I had a history professor years ago who said 'every historian is a wannabe dictator'. Over the years I've read works by commies, monarchists, anarchists, racists, zealots, doomers and dreamers. I've reached two conclusions: the predictive power of history is marginal at best; and, the professor wasn't wrong. Well, I'm off to watch 'A Meticulous Analysis of History'...Narf.
I think we are all deep down wannbe to be dictators, whether we know it or not. Human beings are innately authoritarian at our core. That's the reason why I despise left Wing ideology so much, they're in complete denial about it the reality and are often hypocritical about it. Not to say the right has its own authoritarian dispositions, of course it does. I just think the right is somewhat more honest about it and at least acknowledged humans can't be changed. Not that excuses them and it's still bad, but they're less pretentious.
@@GrimFaceHunterMost true, fanatics are often insecure people who've lost faith in themselves as a person so they subsume themselves and causes an ideologies as a means of creating value for themselves a person. Doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum they're on. Such people are never satisfied and always get worse because they're inferiority complexes are always nagging at them regardless of how successful they are, and thus always double down.,
I... yeah. That shouldn't make me question how many human lives, how much personal toil and risk, that should be worth but it does. Its an indictment of a lot of things, of me and a lot of things that aren't me, that it does. That isn't good.
Same :( Everyone talks about 'The Worst Timeline' RE: 1984 universal-wussiness..... but sometimes it does indeed hit home that WE QUITE LITERALLY ARE in (at least one distinct flavor of) that timeline. What is the 'spark' of human dignity? How did so many people not get it?
@@-_----- I have feared that myself, even looking at something post apocalyptic like Mad Max or Escape from N.Y. It seems like we are on the verge of such a world or worse. Even Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 offer a small glimpse of hope.
Literally insane this channel isn't bigger than it is. Very entertaining and explained perfectly. Been subscribed for a while but just now got around to binging.
True, but it's been growing a lot, when I first stumbled upon It was around 5,000 subscribers, It's grown slowly but steadily. A lot of channels like this I've been showing up a lot lately on UA-cam in the last couple of years, I think it's part of a trend which people are starting to realize that modern society is largely a sham and that we've been set mostly false dogma the last couple of decades about the world. The result people are looking for answers elsewhere outside mainstream outlets, Ferial historian is doing his part. Don't know if this phenomenon will lead to anything or not, but it's a good thing on to itself, and a step in the right direction.
13:20 Damn, that quote pretty much sums up a great deal of what goes on in the modern age. It lands and goes down very hard. I've heard of this book from whatifalthist, and thought about buying it then realize how expensive it was. Hope someday we can get a reprint at least in digitized form.
Eighteen years ago, I saw this book on a clearance rack in Barnes and Noble, and loved the cover art. The cover art is beautiful AND the book is good. I am very glad I bought it then. I should probably reread it, though.
This book stuck with me. Hard to find. (I used interlibrary loan). Fascinating take on cyclical history and how an enlightened elite can manage them to their advantage.
I read this book when it first came out and it became a fast favorite. It's been awhile, but I recall Judson's style being easy to read and engaging and the world building was great; it was quite the page turner. Had no idea it'd gone off market -- I'll have to check and see if I still have it!
YES! I've wanted to read this book for ages and now a review from one of my favourite youtube channels! FitzPatrick's War is such an interesting concept.
In their conversation on King David, Fitzpatrick and Robert take an odd position. A common one, but odd. They accept as truth the biblical claim that King David was loved by God, but reject the biblical account of him showing mercy to King Saul or his son Absalom. For a man as steeped in blood as David to show that mercy or contrition would be a miracle, and their historical reading rejects that miracle, though they nominally believe in miracles. The central tragedy of the Yukons is that they might have faith in God - but only when it doesn't contradict their deeper faith in History. You see it in Hood's speech before the Chinese assault as well. An excellent read, thanks for the recommendation.
One aspect not mentioned in this review is importance of the idealised view of Roman Catholicism as a liberating and humanising force in the narrative as opposed to the Established Church which is a neo-Erastian take on the Church of England.
The biggest thing that attracted me to the work back in the day was how it reminded a great deal all the alternate history books I loved reading at the time. Being essentially that, plus a great deal of inspiration from the punk genres and retrofuturism.
Speaking of Alexander the Great inspired characters and stories presented like as if they were actual historical accounts , I would love to see you do a video on ''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''. It's a Japanese series of Space Opera novels, turned into an Anime that run from the late 80's to the mid-90's, recently they produced a remake Anime series. One of the main themes is: " what is better, a benevolent dictatorship or a representative democracy?" Also, the 2 main characters are heavily inspired by Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin & Alexander the Great ( he even has his own version of Hephaestion) Would be interesting to hear your thoughts about this.
Cannot recommend this enough. If you don't have time to read the books, watching the older show is a solid substitute, as it follows the books with an eery accuracy. It is closer to a historical play by play as opposed to your typical condensed adapation.
I'm firmly in the benevolent dictatorship camp. Democracy is mostly a placebo, though it does prevent something worse: a malevolent dictatorship, which is also why benevolent dictatorships are high risk high reward affairs - they get things done and provide a good standard of living but can turn on a dime into something far worse than any of the other options.
I have owned this book for years. i have considered for months recommending it to you in the comment section of your vids...but i am pleased and rather unsurprised you beat me to the punch! good vid as always! And your ending off with the cappuccino is just the perfect last comment for video, giving the word's meaning in setting.
It hits home that I have books that it takes me years to finally read despite excitedly buying them and wanting to read. This does sound quite the book to toss on that pile as I like both history and alternate history, or the fictional toying with history to see if it is great men or cycles or random nonsense. Every discourse do far has been entertaining, informative and thought provoking. Bravo!
