot.com/Fizzlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18004003964572744702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-7899333814644804582012-04-09T11:41:01.616-07:002012-04-09T11:41:01.616-07:00You're absolutely spot on about John. He did t...You're absolutely spot on about John. He did the best he could with the hand he was given. Fiscally speaking, he was England's most savvy king. Not the greatest people-person king, nor that great a soldier.<br /><br />But then, in comparison to his father, Henry, and brother, Richard, he had an almost impossible act to follow. He was actually more militarily capable than many folk believe (thanks mainly to the advice and guidence of William Marshal) but his candle was very much overshadowed by the splendour of his father and brother's battle skills.<br /><br />Of course, for some reason, it's the warrior-kings who are remembered most fondly. Can anyone tell me the name of the English kin whose long reign was almost entirely peaceful?<br /><br />Bet you can't.Lead Legionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12700198528204457272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-73938760789356524162012-04-09T07:10:01.360-07:002012-04-09T07:10:01.360-07:00I was a history and English double major, so I thi...I was a history and English double major, so I think it's awesome. And important. Besides, other than fiction novels, where else do you get to read about bloody battles and power hungry royalty?S. L. Hennessyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06514651403542719387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-69340842060077716582012-04-09T04:36:30.941-07:002012-04-09T04:36:30.941-07:00Nice on, old boy. I hated History back in school, ...Nice on, old boy. I hated History back in school, because it didn't focus on what I was interested in. Funnily enough, the era that it focused on is these days my favourite, but I still haven't got much interest in the social aspects that my GCSE contained, and I have much more in the military and strategic ones. From the sounds of it, I'm just like Paul of the Man Cave! I can imagine that a lot of people aren't as into it as they should be for that reason: the focus of a particular course doesn't appeal to them. You're quite right in saying that it encompasses everything, so there's no way one should be bored by all of it!Peter Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07151357767975663350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-38311738697907589582012-04-09T03:52:34.286-07:002012-04-09T03:52:34.286-07:00"Prepare for the Unknown by studying how othe..."Prepare for the Unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable", General George S. PattonPaul O'Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611720164170399684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-17986959331906861252012-04-09T03:47:04.287-07:002012-04-09T03:47:04.287-07:00I love History too (and its closely related 'w...I love History too (and its closely related 'what ifs' of Alternate History) but only on a few occasions were my classes focused on the history that I wanted to study. Not often did I get an overdose of goodies like you have described, but more mundane political histories or suchlike. Yes thats important, but hardly the stuff of legends and wargaming!Paul O'Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611720164170399684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-40460684536434749322012-04-09T03:35:57.612-07:002012-04-09T03:35:57.612-07:00History is great. I wish I'd done my degree in...History is great. I wish I'd done my degree in that, rather than Politics. Interest has always been helped here in Blighty by the eminently watchable, and now sadly departed, Richard Holmes. Also the ever so very delectable Bettany Hughes - I think she talks about history in her programmes, although I'm not sure; I find it hard to pay attention.<br /><br />I'm beginning to think 1st Crusades would be best at 15mm - 28mm is just too big for anything except skirmishDunchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09337773236963539279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7908489055542103460.post-37203155522635929422012-04-09T03:15:18.303-07:002012-04-09T03:15:18.303-07:00Great article.. can't say it was the most bori...Great article.. can't say it was the most boring class ever as I had a lot of fun in it, but you definitely bring a different spin on it that is for sure. Great article once more mate!MrLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564055436566237661noreply@blogger.com