HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
X-Vms-Mail-To: HISTORY-L
X-Vms-Mail-Cc: BOB
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Mon, 12 Oct 1992 22:34:46 PDT
From:         bob pasker <bob@HALFDOME.SF.CA.US>
Subject:      re: Alexandrian library (was Columbus)
Comments: To: well!rutvm1.BITNET!history@uunet.UU.NET

>Lenny,
>     Would you please follow up on your reasons why Burning the Library
>was/is the 2nd Most Important Event?
>     Andrew Drummond

and tell us which act of burning and which of the two libraries you're
refering to.

--
-- bob pasker
-- bob@halfdome.sf.ca.us
--
From: STANKULI@UWF.BITNET (stan kulikowski ii)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: anachronism: 16th c. european disease warfare
Date: 16 Oct 92 18:16:57 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU


  on the suggestion that europeans deliberately spread diseases among
native american populations... when i lived in amherst massachusetts the
story of distributing small-pox infected blankets to local tribes was
often attributed to jeffery amherst, the town's founder.

  the trouble with this hypothesis of intentional genocidal biowarfare is
that the germ theory of disease transmission was not established until the
19th century by louis pasteur.  remember those sheep he worked with?  during
the 16th and 17th centuries, they thought diseases were primarily spread by
vapors in the air, bleeding used to drain off the resultant humors in the
bloodstream.  i believe many 16th century europeans thought bathing to be an
unhealthy practice: lowering one's natural smell lessened your ability to
resist the vapors' virulence.  for lord amherst or any european settler to
delibrately spread disease to american natives requires substantial
precognition.

  on the business about cross-continental venereal diseases i believe i
recall that syphilis was a disease known by the ancients.  apparently it was
once a  malady of sheep which eventually spread through the greeks.  (before
you leap to assumptions of greek shepard's sexual practices, recall that HIV
was once a virus of the green monkey in central africa.)  gonorhea was a
native american disease which the europeans brought back.  i recall hearing
about some pope who caught the disease early in 16th century.  it was
variously called 'the spaniard's disease' and later 'the frenchmen's disease'
as returning waves of seafarers dribbled across the atlantic puddle.

  it was the biologic isolation of the new world which accounts for much of
the catastrophic collapse of new world cultures through disease.  europe lost
about half of its population a few centuries earlier to a similar process
when trade with india was opened around the horn.
                                                 stan

    .                  stankuli@UWF.bitnet
   ===
   : :     when a thraskin puts fingers in its ears, it is polite to shout
   ---                                          -- old venusian proverb
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Mon, 12 Oct 1992 07:55:55 PDT
From:         DOSlexic <KRAMSEY@INTEL9.INTEL.COM>
Subject:      RE: Oral History
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

Did anyone see the article in the WSJ about three weeks ago about the Native
American author's who had written an account of Little Bighorn based on
hand-me-down stories from earlier generations.  They were being heavily
criticized for their "unhistorical" method of documentation.  Even Robert
Utley (one of my personal favs) was very critical.

How do you decide when an oral history is valid and when not?  How much
"other" cross-referencing is required to substantiate an oral claim, and how
do you resolve the issue when the only ones left alive rely completely on oral
story telling with very little else?

Kyle Ramsey
Albuquerque, NM
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Wed, 7 Oct 1992 17:12:52 PDT
From:         "Don W." <webbd@CCVAX.CCS.CSUS.EDU>
Subject:      Mindless smilies
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

>For the record, let me make clear that
>smilies are horrible, tasteless,
>mindless things.
>
>Denis Paz
>dgpaz@clemson.bitnet

Aw, Dennis... join the fun.  Were you bitten by the
buck-toothed vampire smiley?

"Emoticon" seems a more dignified term; maybe a change in
terminology would help.  And their possibilities are not to
be underrated; after all, the Chinese have gotten a lot of
mileage out of using an analogous approach in their writing
system.

But emoticons may be destined to remain a curiosity.  There
are too few symbols available on my keyboard to develop a
picture-like code of any depth.  And emoticons have zero
redundancy; can you imagine what that wuld do to us who
dont tipe or spel so gud?  "I was trying to contact a
missing-tooth vampire and all I get is messages from hosers!"