This was my favorite book in high school, hit me hard as a history nerd, standard dude with hero and conquest fantasies, and a close familiarity and healthy fear of the Christian dominionism at the core of the villainous ideology.
@@feralhistorian I second this recommendation. LoGH has many excellent points for consideration. Especially in these times, with the collapsing Western World.
Are we talking the original 1982 novel, the 1988 anime or the one that's been produced since 2018? Adaptations spanning four decades are going to emphasize different notes.
Thanks for letting us know it's available on Archive. I've wanted to read this book for a while but have always balked at the price. It's definitely going on the reading list.
I just recently recorded one on Dies The Fire, so that'll be up sometime next month. Many have asked for The Peshawar Lancers, which I'm finally getting around to reading, but I really want to cover The Sky People at some point.
I don't know if you take suggestions on here but if you do, Conan the barbarian is always neat to talk about. I recently rewatched repo men(not repo man, repo men) that was actually really interesting. if you want to look at something on the wackier side there's Samurai jack. It's Ideas were very odd and it's not his best work by far but I thought that Coppola's Megalopolis was very interesting and a little Zardaz...ish.
Since we're on the subject of 'punk' subgeneras, have you ever considered comparing Neuromancer and the Difference Engine? William gibson had a hand in writing both and it make an interesting compare and contrast like in the 1984/We/Things to Come video.
@@Brainstorm-Lore Depends on the story, the medium and story have to match up. I think someone could make a good movie out of Fitzpatrick's War, but at the expense of half its depth. On the other hand, you can watch Star Wars with no sound and still get it, but in novelization it's kinda flat. I prefer doing videos about films though. It's nice to have something to cut too and it's a lot faster to find specific clips in a single movie than multiple seasons of tv.
@@feralhistorian fair point. I love books best of all simply because I love reading and because your only limitations as a writer are how well paced you make it. How long did it take to write Nint's Gate?
@@Brainstorm-Lore Ninti's Gate took about a year, but mostly on weekend mornings. But it also started as a prologue to another book, which has been a much longer process. The worldbuilding and characters were already worked out long before I started, and I knew all the key things that had to happen on day one.
I've been watching for a couple of weeks now, and I've thoroughly enjoyed many of your videos. They've brought me quite alot to think off, much more than I thought I was able to, to be honest. I'd like to recommend a book, like many others have before, The Ice people, by René Barjavel. It was written in 1968, and decries the Cold war through a genuinely tragic story. Nevertheless, great video, enjoyed it!
FAVORITE BOOK so so so happy you made this, I was going to suggest it if you haven't yet. I love how you can read it from a variety of perspectives, but to me it was always a kind of satire of history and white identity The scene in the book where Bobby and Buck chat in the garden of the consul's palace is brilliant
I have nothing of substance to say whatsoever. I enjoy your videos and find them universally well-reasoned and often raising interesting points for consideration that never crossed my mind when reading/watching/playing whatever piece of media is being discussed. Or, functionally, just interesting recommendations for stuff I've never run into. Keep on keepin on dude. Commentary. Engagement. Subscription metrics. P.S. Play some more videogames maybe.
Excellent book from an underratedly excellent writer -- his *The Martian's General's Daughter* is also a great read, a future parallel retelling of the fall of rome, complete with Mexico City as the Constantinople of a near global American Empire (Mars being an analog for far-flung roman britain), a machine plague undermining the empire's ability to project global power, and a Commodus-like emperor who slaughters exotic animals during public spectacles with a high powered sniper rifle. I suspect it is easier to get ahold of than *Fitzpatrick's War* (only edition is a 2009 trade from Pyr iirc).
I read this book early last year after being recommended it and I thought it was informative, but became a slog halfway through. Excited to hear your thoughts on it. Maybe you could talk about Ernst Junger's books some? I'd LOVE to hear your take on Eumeswil and the Anarch archetype.
funny this is kind reminder of the german general notes in herman wouk winds of war and war and remembrance who had believed in the regime ideology and how he try to justify his actions after the war
Fabulous that you read the book. I'm just curious about how you read it because it's out of print and the last remaining print now costs hundreds of dollars. The internet archive like myself? continue watching and you answered my question thank you
The same scanned copy from archive.org is up as a pdf at Library Genesis (libgen.li) and we can hardly call it piracy when the publisher won't sell the book.
You can find the pdf on library genesis. Beyond that you’re occasionally find it for cheap at used book stores. I found a near mint condition copy a few months ago for $3.
"Prophet isnt any weirder a middle name than "Kingdom" as in Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Another suggestion i look forward to reading, how does one figure out if they disagree with a historian?
There are four types of fiction: romance, confessional, anatomy and composite. Fitzpatrick's War is composite fiction in that it combined the former three types of fiction.
The publisher quietly disowned it and refused to issue reprints. Multiple third parties have worked with Judson trying to re-issue this book, along with his prequel and sequel to Fitzpatrick’s War. So far there hasn’t been any luck.
I’m a huge fan of Judson. He stopped public engagement a decade ago, but Judson still responds to emails. He’s said that he still has other books in the works.
I read it almost twenty years ago, hadn't thought about it since until earlier today when I watched a documentary about early zeppelins and the pictures made me think of the cover. And now this pops up in my feed. 🤔
Never even heard of Fitzgerald's war, but now I have to find it for the commentary alone. Is there any chance that the ouevre of one Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger might be examined? I've become fixated on those stories ever since I read "The Game of Rat and Dragon".
