It's History Carnival Time Again!

Welcome to History Carnival #29! Enter and treat your brain to some history candy.

We begin with the time before written history, the upper Paleolithic, with a discussion of early art at John Hawks's blog.

And now, Ancient Rome. Archaeolog writes about Hannibal in the Alps, with wonderful photographs. At Philobiblon, Natalie Bennett tells readers what the Romans did to women in early Britain. The answer is unpleasantly fascinating. Memorabilia Antonina brings Roman influence from the past into the present and the future as we might imagine it, beginning with James (Tiberius) Kirk.

From the Romans to the Dark Ages, which according to Got Medieval, were truly dark, especially as presented in the movies. (Warning: funny post. When read in the right fram of mind, it will cause you to spray coffee on your keyboard.) In case you haven't get noticed, Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog, and T-Shirts. Master Chaucer reminds us how to properly celebrate Spring, by makinge melodye.

Another Damned Medievalist excoriates a reporter's misrepresentations on finding a knight templar's tomb, and receives a communique from the historian who found it.

The Gypsy Scholar writes from Seoul, South Korea on medieval depictions of Christ as a warrior.

Blogging the Renaissance has a great post about The Book of Sports (1633). Perhaps we should have our own Book of Sports to combat obesity?

It's a shame that the engraver Matthaeus Merian did not do the illustrations for the Book of Sports. Giornale Nuovo reports on Merian and his engravings.

Ancarett of Ancarett's Abode looks at a recent article which she argues romanticizes women's past in her post "Feminism Kills Again!" We certainly shouldn't romanticize the women Laura James of Clews: The Historic True Crime Blog writes about in "The Best Jail Cell in Paris."

At No Great Matter, a bit of environmental history. It seems even the German "wilderness" is man-made. Other man-made things in the Carnival: automatons, which, as Digital History Hacks points out, have a history of their own.

The Old Foodie writes about Dr. Livingstone's Breakfast. I bet Dr. Livingstone would have enjoyed a $40 omelette too!

Jonathan Dresner writes about indicted Cheney staffer Lewis Libby's novel, The Apprentice, set in Meiji Japan at Frog in a Well Japan.

In American History, Caleb McDaniel asks, Is the Constitution a pro-slavery document?

For historians of the American Civil War, armchair and professional alike: on the events of April,1865 at Civil Warriors, and Kevin Levin writes about the prevalence of the Lost Cause in Civil War art.

Ralph Luker is known for giving history buffs a daily history-minded reading list over at Cliopatria, but in this post he shares with readers some of his fabulous scholarly work on Reverend Vernon Johns.

Axis of Evel Knievel analyzes comparisons between Bush and Truman.

Hiram Hover contemplates what this year's Guggenheim Fellowships say about the state of the field.

The state of the field might be that United States history is becoming transnational history. Inspired by Thomas Bender's article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (which, unfortunately, is subscriber-only), Caleb McDaniel, Robert KC Johnson, Rob MacDougall, and Coffee Grounds debate the transnational history of the US. Cliopatria is hosting a symposium on Bender's work tomorrow, which I will link to when it becomes available.

But for those who continue to believe borders matter, Boston History tells us why even small boundaries, like that between Roxbury and the South End, matter.

Sergey Romanov asks of some primary documents, when did the Soviets know about Auschwitz?

Nathanael Robinson writes about history and memory among the Germans after World War II at The Rhine River.

In other primary sources, El Tarikpresents some great primary material on the 1956 Suez Crisis.

And now, for our special History Carnival Theme, Taxes and their Histories. On April 15th in the United States, The Taxman Cometh for us all, even Presidents. Streetsideinvestor tells us the top five tax troublemakers ever. World History Blog asks if high taxes cause decline. For the interested, the Tax History Project provides wonderful links to all sorts of historical perspectives on taxation at home and abroad.

Now, a word from your host. This History Carnival received over fifty nominations (that's right, count 'em!) A sincere thank you to all who submitted posts, including Sharon, Alun, Natalie, and Jonathan, all of whom submitted many posts. This Carnival represents an embarassment of riches for your host; I could not include many great posts for want of space and coherence.

Sharon Howard of Early Modern Notes runs the History Carnival, and is always looking for new hosts. You see, it is very easy! Just sit back and wait for the blogosphere to flood your inbox with great history writing.

The next History Carnival will be held on May 1 at Clioweb, hosted by Jeremy Boggs. Email your submissions to Jeremy at jboggs AT gmu DOT edu, or use the handy submission form at Blog Carnival.