Historical Resources on the Web

Updated 24 June 2014 — Below the fold is a list of historical sources on the internet, this includes both primary and secondary source collections.   I am constantly updating this list when I run across useful sites.   Please point me at sites I miss in the comments section.

More after the Jump…

Happy New Year

I hope all my readers have a Happy New Year!  Especially those troops deployed, may they stay safe, come home healthy to their families, and most of all be Victorious!

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas with a special thought to all military personnel who have to spend this holiday away from their family as they serve their countries.  They are not forgotten.

Apologies Again

I just want to apologize for the lack of recent posts.  I have had semester finals recently and have understandably  I think, concentrated on those  to the detriment of MHUS.  I hope to rectify that soon.  To my loyal readers, thanks for your forbearance and perseverance; I hope to get back to more substantial posts shortly..

My First Peer-Reviewed Article

I received notification this morning that my first Peer-Reviewed article has been accepted for publication.   It is an annotated bibliography of Frederick the Great for Oxford University Press (OUP) Online and it has taken me awhile to write it up.   The process of writing it is pretty interesting in and of itself and I am going to describe how that went. I was first contacted by OUP last November asking if I had any interest in writing an article.   The initial contact had the proposed subject and that Dr. Dennis Showalter is the Editor-in-Chief for the project. Because I get blog related spam and fishy requests and … More after the Jump…

Contributor Request

What I would like to do is ask if any of the regulars or even other visitors to the site feel up to making the occasional contribution? I won’t promise to take on everybody who wants to contribute but I will fairly consider everyone. I am looking for two to three people to start with who would write 1 piece a month or so. I would make you authors on the site and you would have the ability to write and publish your own stuff.  If you are interested contact me at the following link: Patrick Shrier

More after the Jump…

Update on SFC Walter Taylor

Saw this update on SFC Taylor’s case yesterday and decided to add it to my page as well.   From the LA Times: Court-martial decision postponed for soldier in Afghan shooting.   His Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a Grand Jury, was held last week and now the case in in the hands of the reviewing officer.   She will review the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing and then make a recommendation to Taylor’s Brigade commander who will endorse that recommendation or not and then send it to the JMTC commander in Graf who is the General Court Martial Convening Authority.   The JMTC commander makes the final decision on whether this case should go to trial or if Taylor should face, a lesser Court Martial, administrative punishment, or even no further action.

All that being said, I would guess that at a minimum Taylor faces a Special Court Martial, probably a Special BCD.   The nature of what has been reported so far makes it clear that Taylor is being prosecute as an example to others.   Whether that is good military policy is besides the point, the army does stuff like this sometimes.   I will say that in my experience, if it does go to a Court Martial Taylor will get a fairer hearing than he would in a civilian court.   His CM Panel, the military version of a jury, will consist of people his grade or higher both officer and enlisted if he opts that, and he would be stupid not to.   The panel are people that understand the military and the pressures in combat.

I have no worries that if it goes to trial he will win.   The problem I have is that even if he wins, his career is now damaged because of the massive publicity surrounding the case.   That is something he cannot get away from.   It will also haunt him as he goes in front of a selection board for promotion.   The perception could be that he hurt the army and he could therefor later be denied promotion or even selected for elimination and the case could have nothing overt to do with it but it will always be there.   The army is a small place and institutional memory is long, especially about people who are perceived as tarnishing the Army Reputation.

A Travesty Calling for Action

In today’s edition of Stars and Stripes and the LA Times is an article about a combat engineer facing charges for actions he took in combat in Afghanistan last year.  The gist of the story is that the soldier involved shot an unarmed female in the middle of a firefight who was moving towards the rear of her vehicle.  The description of the incident from the article is here: His convoy was reeling from a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers were engaged in combat with insurgents and a mysterious black car had just screeched to a stop in the middle of the firefight. Some nine minutes later, a black door opens. Second 1: A … More after the Jump…

Updated Comment System

I have updated the comment system to use Disqus instead of the native WP comment sytsem.  I am in the process o migrating everything to the new platform so it may be a few days before all the old comments show up.

A side note is that I will have more pure history posts coming in the next few weeks as I try to refocus the blog back towards history and somewhat away from political topics.  I am going to strive to give my regular readers more of what drew you to the site in the first place.

Surgery Update

OK, this a quick update because I can only type with my left hand. The surgery went well yesterday and now i am sitting around learning that i am definitely not left-handed.  the drain gets removed today and i should find out how long until i can use both arms again.  i will guess 2-3 weeks.  i have some book reviews i will put up in the meantime but nothing substantive.  i have big one about the Marian reforms of the roman army that will get [posted once i can really type again and get it finished.

Posting Hiatus

 

I will have shoulder surgery today and will probably not be doing a lot of typing for at least the next two weeks when I will have to be in a sling.  Unfortunately, it is my right shoulder getting operated on and I am right handed.  I am very curious to see how well I operate a mouse left handed.  I will still be checking and approving comments but there will not be any new posts until my shoulder heals up enough for me two type with two hands.

The Tyranny of the Good Intentioned

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” ― C.S. Lewis

 

I could not say it any better myself.  Lord, deliver us from those that think they know better than we do.

De Re Militari is back up

Just a quick info post.

Anybody who has tried to follow the link to DeReMilitari on the sidebar of the blog in the past few weeks has discovered that Google says it is a malware hosting site.   They were hacked at the beginning of the month but are now back up.   They are having to completely rebuild their site because apparently the malware got them good.   So far they have their review section up because it was not affected by the hack.   The rest of their site should come back up over the next few weeks or months.

Glad to see them back they are an invaluable starting point for Medieval research.

SLDN Stay out of my Inbox

I have gotten two emails over the last twelve hours at my @military-history.us address from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network(The Gays in the Military Advocacy Group), I don’t for the life of me know why.   I have never supported the repeal of DADT and was sure happy that I retired from the military less than a month after its official repeal.   I am guessing that since I have a military themed site and have not really commented on DADT they thought I might support them.   They could not be more wrong. I have strong moral reservations to homosexuality in general and personal objections to homosexuals serving openly. … More after the Jump…