I've been nebulously planning to talk about Game of Rat and Dragon for awhile, as part of a series on sci-fi shorts/novellas from the 50s'-70s. I'm hoping to be able to devote more time to such things in the coming year.
@@feralhistorian Happy to hear this... or read it :). I await eagerly, but with patience. Funny thing, just the other day I was joking about what sort of story the folks at Games Workshop would have if they found inspiration with Cordwainer Smith instead of Frank Herbert. You'd have an Instrumentality of Man instead of an Imperium (or a God-Emperor), and instead of Space Marines, sexy cat-girls (or girly-girls, or dog-derived undergirls who smelled of romance all the time - except for the first five minutes after they had hot antiseptic showers). The only flaw I can see in "The Game of Rat and Dragon" is the absence of C'mell. Guess that Lady May will have to do.
Hello, Not sure I’ll get a response but worth a try! So far I’ve read High crusade & Fatherland after you’ve made videos on them. Both have been fantastic! Reading fatherland also led me to reading SS-GB currently. It inspired the author to write Fatherland so naturally it’s also very good. Could you make a video dedicated to book recommendations? I can’t be the only one who would appreciate older books getting exposure.
I probably won't make a straight-up recommendations video, but I'm definitely going to keep covering some older books. There's several I need to re-read before I do videos on them, and an ever-growing list of suggestions that I need to read for the first time. I've easily gotten as many good recommendations here as I've given. We're all discovering new things.
It's a comical little rig. The mic is a Saramonic SR-WM2100 (about 100 bucks at B&H) and the camera is a well-traveled GoPro Hero 3+ cludged onto a tripod mount with the receiver for the mic zip-tied to the back. One of these days I'll upgrade. Probably when something breaks.
@@ExoSquadOffical No mods. Sometimes in editing I'll bring the brightness down 5% and the contrast up 5%, but that's it. Straight 10 year old GoPro. With no viewscreen, which is why the shot composition usually isn't great. It's time to upgrade. I just have to figure out the best option.
Holey, moley, this obscure but amazing book has seen an amazing revival! Whatifalthist mentioned it at the time I was reading it and so I had to review it as well. It also seems like I snapped up one of the last affordable printed copies.Theodore Judson, get this thing reprinted!
Not to nitpick, but did no outside forces find out about the Timermen's control of the EMP satellites and seek to take them out with mechanically guided missiles that would explode into a form of buckshot, creating a space debris field that would trash a large chunk of the satellites?
That would be a threat, yes, and the Timermen probably put a lot of effort into preventing it. They have the only satellite network on Earth, and it does recon and communications as well as EMP storms, so they'd know if anyone was doing test flights. That could be one of the reasons they orchestrated the war: China was getting too close to developing orbital rockets and had to be taken down.
My question is if people know about the Timermen and that they’re responsible for the EMP satellites and the subsequent death and destruction they brought why weren’t they all hunted down and given a good cappuccino?
@@feralhistorian yeah would it be liquified natural gas to optimise weight, fuel economy and propulsion you cant really shovel coal on an airplane? Would it be Rendered down coal and shale like how the Germans wished to pursue autarky or would Fitzpatrick's realm have access to oil and natural gas reserves? They obviously have experience with steam engines even havin mechanised, and timed production lines I can see them having better steam engines for prop planes? Are the Airships Helium, Hydrogen or Hot Air? Do the Timekeepers keep steam power for aircraft to keep them in low altitude because flames need oxygen thus keeping areonautical infrastructure there monopoly and giving them a significant lead against foreigners and the Yukons thus keeping the electrical storm satellites in their hands alone and unnassaisable.
How long on average do you think it takes you to internalize anything new that you've encountered to incorporate it into your total being and be aware ,where you will not lose yourself as you first learn it and wait until you've turned that knowledge into your knowledge?
@@slygore it was published about five years before e-books were common. Most mainstream publisher contracts from the late 80s onward ensure that the publisher retains the write to publish ebook and audio versions of the book. This means that an e-book or audio version only gets published if the publisher is willing to do the editing work and that the author has no say in the matter.
Well, it is always good to get my late Friday Night fix. I wonder if you will discover BBCs Blakes 7 (so cheap they couldn't afford the apostrophe). When I mention it to my US friends few of them have heard of it. It is a great 1980s dystopian sci-fi show. Ripe for a Reboot. May those who make things for "a modern audience" never discover it.
Blake's 7 is absolutely worth a look. I only saw random episodes as a kid but I've since been watching it in order. It's taking awhile, for whatever reason my wife isn't interested in watching this one with me, but I want to cover it eventually.
Can you make your videos little bit more soluble in terms of explaination? By that i mean even more simplified for younger and 2nd or 3rd english language speaker. At times i find it difficult to comprehend the depth in few of the parts.
I liked this book. It's memorable. However, I felt that The Martian General's Daughter made a better book. Also yes, I have a copy of A Patriot's History of the United States specifically to challenge myself. I'll read it one day.
I once recommended someone read _a Patriot's History of the US_ and _a People's History of the US_ in tandem on the grounds that you can learn something from both books, and you also have something you can throw in each hand.
I grew up with several well-entrenched myths, which I discovered after years of reading and research, were worse than myth, but deliberate lies by historians and members of the press who prioritized their politics over the the truth. The first was that Nazism and Fascism were "Right-wing". In truth, they are the flip side of the Communist coin. But try telling someone on the Left that the Nazis were Lefties too. Leftists have no problem admitting that really horrible people like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot were Leftists, but when it comes to their favorite villain, they'll die before accepting Hitler was a Leftist. Because muh' politics over the truth. And the second, which is equally a lie, and equally hard to disabuse people of, is that the German military was superior to the Allied armies - especially the Western allies. Again, nothing could be further from the truth, by try convincing all the Wehraboos that their precious Wehrmacht sucked. Like the first lie, this was a lie enshrined by political activists - hint: the same ones saying Hitler was "Right-wing" - masquerading as historians.
