While not being the book many fans wanted (and still haven’t gotten…), George R.R. Martin’s 2018 “Fire and Blood”, a fictional history prequel to "A Game of Thrones" is worthy of historical examination in its own right. Aside from being a lesson to historians in how to write entertaining, captivating history, it also offers insight into some of the bigger themes and ideas related to the study of history and the historical process. Why does history focus on war so much? Who determines which events are important in history and how they should be remembered? What happens if there are different perspectives on the same event? At what point do the "positives" of empire like infrastructure and commerce negate the negatives of conquest, brutality, and oppression? "Fire and Blood" is a fun standalone fantasy history book, but it's also more relevant to the real world than you might think.
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Episode 87: They Thought They Were Free
Episode 86: The Fate of Rome Part III-The Crisis of the Third Century
Episode 85: The Fate of Rome Part II-The Antonine Plague
Episode 84: The Fate of Rome Part I-Climate Change and the Roman Empire
BONUS: On Bullshit
Episode 83: China Tripping Part III-Informal History
Episode 82: China Tripping Part II-Scars of the Past
Episode 81: China Tripping Part I-Ordinary History
Episode 80: The Refugee Experience and Finding Equilibrium with Lan Cao and Harlan Van Cao
Episode 79: Myths About Slavery
Episode 78: The Star
Episode 77: Against the Grain Part IV-Collapses and Dark Ages
Episode 76: Learning to Be You
Episode 75: Against the Grain Part III-Mortality and Early States
Episode 74: Against the Grain Part II-The Domus Complex
Episode 73: Against the Grain Part I-The Civilizational Narrative
Episode 72: This is Water
Episode 71: The Allegory of the Cave and Simulation Theory
Episode 70: Did Hitler Fix the German Economy?
Episode 69: The Bosnian War Part VII-The Women of Srebrenica
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