Mindlessly... ;-{?)> (i.e. wink, with moustache, beard, pipe
and grin)

Don W. (DonWebb@CSUS.EDU)
From: cuz@CHAOS.CS.BRANDEIS.EDU (Brandon Magee)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: 500 Anniversary of the Admiral's Voyage
Date: 14 Oct 92 22:14:46 GMT
Reply-To: cuz@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu
Organization: Cuz's House of Dis-Information
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu
              "ARHN6001@IRUCCVAX.UCC.IE" at Oct 14, 92 10:37 am

In a letter, Presidential Candidate ARHN6001@IRUCCVAX.UCC.IE wrote:
|
|         There is nothing wrong with a scholar having heroes as long as (s)he
| is aware and willing to admit that (s)he is probably not entirely objective
| about the achivements of the hero(es).

	As a "lowly history major :)" (among other things), I guess
I'll add my two cents. I am in total agreement. For example, I think
Bismarck was absolutely brilliant. But, you can't look past his
mistakes (like dying :) ). And, I loathe another German Autocrat
(Hitler of course), But one can't look past some of HIS good
achievments. However, I must say, I have read many "historical
documents" that didn't compensate properly for the author's bias. Oh
well, who ever told me to read one book to gain knowledge anyway?


--
Cousin It                                          cuz@cs.brandeis.edu
"This is like saying how likely am I to jump over a tall building in a
  single bound - unlikely. This is like asking is lightning going to
      strike here in the next two seconds - I don't think so"
   -Ross Perot, on whether he'll re-enter the Presidential race
From: ECZ5DLB@UCLAMVS.BITNET (Dennis Bitterlich)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Novels & History
Date: 14 Oct 92 21:00:00 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

Greetings,

We have returned to the question of novels in history and I might as well
throw out a couple:

Howells.  _A Hazard of New Fortunes_.

Twain & Warner.  _The Gilded Age a Tale of To-Day_.

Both work as excellent sources for US history of the late 19th Century and
even into the early 20th.

Enjoy,

Dennis Bitterlich
UCLA University Archives
ECZ5DLB@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU
(310)825-4068
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-VMS-To: IN%"HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Tue, 6 Oct 1992 20:08:00 PST
From:         FOXS@AXE.HUMBOLDT.EDU
Subject:      Re: Word-Mac List
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

Thanks, Don.  Is Word-Mac a good list?  Has anyone actually used it?
I await the new address....

-Steve Fox-
History Department
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA  95521
(707) 826-4788
Internet:  foxs@axe.humboldt.edu
From: AXTHEPD@UICVMC.BITNET ((Peter A. Davis))
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Novels & History
Date: 13 Oct 92 22:15:38 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU


 For an excellent rendering of 17th France and its theatrical culture, try Peter
 D. Arnott's BALLET OF COMEDIANS.

 PA Davis
 U of Illinois
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Thu, 15 Oct 1992 23:43:17 -0500
From:         drummond andrew <adrummon@UXA.CSO.UIUC.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Russia's OPERATIONAL Starwars Defense System
Comments: To: HISTORY@psuvm.bitnet

Isn't this from the same source as CAU$E$ OF WAR$?
From: bob@HALFDOME.SF.CA.US (bob pasker)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: NEW LIST: NNEWS - Network News Newsletter
Date: 14 Oct 92 16:07:42 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Vms-Mail-To: HISTORY-L,SOCHIST-L
Comments: To: well!vm.usc.edu!sochist@uunet.UU.NET,
              well!rutvm1.BITNET!history@uunet.UU.NET

i thought this would be useful for members of these lists:


----------------------------Original message----------------------------
NNEWS on LISTSERV@NDSUVM1.BITNET
        or LISTSERV@vm1.NoDak.edu

   Network News is an online newsletter focusing on library and
   information resources on the Internet.  It updates the information
   found in A Guide to Internet/Bitnet.

   Send subscription requests/cancellations to either:

         listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet  (BITNET)
         or listserv@vm1.nodak.edu   (Internet)

   In the BODY of the message type:

         subscribe nnews firstname lastname      (to subscribe)

         for example: subscribe nnews Melvyl Dewey

      or unsubscribe nnews                       (to cancel subscription)

   Back issues of the newsletter and the latest version of A Guide to
   Internet/Bitnet are available in the archive.  Send the following
   command to get a list of what's available:

         index nnews

   Owner:  Dana Noonan <noonan@msus1.msus.edu>

--
-- bob pasker
-- bob@halfdome.sf.ca.us
--
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Wed, 7 Oct 1992 16:10:33 PDT
From:         "Don W." <webbd@CCVAX.CCS.CSUS.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Word-Mac List
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

Hi, Steve...