I've found that David Irving gives a lot of great primary source information sometimes, but he also sometimes presents things in a misleading way. I'd see read Irving but verify his sources. If the source can't be located (some of his stuff is from interviews that are not recorded or transcribed) I'd regard it as apocryphal.
All historians in academia today if they're not fighting the echo chamber historians, then theyre fighting the protectors of the federal myths and if theyre not fighting the federal myths then their fighting to publish their account of what happened for their own agenda. Predicting the future while using history sometimes works but other times it's betting against God, i think Fitzpatricks war is a nice book.
In your closing statements out for a cappuccino I can only imagine in our real world how many ancient texts have linguistic barriers like that like how in the 1920s the word gay meant happy or jovial imagine future historians combing through our history. Then coming to their own conclusion that the greatest generation(silent generation) was a bunch of bashful unapologetic homosexuals. Their source material being a damaged record of "Al Jolson sitting on top of the world" I mean no hate towards this group I just find it rather humorous in a cynical kind of way.
Personally, I find it a little funnier imagining that someday "gay = homosexual" falls out of fashion and "gay = joyous" settles back into its old spot. Then the future historians read about the "Gay Rights Movement" and see old posters that say "It's Okay to Be Gay!" and uncover references to protests surrounding what the outraged crowds call "Don't Say 'Gay' Laws" and scramble off into their archives, wondering if they've somehow collectively forgotten some kind of strange but massively influential Pro-Depression philosophical uprising, and if it had anything to do with the "Doomers" they've read about in contemporary records.
It was never explicitly stated, but it’s assumed that the publisher disowned the book when it was pointed out that the novel’s back story involved global genocide.
@@feralhistorian It's not public domain (published in 2004) but it's essentially orphaned by the publisher for reasons I haven't entirely sorted out. And that's probably why I never heard of it. 20 years ago I was not in a position to keep up with my sci fi jones. Thanks! Another poster has said it was ditched by the publisher? Because it involved global genocide? Hell, half of science fiction wouldn't have been written if not for that premise.
This book was good but the wife character was intolerable. Once she is introduced you can just assume whatever she says is right and whatever the MC Or Fitzpatrick says is wrong
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I had a history professor years ago who said 'every historian is a wannabe dictator'. Over the years I've read works by commies, monarchists, anarchists, racists, zealots, doomers and dreamers. I've reached two conclusions: the predictive power of history is marginal at best; and, the professor wasn't wrong. Well, I'm off to watch 'A Meticulous Analysis of History'...Narf.
Communal narcissism.
I might not have a job, accomplishments or even education, but damn if I don't know how the world should be run.
I think we are all deep down wannbe to be dictators, whether we know it or not. Human beings are innately authoritarian at our core. That's the reason why I despise left Wing ideology so much, they're in complete denial about it the reality and are often hypocritical about it. Not to say the right has its own authoritarian dispositions, of course it does. I just think the right is somewhat more honest about it and at least acknowledged humans can't be changed. Not that excuses them and it's still bad, but they're less pretentious.
@@GrimFaceHunterMost true, fanatics are often insecure people who've lost faith in themselves as a person so they subsume themselves and causes an ideologies as a means of creating value for themselves a person. Doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum they're on. Such people are never satisfied and always get worse because they're inferiority complexes are always nagging at them regardless of how successful they are, and thus always double down.,
@@GrimFaceHunter duh, it's all so simple... Until it isn't.
@@thezurban7209 The twin demons: Narcissism upon one shoulder, decision paralysis upon the other. Which devil deserves your fear more?
That part about nobody's slaving away in an office harassed by everyone hit a little too close to home.
Yeah. I felt it too.
I... yeah. That shouldn't make me question how many human lives, how much personal toil and risk, that should be worth but it does. Its an indictment of a lot of things, of me and a lot of things that aren't me, that it does. That isn't good.
Same :( Everyone talks about 'The Worst Timeline' RE: 1984 universal-wussiness..... but sometimes it does indeed hit home that WE QUITE LITERALLY ARE in (at least one distinct flavor of) that timeline. What is the 'spark' of human dignity? How did so many people not get it?
@@feralhistorian Just picked up a copy today at a used book store, looking forward the the read.
@@-_----- I have feared that myself, even looking at something post apocalyptic like Mad Max or Escape from N.Y. It seems like we are on the verge of such a world or worse. Even Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 offer a small glimpse of hope.
Literally insane this channel isn't bigger than it is. Very entertaining and explained perfectly. Been subscribed for a while but just now got around to binging.
Slow but steady growth.
True, but it's been growing a lot, when I first stumbled upon It was around 5,000 subscribers, It's grown slowly but steadily. A lot of channels like this I've been showing up a lot lately on UA-cam in the last couple of years, I think it's part of a trend which people are starting to realize that modern society is largely a sham and that we've been set mostly false dogma the last couple of decades about the world. The result people are looking for answers elsewhere outside mainstream outlets, Ferial historian is doing his part. Don't know if this phenomenon will lead to anything or not, but it's a good thing on to itself, and a step in the right direction.
"Welcome to the human race"--final line, from _Escape from LA_ , after Snake Plisken pushes the button for the worldwide EMP blast
literal best case scenario.
