BoredReading

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIb: Children and Childrearing

8 hours ago

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry in history

This is the back half of the third part of our series (I, II, IIIa) discussing the patterns of life for the pre-modern peasants who made up the great...

Irving Penn and Missy Miyake’s Creative Matchup, 1986-1999

6 hours ago

from Flashbak in history

“Through his eyes Penn-san reinterprets the clothes, gives them new breath, and presents them to me from a new vantage point” – Issey Miyake on Irving...

Greece's Greatest Naval Battle?

9 hours ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

Athens Vs Sparta

How Did Hadrian’s Wall Shape British History?

13 hours ago

from TheCollector in history

The Roman Empire stretched throughout Europe, expanding into the British Isles and establishing a significant presence that helped bring civilization...

Rampant Women On Sex Strike: Aubrey Beardsley’s 8 Erotic Illustrations For Lysistrata, 1896

4 hours ago

from Flashbak in history

As for old flames and lovers they’re none left. And since Milesians went against us, I’ve not seen a decent eight-inch dildo. Yes, it’s just leather,...

Tantra’s Complicated Relationship With the Modern Western World

2 days ago

from TheCollector in history

Tantra is a concept at once familiar and utterly foreign. It is everywhere and nowhere. Most of us would imagine that we have a clear idea of what...

How Important was the French Revolution?

2 days ago

from History Today Feed in history

How Important was the French Revolution? JamesHoare Thu, 08/07/2025 - 08:38

Taoism, the Philosophy of Flow & Embracing Effortlessness

2 days ago

from TheCollector in history

The struggle for control over every aspect of life is common in modern Western society. However, this approach can be juxtaposed with the ancient...

Logan Airport Versus Neptune Road, Photographing Boston’s ‘War’ of 1973

3 days ago

from Flashbak in history

“I look at these photographs and feel the overwhelming sensation of the noise of these low-flying aircraft. Yet I could leave what seemed like a war...

The Art of Deception: How WWII Was Won With Trickery

3 days ago

from TheCollector in history

In 1939, World War II erupted in Europe. This war, mechanized with tanks, trucks, and fighter planes, was faster and more mobile than any previous...

Rome’s Forgotten Exile

3 days ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

Power, betrayal, and the twenty-year silence of Julia the Younger.

The Age-Old Art Historical Debate of Colorito vs Disegno

3 days ago

from TheCollector in history

The Renaissance was a period of innovations and intellectualism, where artists and patrons of the art world both shared and debated new ideas and...

It Gets Worse.

3 days ago

from Trying to Understand the World in history

This time, there will be consequences.

What Was the Phoenician Trade Network?

3 days ago

from TheCollector in history

The Phoenicians’ success from the late Bronze Age on sat astride an already strong foundation. This base in what’s now Lebanon consisted of three...

What’s in a Pope’s Name?

3 days ago

from History Today Feed in history

What’s in a Pope’s Name? JamesHoare Wed, 08/06/2025 - 09:03

What Is the Book of Ezekiel About?

3 days ago

from TheCollector in history

From the first chapter, the Book of Ezekiel is packed with vivid imagery and colorful descriptions of God’s warnings to his people about the impending...

The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax

4 days ago

from History Today Feed in history

The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax JamesHoare Tue, 08/05/2025 - 09:06

The Statue of Athena Parthenos: Everything You Need to Know

4 days ago

from TheCollector in history

The statue of Athena Parthenos was a large-scale ivory and gold statue created in the 5th century BCE and dedicated to the goddess in the Parthenon on...

The Greek Hostage Who Wrote the Rise of Rome

5 days ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

The Talented Mr. Polybius

Can God Make You Act Immorally? Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling

5 days ago

from TheCollector in history

Fear and Trembling has become required reading for anyone interested in existentialism or Biblical exegesis. In this short text, Kierkegaard poses...

‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review

5 days ago

from History Today Feed in history

‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review JamesHoare Mon, 08/04/2025 - 09:08

What Is the Book of Daniel About?

5 days ago

from TheCollector in history

The Book of Daniel contains some of the most iconic scenes from the Bible. Children’s Bibles often depict Daniel in the lion’s den, or his friends in...

Weekly Wisdom Quiz

6 days ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

Sisyphus, Sophists, and Stoics

Is the Ghent Altarpiece a Work of Realism or Idealism?

6 days ago

from TheCollector in history

While conventionally hailed as a work of precise realism, the Ghent Altarpiece at Saint Bavo (otherwise known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) is...

