Welcome to History Carnival the Nineteenth

What better way to celebrate the Day of the Dead than to read about the past? We begin today with some scary posts to fit the mood of the season: Little Professor lists some Victorian Halloween reads; Earmarks writes of werewolves in early modern theatre; Rob MacDougall offers up Clio's Nightmares, a scary collection of alternative pasts.

We go now from the frightening to the entertaining. Natalie Bennett brings us good old fashioned gossip from ladies of quality.

What were women’s experiences with books in medieval Europe? At Pecia, a detailed post on the manuscripts of Christine de Pisan (the post is in French but the beautiful illuminations speak all languages) and at Philobiblon, a review of new work on women and literacy in late medieval England. On modern womens’ reading habits, Blue Earth Notes asks what her grandmothers read.

At Frog in a Well, Alan Baumler gives another view of women’s experience while considering the cultural conventions of modern Chinese women in love. Love was not so scripted for this pair of lovers: Laura James recounts what bad things happen when a 50-year-old man marries a 20-year-old woman.

From crime in early twentieth-century France to crime in seventeenth-century England:
Sharon at Early Modern Notes considers material evidence in early modern English courts, and Jonathan follows up at Head Heeb. If we go deep into (a)musings’ archives, we find murder committed by Servant Ayres, with a lathing hammer, in the bedroom. Detrimental Postulation joins this criminal conversation with some great information on being your own judge and jury in the British Empire. The Patahistorian offers links on the punishment side of things, with this post on the history of the electric chair.

If Early Modern England is your thing, then some musings on Locke’s First Treatise are just the ticket. If you prefer Foucault to Locke, Acephalous provides some interesting analysis on the King of Postmodern. To complement Acephalous’s comments on Foucault, we also have Andrew at Air Pollution on Bourdieu and the history of sexuality.

Cliopatria hosts a symposium on Sean Wilentz’s New York Times article entitled “Bush’s Ancestors.” Spinning Clio responds.

John Hawks asks if Genghis Khan's Y chromosome caused the Mongol conquest. At Blog Them Out of the Stone Age, Mark Grimsley ponders the relationship between war and society (as opposed to war and genetics) while commenting on the teaching opportunities afforded by Civilization IV.

A World of Trash and Treasure reminds us that Consumption is More than Eating. In order to consume properly, of course one needs advertising. Jeremy at Clioweb tells us about Native Americans in early twentieth-century advertising.

At the Rhine River, a meditation on Konrad Adenauer and the legacy of the Holocaust in Germany. At Respectful Insolence, the offensiveness of using blogs for Holocaust denial.

J. Otto Pohl ruminates on the Balkars under Soviet Rule.

At Regions of Mind, a post about urbanization and suburbanization in the US.

History blogs (including my own) were oddly silent on the passing of civil rights icon Rosa Parks, but LaShawn Barber has a nice collection of links about Mrs. Parks and the onset of the Civil Rights Movement.

And now, for some metablogging from your host: For those of you who responded to my request for information from grad student and junior faculty bloggers, I have not forgotten you or your responses. If I can get the job market to go away this weekend, I will try to get my synthesis of this material up!

To show just how seriously the history blogosphere takes good academic blogging, Cliopatria announces the Cliopatria Awards. Check it out!

The Twentieth Edition of the History Carnival will be hosted by Joanna at Tigerlily Lounge on 15 November.
Email her your entries at mythicalbrit[at]gmail.com