13:20 Damn, that quote pretty much sums up a great deal of what goes on in the modern age. It lands and goes down very hard. I've heard of this book from whatifalthist, and thought about buying it then realize how expensive it was. Hope someday we can get a reprint at least in digitized form.
Eighteen years ago, I saw this book on a clearance rack in Barnes and Noble, and loved the cover art. The cover art is beautiful AND the book is good. I am very glad I bought it then. I should probably reread it, though.
This book stuck with me. Hard to find. (I used interlibrary loan).
Fascinating take on cyclical history and how an enlightened elite can manage them to their advantage.
I read this book when it first came out and it became a fast favorite. It's been awhile, but I recall Judson's style being easy to read and engaging and the world building was great; it was quite the page turner. Had no idea it'd gone off market -- I'll have to check and see if I still have it!
YES! I've wanted to read this book for ages and now a review from one of my favourite youtube channels! FitzPatrick's War is such an interesting concept.
In their conversation on King David, Fitzpatrick and Robert take an odd position. A common one, but odd. They accept as truth the biblical claim that King David was loved by God, but reject the biblical account of him showing mercy to King Saul or his son Absalom. For a man as steeped in blood as David to show that mercy or contrition would be a miracle, and their historical reading rejects that miracle, though they nominally believe in miracles. The central tragedy of the Yukons is that they might have faith in God - but only when it doesn't contradict their deeper faith in History. You see it in Hood's speech before the Chinese assault as well.
An excellent read, thanks for the recommendation.
One aspect not mentioned in this review is importance of the idealised view of Roman Catholicism as a liberating and humanising force in the narrative as opposed to the Established Church which is a neo-Erastian take on the Church of England.
Listened to this twice. This channel is seriously underrated. These insights are fantastic and doubly so for young minds.
The biggest thing that attracted me to the work back in the day was how it reminded a great deal all the alternate history books I loved reading at the time. Being essentially that, plus a great deal of inspiration from the punk genres and retrofuturism.
Such a banger of a channel.
Speaking of Alexander the Great inspired characters and stories presented like as if they were actual historical accounts , I would love to see you do a video on ''Legend of the Galactic Heroes''.
It's a Japanese series of Space Opera novels, turned into an Anime that run from the late 80's to the mid-90's, recently they produced a remake Anime series.
One of the main themes is: " what is better, a benevolent dictatorship or a representative democracy?"
Also, the 2 main characters are heavily inspired by Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin & Alexander the Great ( he even has his own version of Hephaestion)
Would be interesting to hear your thoughts about this.
Cannot recommend this enough. If you don't have time to read the books, watching the older show is a solid substitute, as it follows the books with an eery accuracy. It is closer to a historical play by play as opposed to your typical condensed adapation.
Yes, exactly this.
The Legend of the Galactic Heroes honestly could give oodles of things to talk about. but if he did it should be the old and not the newer version.
I'm firmly in the benevolent dictatorship camp. Democracy is mostly a placebo, though it does prevent something worse: a malevolent dictatorship, which is also why benevolent dictatorships are high risk high reward affairs - they get things done and provide a good standard of living but can turn on a dime into something far worse than any of the other options.
@@DarkVeghetta
Democracy means instead of 1 tyrant, you get 1000 little ones.
Judson’s other book “The Martian Generals Daughter” is also a great read
I have owned this book for years. i have considered for months recommending it to you in the comment section of your vids...but i am pleased and rather unsurprised you beat me to the punch! good vid as always! And your ending off with the cappuccino is just the perfect last comment for video, giving the word's meaning in setting.
It hits home that I have books that it takes me years to finally read despite excitedly buying them and wanting to read. This does sound quite the book to toss on that pile as I like both history and alternate history, or the fictional toying with history to see if it is great men or cycles or random nonsense. Every discourse do far has been entertaining, informative and thought provoking. Bravo!
This was my favorite book in high school, hit me hard as a history nerd, standard dude with hero and conquest fantasies, and a close familiarity and healthy fear of the Christian dominionism at the core of the villainous ideology.
Hey this reminded me I am interested in hearing your take on Legend of the Galactic Heroes
I did grab that recently. So far I've only watched the first episode, but I'm already getting some inkling of where it's going.
@@feralhistorian I second this recommendation. LoGH has many excellent points for consideration. Especially in these times, with the collapsing Western World.
Excellent suggestion sir! LoGH is my absolute favorite Anime; including all gaidens. 🤌
Are we talking the original 1982 novel, the 1988 anime or the one that's been produced since 2018? Adaptations spanning four decades are going to emphasize different notes.
@@Grizabeebles I'm looking at the 1988 anime, though I'm curious how it differs from the '82 novel.
Thanks for letting us know it's available on Archive. I've wanted to read this book for a while but have always balked at the price.
It's definitely going on the reading list.
You have a way of teaching, entertaining, and inspiring people to read that makes me wish you had 1000 videos I could watch. Thank you.
WOW, I thought I was the only one who ever knew of this book let alone read it.
I never heard of the book, but it sounds interesting. Your commentary makes it double so.
Thanks!
Somewhat unrelated to the video but I'd be interested in your perspective on some of SM Stirling's other works since you've covered the Draka so much.
I just recently recorded one on Dies The Fire, so that'll be up sometime next month. Many have asked for The Peshawar Lancers, which I'm finally getting around to reading, but I really want to cover The Sky People at some point.
I don't know if you take suggestions on here but if you do,
Conan the barbarian is always neat to talk about.
I recently rewatched repo men(not repo man, repo men) that was actually really interesting.
if you want to look at something on the wackier side there's Samurai jack.
It's Ideas were very odd and it's not his best work by far but I thought that Coppola's Megalopolis was very interesting and a little Zardaz...ish.