>Thanks, Don.  Is Word-Mac a good list?  Has anyone actually used it?
>I await the new address....

Word-mac was a very genteel list managed by a nice gentleman
at Haverford, for a while, until it move to Australia.  There
was not much traffic, but it was the kind of list where you
could post a query and reasonably expect some help.  Haven't
heard much from it since its move; it was quiescent for a
long while.  I once posted a set of Macro-maker macros that
I use in formatting downloaded text.

As for the address, it's another case of "it's in here
somewhere."  I thought a stray file might have been saved
in my Vax folders somewhere; I do that often just to keep
an on-line record of addresses.  But that's a temporary
measure; normally I copy them to Super NotePad.  Only when
reinstalling Super NotePad into my new computer, I mislaid
the original notes file.  But the address is probably in
a folder of downloads on another hard disk.  Somewhere!

I'll keep your message on Vax and look for the address.
Sorry to be so long-winded.. it's been a long day!

Don W. (DonWebb@CSUS.EDU)
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Tue, 13 Oct 1992 13:12:10 PDT
From:         "Don W." <webbd@CCVAX.CCS.CSUS.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Columbus
Comments: To: HISTORY@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu

>Don, that is a wonderful quotation.
>
>Tell me, what the hell does it mean?
>
>Lenny

Hi, Lenny...  Only fair that you should ask.  Paradoxically,
it's easier for me to translate Italian economic reports,
where each sentence is a paragraph, than to translate poetry
of such utter clarity and conciseness as Pascal's.  Others
will say it differently, of course, as I would, too, at other
times; the text itself suggests why.

"We sail upon an immense ocean, always uncertain, carried by
currents, ever forward.  Wherever we think we might find
a more solid mooring, it, too, floats and moves away from us.
And if we pursue it, it slips away and recedes, forever
beyond our grasp."

It may be objected, reasonably, that the nautical image is
only implied in the original, more delicate and universal
than I've made it.  But the occasion warrants it.  To me,
it evokes Columbus's fleet upon the ocean; his expectations,
which ultimately led him to a far greater reality; and our
attempts to understand history, which is itself an ocean of
causality.

Pascal is saying, of course, that the universe is a seamless
unity that cannot be comprehended from within.  The thought
has been expressed in another, equally personal way, by
a historian, rather than a mathematician: "The worst and
the best visions are true, and the ultimate truth that embraces
both is fantastically beyond comprehension.  Life is a flame,
burning in water, shining on a sea that has no shore, and far
overhead there are other flames which we call stars."
-- Bruce Catton, _Waiting for the Morning Train_

Don W. (DonWebb@CSUS.EDU)
From: welling@LET.RUG.NL (George Welling)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: Novels & History
Date: 13 Oct 92 21:18:51 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
              "FOXS@AXE.HUMBOLDT

I have just finished reading the Rabbit cyclus by John Updike: I think they
form a very good historical novel, portraying the modern US.
--
             =                         =                           =
          ___|_____                 ___|_____                   ___|_____
         /         __|____         /         __|____           /        __|____
      _|__        /      /     _|__         /      /      _|__         /      /
    /    /_______/______/     /    /_______/______/      /    /_______/______/
   /____/    | ______|__     /____/    | ______|__      /____/    | ______|__
______|______|_\  o o o | ______|______|_\  o o o |  ______|______|_\  o o o |
    \  o o o o o o o o  |     \  o o o o o o o o  |      \  o o o o o o o o  |
     \                 /       \                 /        \                 /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     George M. Welling - dep.Alfa-Informatica HCI - University of Groningen
     phone : +31 50 63 54 74  | fax : +31 50 63 49 00  | welling@let.rug.nl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Vms-Mail-To: HISTORY-L
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 22:35:28 PDT
From:         bob pasker <bob@HALFDOME.SF.CA.US>
Subject:      re: "Remarks on Currency and Banking" (historical document review)
Comments: To: well!rutvm1.BITNET!history@uunet.UU.NET

>          BANKING" was created by Nathan Appleton in 1841.
>
>               Nathan Appleton was an American businessman, banker, and
>          politician, born in New Ipswich, New Hamshire on October
>          6,1779.
>[other detritus deleted]
>                                   Robert E. McElwaine

i'll try to beat lenny to the punch:

with a reputation like this, why not just label him a jew and be done
with it!