Merry Mouse and His Trip to the Moon (1953)

a week ago

from Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera in history

My next 4 posts are celebrating children's illustrated fiction about going to the Moon. Even though I have been collecting these children's book for...

I Am a Stranger in This Country: An Outsider Photographs Britain and Ireland’s Travellers

a week ago

from Flashbak in history

In I Am a Stranger in This Country Berlin-based photograph Frederik Rüegger shows us pictures from the two years he spent visiting the Roma and...

How the Hospitallers Lost the Holy Land but Survived the Ages

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

During the Crusades, warriors devoted themselves to protecting the Holy Land from attack, dedicating themselves to God, the Church, and their mission....

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation

a week ago

from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry in history

This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great...

The Musket Wars That Changed Māori Society Forever

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

The Musket Wars, which occurred from the early 1800s to the 1840s, brought about a significant transformation in Māori society and warfare. This...

Secrets of the Sophists

a week ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

Man is the Measure of All Things...

The Lost People Who Built Babylon and Vanished

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

The Amorites were a Bronze Age people who were prevalent in the Levant and Near East. But for over a century, historians and archaeologists have...

Immigration and crime in the Nordics

a week ago

from Patterns in Humanity in history

A collection, description and visualization of data from the Nordic countries

The Tumultuous Ottoman Interregnum (Bayezid’s Fall & Civil War)

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Under Sultan Bayezid, “The Thunderbolt,” the Ottoman Empire had a series of stunning military victories in the Balkans and Western Asia. However,...

OpenAI's "Study Mode" and the risks of flattery

a week ago

from Res Obscura in history

Serious learning requires friction, frustration... and other humans

How the Crusades Reshaped Medieval Europe

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

From 1096 to about 1300 CE, during the Middle Ages in Europe, European monarchs and other royals sent armies to the Holy Land in the Middle East to...

Teenagers in Their Bedrooms in the 1990s

a week ago

from Flashbak in history

“Our bedrooms tell stories about us. They become the repository for memories, desire and self-image” – American photographer Adrienne Salinger When...

5 Alluring Female Portraits Painted by Gustav Klimt

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Gustav Klimt redefined the modern female portrait. He introduced elements that were previously reserved for decorative arts or medieval icons. Klimt...

Mental Health and the 17th-Century Ship’s Doctor

a week ago

from History Today Feed in history

Mental Health and the 17th-Century Ship’s Doctor JamesHoare Thu, 07/31/2025 - 08:19

What Did Sargon of Akkad and Sargon of Assyria Have in Common?

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Sargon of Akkad (ruled c. 2334-2279 BCE) and Sargon II of Assyria (ruled 721-705 BCE) were two of the greatest rulers in ancient Near Eastern history....

Living With Russia.

a week ago

from Trying to Understand the World in history

The alternative is what, exactly?

7 Unusual Saints of the Middle Ages

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

During the Middle Ages, devout Christians venerated holy people known as saints. As everyday Christians made it through the struggles of life, they...

The Ancient Art of Doing the Right Thing

a week ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

How Seneca’s Stoic Wisdom Can Help Us Live More Fairly

4 Major Monastic Reform Orders in Medieval Europee

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Although the tradition of Christian monasticism had its origins in 3rd-century Egypt and the Levant, its medieval form was firmly established by St....

Charles de Gaulle is Sentenced to Death

a week ago

from History Today Feed in history

Charles de Gaulle is Sentenced to Death JamesHoare Wed, 07/30/2025 - 09:02

What the Book of Nahum Says About the Fall of Nineveh

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Nahum prophesied about the imminent destruction of Nineveh and, by extension, the Assyrian Empire, though he did not prophesy directly to them....

Reduce and Seduce at the Teenage Beauty Farm

a week ago

from History Today Feed in history

Reduce and Seduce at the Teenage Beauty Farm JamesHoare Tue, 07/29/2025 - 08:43

The Forgotten Irish Kingdom in Dark Age Britain

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

It is well known that large numbers of Irish settlers migrated to western Britain, especially western Wales, during the early Dark Ages. This was...

Saving Jesus: An Interview with Broadcasting Legend Melvyn Bragg, 1984

a week ago

from Flashbak in history

“I wear suits now basically because it’s easier if you are doing a television programme to wear the same thing all the time. You don’t want to go in...

What Lao Tzu Believed and How It Shaped Taoism

a week ago

from TheCollector in history

Lao Tzu (Laozi) is a complex figure, which makes capturing his essence through words difficult. This is not only because of the minimal information we...

The Absurd Truth Behind Our Daily Grind

a week ago

from Classical Wisdom in history

The Myth Of Sisyphus And Lessons In Absurdity