Since we're on the subject of 'punk' subgeneras, have you ever considered comparing Neuromancer and the Difference Engine? William gibson had a hand in writing both and it make an interesting compare and contrast like in the 1984/We/Things to Come video.
Definitely. I need to read the Difference Engine again since it's been a terrible long count of years, but I plan to do something along those lines.
@@feralhistorian Glad to hear it. :)
What's your preferred story medium if I may ask? Books? Film? ect
@@Brainstorm-Lore Depends on the story, the medium and story have to match up. I think someone could make a good movie out of Fitzpatrick's War, but at the expense of half its depth. On the other hand, you can watch Star Wars with no sound and still get it, but in novelization it's kinda flat.
I prefer doing videos about films though. It's nice to have something to cut too and it's a lot faster to find specific clips in a single movie than multiple seasons of tv.
@@feralhistorian fair point. I love books best of all simply because I love reading and because your only limitations as a writer are how well paced you make it. How long did it take to write Nint's Gate?
@@Brainstorm-Lore Ninti's Gate took about a year, but mostly on weekend mornings. But it also started as a prologue to another book, which has been a much longer process. The worldbuilding and characters were already worked out long before I started, and I knew all the key things that had to happen on day one.
I've been watching for a couple of weeks now, and I've thoroughly enjoyed many of your videos. They've brought me quite alot to think off, much more than I thought I was able to, to be honest.
I'd like to recommend a book, like many others have before, The Ice people, by René Barjavel. It was written in 1968, and decries the Cold war through a genuinely tragic story.
Nevertheless, great video, enjoyed it!
I don't know that one. I will check it out.
Thank you for introducing me to something new and worthwhile. PDF works for me!
FAVORITE BOOK so so so happy you made this, I was going to suggest it if you haven't yet. I love how you can read it from a variety of perspectives, but to me it was always a kind of satire of history and white identity
The scene in the book where Bobby and Buck chat in the garden of the consul's palace is brilliant
I have nothing of substance to say whatsoever. I enjoy your videos and find them universally well-reasoned and often raising interesting points for consideration that never crossed my mind when reading/watching/playing whatever piece of media is being discussed. Or, functionally, just interesting recommendations for stuff I've never run into. Keep on keepin on dude. Commentary. Engagement. Subscription metrics. P.S. Play some more videogames maybe.
Excellent book from an underratedly excellent writer -- his *The Martian's General's Daughter* is also a great read, a future parallel retelling of the fall of rome, complete with Mexico City as the Constantinople of a near global American Empire (Mars being an analog for far-flung roman britain), a machine plague undermining the empire's ability to project global power, and a Commodus-like emperor who slaughters exotic animals during public spectacles with a high powered sniper rifle. I suspect it is easier to get ahold of than *Fitzpatrick's War* (only edition is a 2009 trade from Pyr iirc).
I have a copy of this that I’ve been waiting to read for years.
Try “Not This August”, “In the Wet”, and “The Red Napoleon” next.
love your videos!
Its nice to see this book getting recommended more and more nowadays.
That checks one of the entries off of the list heh.
I read this book early last year after being recommended it and I thought it was informative, but became a slog halfway through. Excited to hear your thoughts on it.
Maybe you could talk about Ernst Junger's books some? I'd LOVE to hear your take on Eumeswil and the Anarch archetype.
funny this is kind reminder of the german general notes in herman wouk winds of war and war and remembrance who had believed in the regime ideology and how he try to justify his actions after the war
What's the most unique, yet accessible, relevant, and giving, sci-fi you've read?
I'm going to have to think on that a bit.
1984
@@feralhistorian Please do. I'll reckon the answer would be interesting - for several reasons.
@@nathwhit3980 Great novel, but not much of a sci-fi or talk of tech, apart from the tele screens and Winston's editing machine, is there?
Added to the Wish List!
Fabulous that you read the book. I'm just curious about how you read it because it's out of print and the last remaining print now costs hundreds of dollars. The internet archive like myself? continue watching and you answered my question thank you
The same scanned copy from archive.org is up as a pdf at Library Genesis (libgen.li) and we can hardly call it piracy when the publisher won't sell the book.
You can find the pdf on library genesis. Beyond that you’re occasionally find it for cheap at used book stores. I found a near mint condition copy a few months ago for $3.
Quite right!
@@feralhistorian There is a very wealthy individual that I'm aware of who wants to get the book back into print but we'll see what happens.
High analog technology that sounds pretty interesting I'll check it out, thanks.
"Prophet isnt any weirder a middle name than "Kingdom" as in Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Another suggestion i look forward to reading, how does one figure out if they disagree with a historian?
He said " their sizable respective staffs"
Wow the price of the book is out of sight!!!!
There are four types of fiction: romance, confessional, anatomy and composite.
Fitzpatrick's War is composite fiction in that it combined the former three types of fiction.
@6:05 The New Language is changing us, isn't it?
Who fact checks the fact checkers? Do they have an agenda, too?
Good grief the book really IS expensive....
The publisher quietly disowned it and refused to issue reprints. Multiple third parties have worked with Judson trying to re-issue this book, along with his prequel and sequel to Fitzpatrick’s War. So far there hasn’t been any luck.
"Anna's Archive".
Enjoy.
@@Bttry01 I'm sad to learn this, Judson is a fantastic writer who deserves a much wider readership.
Glad I've got my copy, though!
I’m a huge fan of Judson. He stopped public engagement a decade ago, but Judson still responds to emails. He’s said that he still has other books in the works.