--
-- bob pasker
-- bob@halfdome.sf.ca.us
--
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Tue, 13 Oct 1992 03:13:00 EDT
From:         Lenny <LABBEY@GTRI01.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Columbus
              12 Oct 1992 23:36:59 PDT from <webbd@CCVAX.CCS.CSUS.EDU>

Don, that is a wonderful quotation.

Tell me, what the hell does it mean?

Lenny
From: LABBEY@GTRI01.BITNET (Lenny)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: Alexandrian library (was Columbus)
Date: 15 Oct 92 02:57:14 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

I wonder if your man on the street had a copy of Mr. Aratus' star catalog?
Maybe in the Penguin edition?

Nope.  Mythology did it.  You learned mythology from everyone around you.
Mr. Aratus' book wasn't even a Book of the Month Club selection.

Lenny
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Tue, 13 Oct 1992 09:23:55 MET
From:         George Welling <welling@LET.RUG.NL>
Subject:      1790 census database

> >
> >
> > As far as I've been able to tell, none of the early US population census
> > data are available in electronic form. (Please correct me if that's wrong.)
> >
> > I'm considering initiating a project to digitize the printed 1790 data;
> > that is, for every household, the name of the "head of family," # free
> > white males 16+, #FWM <16, #FWF, #other free persons and #slaves. It is
> > grouped by state/county/town.
> >
> > I'm not a historian or a documents librarian, but an academic computing
> > staffer, so I'd like to ask this list if this would be a valuable database
> > and why.
> >
> > Steve Taylor
> > Emory University
> >
 I guess every demographic historian would like to have access to that
 database; I would in any case.

 --
              =                         =                           =
           ___|_____                 ___|_____                   ___|_____
          /         __|____         /         __|____           /        __|____
       _|__        /      /     _|__         /      /      _|__         /      /
     /    /_______/______/     /    /_______/______/      /    /_______/______/
    /____/    | ______|__     /____/    | ______|__      /____/    | ______|__
 ______|______|_\  o o o | ______|______|_\  o o o |  ______|______|_\  o o o |
     \  o o o o o o o o  |     \  o o o o o o o o  |      \  o o o o o o o o  |
      \                 /       \                 /        \                 /
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      George M. Welling - dep.Alfa-Informatica HCI - University of Groningen
      phone : +31 50 63 54 74  | fax : +31 50 63 49 00  | welling@let.rug.nl
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             =                         =                           =
          ___|_____                 ___|_____                   ___|_____
         /         __|____         /         __|____           /        __|____
      _|__        /      /     _|__         /      /      _|__         /      /
    /    /_______/______/     /    /_______/______/      /    /_______/______/
   /____/    | ______|__     /____/    | ______|__      /____/    | ______|__
______|______|_\  o o o | ______|______|_\  o o o |  ______|______|_\  o o o |
    \  o o o o o o o o  |     \  o o o o o o o o  |      \  o o o o o o o o  |
     \                 /       \                 /        \                 /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     George M. Welling - dep.Alfa-Informatica HCI - University of Groningen
     phone : +31 50 63 54 74  | fax : +31 50 63 49 00  | welling@let.rug.nl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: bob@HALFDOME.SF.CA.US (bob pasker)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: OED online
Date: 15 Oct 92 04:52:19 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Vms-Mail-To: HISTORY-L
Comments: To: well!rutvm1.BITNET!history@uunet.UU.NET

>From: cshub!pucc.Princeton.EDU!CFCRW%ECNUXA.BITNET
>Hello:
>I understand the Oxford English Dictionary is available on line.
>If so, how do I access it?
>Thanks.

i access the OED online at stanford, but one needs to have an
account there to do so.

