Reading the Past

It's official. The them for July will be Plagues and Pandemics. I'm down to run it, so I'll be posting a theme intro shortly.

The theme for August is still somewhat up in the air; Roman Britain and Women at War (WW1) are neck and neck, so I'll be contacting the people who offered to run those and seeing whether either of them has schedule clashes or something that would solve the problem. Otherwise, there may have to be a tiebreaker poll!

It's time to choose a theme for July!

Notes:

I have included most of the themes that were "eligible", i.e. for which we had at least 3 suggestions of historical novels for that period, and someone prepared to run the theme. However, I removed the controversial/"issue" themes (on Judaism and Anti-semitism, and Homosexuality in Cold War America) because I think we should try for something easy for our first month.

Speaking of "easy", we only have 3 weeks advance notice on this theme, so I suggest you vote according to what you'd find easy to read up on and discuss at short notice. Perhaps a theme where you are already familiar with the period of history, or where you've already read one or more of the suggested books. Going forward, we'll have more time to prepare; I'll be posting the poll for August shortly after we decide on one for July.

With regard to the actual choice of theme, here's what we'll do: we'll allow a couple of days for voting, and then we'll look at the top few themes and contact the people who have volunteered to run them, to ask who's available to do it in July. Then based on that, we'll announce the first theme early next week.

In the poll below, you may choose up to three themes. Remember that you can come back and amend your vote at any time.



Here are links to the discussions of each theme, including the suggested reading we have so far:

Jacobite Rebellion
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=474#t474
Run by: damned_colonial

Roman Britain
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=730#t730
Run by: cofax7

Crimean War
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=986#t986
Run by: jest (depending on schedule)

Tudor England
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=3034#t3034
Run by: holyschist

Plagues and Pandemics
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5338#t5338
Run by: damned_colonial

Nelson's Navy
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5594#t5594
Run by: damned_colonial

Golden Age of Piracy
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=13786#t13786
Run by: damned_colonial

Wars of the Roses
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=15578#t15578
Run by: snakeling

US Civil War
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5082#t5082
Run by: lookingland

Industrial Revolution in Britain
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=20698#t20698
Run by: naraht

Women at War, WW1
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=21466#t21466
Run by: wychwood

WW1 in general
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=24538#t24538
Run by: nightmareink

Gold Rushes
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=6106#t6106
Run by: damned_colonial

19th century New Orleans
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=34010#t34010
Run by: al_zorra

Restoration
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=43226#t43226
Run by: damned_colonial

Just an update regarding suggested themes for this community. I'm tracking them in a Google Doc here, which you can always check to see the current state of things, but from time to time I'll also post in the comm. This is the first of these posts.

The plan as I see it is this:

1. We keep collecting themes for a few more days
2. Sometime later this week, say Thursdayish, we run a poll to choose themes for July and August
3. We'll announce those themes in about a week (say around the 8th June)

That means that there's a short advance reading period for July, but if we aim our votes at something "easy" for that month, it should be doable. Going forward, we'll try and give at least 2 months' advance notice for themes so you have plenty of time to acquire and read books.

Anyway, here's the current state of theme suggestions. An "eligible" theme is one that has 3 specific fiction recommendations already, at least one of them being available for free online, from Gutenberg or similar.

Please feel free to add new themes to the master theme suggestion post, or add book suggestions to existing themes, or nominate yourself to run a theme.


Eligible, with people to run them

Jacobite Rebellion
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=474#t474
Run by: damned_colonial

Roman Britain
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=730#t730
Run by: cofax7

Crimean War
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=986#t986
Run by: jest (depending on schedule)

Tudor England
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=3034#t3034
Run by: holyschist

Plagues and Pandemics
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5338#t5338
Run by: damned_colonial

Nelson's Navy
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5594#t5594
Run by: damned_colonial

Golden Age of Piracy
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=13786#t13786
Run by: damned_colonial

The Caribbean
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=16346#t16346
Run by: al_zorra
(I have suggested this be split out into time periods, eg. Golden Age of Piracy (see above), Slavery in the Caribbean, Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 20th century)

Eligible, needs volunteer to run

Wars of the Roses
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=15578#t15578

Ancient Rome, generally
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/760.html?thread=13304#t13304

Battle of Waterloo
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=3802#t3802

US Civil War
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5082#t5082

Colonial-era Africa
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=5850#t5850

Not yet eligible

Regency Romances
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=13530#t13530
Run by: damned_colonial

Gold Rushes
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=6106#t6106

Homosexuality in the 1930s
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

Cold War America
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

The Boer War
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

Fin de siècle Europe
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

18th-century Korea
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

Imperial Russia
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

Egyptology in Fiction
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=10970#t10970

Science and Technology (changing attitudes)
http://readingthepast.dreamwidth.org/474.html?thread=11738#t11738

Please suggest themes you'd like to see covered here! Cut and paste the following into a comment:

ETA: please put your theme in the subject of your comment!

Theme:
Are you prepared to run it? Yes/No
Suggested books, if you have them already:


What does it mean to run the theme?

1. At least one month in advance, you'll let everyone know about the theme and your suggested reading for it. You need to suggest at least 3 works of fiction.
2. On the first of the month, you will post a welcome/introduction/kickoff for the theme.
3. Throughout the month, you'll take an active part in discussion of the theme.

You do not have to be an expert on the theme to run it. You just need to have an interest in it.