I read it almost twenty years ago, hadn't thought about it since until earlier today when I watched a documentary about early zeppelins and the pictures made me think of the cover. And now this pops up in my feed. 🤔
My favorite book
Never even heard of Fitzgerald's war, but now I have to find it for the commentary alone.
Is there any chance that the ouevre of one Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger might be examined? I've become fixated on those stories ever since I read "The Game of Rat and Dragon".
I've been nebulously planning to talk about Game of Rat and Dragon for awhile, as part of a series on sci-fi shorts/novellas from the 50s'-70s. I'm hoping to be able to devote more time to such things in the coming year.
@@feralhistorian Happy to hear this... or read it :). I await eagerly, but with patience.
Funny thing, just the other day I was joking about what sort of story the folks at Games Workshop would have if they found inspiration with Cordwainer Smith instead of Frank Herbert. You'd have an Instrumentality of Man instead of an Imperium (or a God-Emperor), and instead of Space Marines, sexy cat-girls (or girly-girls, or dog-derived undergirls who smelled of romance all the time - except for the first five minutes after they had hot antiseptic showers).
The only flaw I can see in "The Game of Rat and Dragon" is the absence of C'mell. Guess that Lady May will have to do.
Can't argue with the Cappuccino bit. A good one is blissful.
I don't think you'd want to be served a Yukon cappuccino my friend! XD
Hello,
Not sure I’ll get a response but worth a try!
So far I’ve read High crusade & Fatherland after you’ve made videos on them. Both have been fantastic! Reading fatherland also led me to reading SS-GB currently. It inspired the author to write Fatherland so naturally it’s also very good.
Could you make a video dedicated to book recommendations? I can’t be the only one who would appreciate older books getting exposure.
I probably won't make a straight-up recommendations video, but I'm definitely going to keep covering some older books. There's several I need to re-read before I do videos on them, and an ever-growing list of suggestions that I need to read for the first time.
I've easily gotten as many good recommendations here as I've given. We're all discovering new things.
Love this book, highly recommend it.
yikes! this book is expensive...😮 love your channel! ❤
Well I am sold, I have to read this book
Cappuccino is nice 👍 Awesome video as always!
Do you ever have any plans to cover the Empire from Warhammer Fantasy?
I have a copy of this book. 1st edition! I wonder if they will republish it?
Great video as always, but I have a bit of a random question. What camera and mic do you use? I really like the sound and video quality
It's a comical little rig. The mic is a Saramonic SR-WM2100 (about 100 bucks at B&H) and the camera is a well-traveled GoPro Hero 3+ cludged onto a tripod mount with the receiver for the mic zip-tied to the back.
One of these days I'll upgrade. Probably when something breaks.
@@feralhistorian did you get the media mod for the go pro or some other adapter?
@@ExoSquadOffical No mods. Sometimes in editing I'll bring the brightness down 5% and the contrast up 5%, but that's it. Straight 10 year old GoPro. With no viewscreen, which is why the shot composition usually isn't great.
It's time to upgrade. I just have to figure out the best option.
@ I think it looks great. I just got the go pro hero 12 and I’m just trying to figure out how to get sound to it
I love your videos sir.
Holey, moley, this obscure but amazing book has seen an amazing revival! Whatifalthist mentioned it at the time I was reading it and so I had to review it as well. It also seems like I snapped up one of the last affordable printed copies.Theodore Judson, get this thing reprinted!
I read this book years ago.
6:03 okay that got me
Not to nitpick, but did no outside forces find out about the Timermen's control of the EMP satellites and seek to take them out with mechanically guided missiles that would explode into a form of buckshot, creating a space debris field that would trash a large chunk of the satellites?
That would be a threat, yes, and the Timermen probably put a lot of effort into preventing it. They have the only satellite network on Earth, and it does recon and communications as well as EMP storms, so they'd know if anyone was doing test flights. That could be one of the reasons they orchestrated the war: China was getting too close to developing orbital rockets and had to be taken down.
My question is if people know about the Timermen and that they’re responsible for the EMP satellites and the subsequent death and destruction they brought why weren’t they all hunted down and given a good cappuccino?
You did make quite a few videos on draka technology and society. Are we to expect similar from this book?
Not as much, but I have been giving entirely too much thought to the details of a steam-powered air force lately.
@@feralhistorian yeah would it be liquified natural gas to optimise weight, fuel economy and propulsion you cant really shovel coal on an airplane?
Would it be Rendered down coal and shale like how the Germans wished to pursue autarky or would Fitzpatrick's realm have access to oil and natural gas reserves?
They obviously have experience with steam engines even havin mechanised, and timed production lines I can see them having better steam engines for prop planes?
Are the Airships Helium, Hydrogen or Hot Air?
Do the Timekeepers keep steam power for aircraft to keep them in low altitude because flames need oxygen thus keeping areonautical infrastructure there monopoly and giving them a significant lead against foreigners and the Yukons thus keeping the electrical storm satellites in their hands alone and unnassaisable.
Loved this book. The Timermen are horrifying villains. Or are they?
Have you read Paul O. Williams' "The Pelbar Cycle"? It is also set in a post apocalyptic U.S.
I haven't read any of those, but after a bit about the series I'll give it a look.
What a unique way to portray a historical fiction narrative
thanks for the book recommendation
Why isn't this book in print?
First 20 seconds: Albert Speer, is that you
Why is it so hard to find? Why did the publisher disown it?
Honestly I'm not entirely sure. I've heard a few stories about why, but none of them quite hold together.
How long on average do you think it takes you to internalize anything new that you've encountered to incorporate it into your total being and be aware ,where you will not lose yourself as you first learn it and wait until you've turned that knowledge into your knowledge?