--
-- bob pasker
-- bob@halfdome.sf.ca.us
--
From: BROWNH@CCSUA.CTSTATEU.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: 500 Anniversary of the Admiral's Voyage
Date: 14 Oct 92 22:34:52 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%"HISTORY%RUTVM1.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU"
Comments: To: HISTORY%RUTVM1.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU

Frank's address suggests he is Dutch.  I think there is a real danger
that we are moving toward fascism, although I seriously doubt one any-
thing at all like the Hitler regime. I won't bore list members with my
own list of symtoms or a boring philosophical diatribe on what makes
fascism tick, only to say that common sense and historical awareness
should make clear that fascism is a real danger as capitalist contra-
dictions deepen, that contradictions do seem to be deepening, and that
the signs of fascist degeneration can be perceived.  A while back on
this list there was a discussion of democracy. There was a frightening
unwillingness or inability to defend it. I know a few quaint monarchists,
but the choice today, despite Perot perhaps, is not between monarchy and
democracy, but between democracy and fascism.

Haines Brown (brownh@ccsua.ctstateu.edu)
From: LABBEY@GTRI01.BITNET (Lenny)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: Medieval-bashing (Was: Columbus)
Date: 13 Oct 92 21:32:23 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
              13 Oct 1992 12:30:00 EDT from <DGPAZ@CLEMSON.BITNET>

I used the word "langour" rather than "stupor" to describe the Middle Ages
because I realize that many things were achieved then.

Lenny
From: LABBEY@GTRI01.BITNET (Lenny)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: Alexandrian library (was Columbus)
Date: 13 Oct 92 07:14:03 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
              12 Oct 1992 23:41:13 -0500 from <adrummon@UXA.CSO.UIUC.EDU>

When the library was burned, a great portion of our knowledge of the
past went with it.  Maybe none of this knowledge would have survived
anyway, but at least it had a fighting chance in a library.

What we lost included astronomy and medicine.  These two sciences
were transmitted to us through the Arabs who had a peripheral knowledge
of European intellectual achievement.  We had to re-learn what we had
a thousand years earlier taught our neighbors.   A thousand years of
medical progress is a lot to lose.  Perhaps this helped to ease us
into our "Dark Age" if I may be so bold.

Did you ever wonder why all the star names are Arabic, while the legends
are Greek?  It is because the oral tradition of mythology could not be
destroyed, while star names...many, many of thousands of them...were
burnt.  The same applies to anatomy and pharmacology, though the names
escape me.   The earliest star catalog which we have is by Ulgh Begh.
Not a Greek or Roman gentleman.


Lenny <saddened by thinking of the fire>
From: stevenz@EQUINOX.UNR.EDU ((Steven D. Zink))
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Paula Hitler
Date: 15 Oct 92 10:10:40 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.2 PL16]

A high school teacher recently contacted our library to ask about Paula Hitler.
She was Adolf Hitler's sister and lived until 1960.  I am assuming she
lived under a different name; she used an alias during the war when
she worked in a hospital.  Other than the above facts, I have found
nothing else about her.  John Toland apparently interviewed her for
his work on Hitler.  No mention is made of her death in any of the
popular press, etc.  I also checked some of the psychohistories on
Hitler and there was no mention of her life after the war.

Anyone on the listserv have any suggestions about sources that would include
information about Paula Hitler?

PLEASE SEND ANY SUGGESTIONS OF SOURCES TO ME AT MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
I AM NO LONGER AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THIS LISTSERV.

Thank you,

Steven Zink
University of Nevada Libraries
Internet: stevenz@equinox.unr.edu
BITnet: stevenz@equinox
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Date:         Thu, 8 Oct 1992 10:01:00 EDT
From:         DGPAZ@CLEMSON.BITNET
Subject:      Re: Mindless smilies

Some laugh. I spew.

Denis
From: DGPAZ@CLEMSON.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.history
Subject: Re: Novels & History
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:07:00 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

There is the historical novel that is written "now" about "then."
    Gore Vidal, Julian
    Robert Graves, I, Claudius
    L. Sprague de Camp, Lest Darkness Fall (abt. 6th cent Italy)

But other novels written "now" purport to be about "then," but
in reality are about "now." (Almost all writing is about its
"now," but some are more so than others.)
    Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, ostensibly about the
        Gordon Riots of 1780, but in reality about the
        Chartist movement of 1839.
    John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman, about the
        1860s, to be sure -- You can tell that Fowles had
        read his Asa Briggs -- but also about how the
        1960s are so different.

Denis Paz
dgpaz@clemson.bitnet