A good book, the world created was more interested in the plot or the characters.
Fitzpatrick did have good taste in music though.
A book I shall try to find! A comment for the algorithm! Huzzah!
So strange this is not a kindle book. Used copies are $200, is it suppressed or something?
@@slygore it was published about five years before e-books were common. Most mainstream publisher contracts from the late 80s onward ensure that the publisher retains the write to publish ebook and audio versions of the book. This means that an e-book or audio version only gets published if the publisher is willing to do the editing work and that the author has no say in the matter.
This is a book that needs a reprinting.
this sounds like a science fiction version of Procopius’ histories from the 6th century
Where can I find this book for a reasonable price?
You cant
Noooo the best metaphore is like skimming the grime out of a broth, such a missed oportunitty.
The tale of the perchant lancers.
Well, it is always good to get my late Friday Night fix. I wonder if you will discover BBCs Blakes 7 (so cheap they couldn't afford the apostrophe). When I mention it to my US friends few of them have heard of it. It is a great 1980s dystopian sci-fi show. Ripe for a Reboot. May those who make things for "a modern audience" never discover it.
Blake's 7 is absolutely worth a look. I only saw random episodes as a kid but I've since been watching it in order. It's taking awhile, for whatever reason my wife isn't interested in watching this one with me, but I want to cover it eventually.
Its not cold where you are? Here on the east coast its getting chilly.
WooHoo! Finally.
"I'll give them their cappuccino!"
I wonder if past civilizations hated themselves as much as we hate ours
Can you make your videos little bit more soluble in terms of explaination? By that i mean even more simplified for younger and 2nd or 3rd english language speaker. At times i find it difficult to comprehend the depth in few of the parts.
I liked this book. It's memorable. However, I felt that The Martian General's Daughter made a better book.
Also yes, I have a copy of A Patriot's History of the United States specifically to challenge myself. I'll read it one day.
I once recommended someone read _a Patriot's History of the US_ and _a People's History of the US_ in tandem on the grounds that you can learn something from both books, and you also have something you can throw in each hand.
I grew up with several well-entrenched myths, which I discovered after years of reading and research, were worse than myth, but deliberate lies by historians and members of the press who prioritized their politics over the the truth. The first was that Nazism and Fascism were "Right-wing". In truth, they are the flip side of the Communist coin. But try telling someone on the Left that the Nazis were Lefties too. Leftists have no problem admitting that really horrible people like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot were Leftists, but when it comes to their favorite villain, they'll die before accepting Hitler was a Leftist. Because muh' politics over the truth. And the second, which is equally a lie, and equally hard to disabuse people of, is that the German military was superior to the Allied armies - especially the Western allies. Again, nothing could be further from the truth, by try convincing all the Wehraboos that their precious Wehrmacht sucked. Like the first lie, this was a lie enshrined by political activists - hint: the same ones saying Hitler was "Right-wing" - masquerading as historians.
Ah yes the Pla cavalry and it's Type 32 saber copy.
By mentioning reading historians that I disagree with, should I try reading David Irving? He's a bit controversial!
I've found that David Irving gives a lot of great primary source information sometimes, but he also sometimes presents things in a misleading way. I'd see read Irving but verify his sources. If the source can't be located (some of his stuff is from interviews that are not recorded or transcribed) I'd regard it as apocryphal.
To quote Jesus " what does it do, to gain the whole world but lose your soul"? 🤔
I remember seeing this on the shelf at Hasting's, and by the cover, thinking it was interesting. But, nothing special.
All historians in academia today if they're not fighting the echo chamber historians, then theyre fighting the protectors of the federal myths and if theyre not fighting the federal myths then their fighting to publish their account of what happened for their own agenda.
Predicting the future while using history sometimes works but other times it's betting against God, i think Fitzpatricks war is a nice book.
you should read kaputt. its basically a road trip through nazi Germany and isn't sci fi trash.
Let there be algorithm
In your closing statements out for a cappuccino I can only imagine in our real world how many ancient texts have linguistic barriers like that like how in the 1920s the word gay meant happy or jovial imagine future historians combing through our history. Then coming to their own conclusion that the greatest generation(silent generation) was a bunch of bashful unapologetic homosexuals. Their source material being a damaged record of "Al Jolson sitting on top of the world"
I mean no hate towards this group I just find it rather humorous in a cynical kind of way.
Personally, I find it a little funnier imagining that someday "gay = homosexual" falls out of fashion and "gay = joyous" settles back into its old spot. Then the future historians read about the "Gay Rights Movement" and see old posters that say "It's Okay to Be Gay!" and uncover references to protests surrounding what the outraged crowds call "Don't Say 'Gay' Laws" and scramble off into their archives, wondering if they've somehow collectively forgotten some kind of strange but massively influential Pro-Depression philosophical uprising, and if it had anything to do with the "Doomers" they've read about in contemporary records.
Don’t know why I never heard of it, if it’s old enough to be in public domain. But I will check it out. Thanks!
It's not public domain (published in 2004) but it's essentially orphaned by the publisher for reasons I haven't entirely sorted out.
It was never explicitly stated, but it’s assumed that the publisher disowned the book when it was pointed out that the novel’s back story involved global genocide.
@@Bttry01 Oh the irony that a publisher of books should be spineless.
@@feralhistorian It's not public domain (published in 2004) but it's essentially orphaned by the publisher for reasons I haven't entirely sorted out.
And that's probably why I never heard of it. 20 years ago I was not in a position to keep up with my sci fi jones. Thanks!
Another poster has said it was ditched by the publisher? Because it involved global genocide? Hell, half of science fiction wouldn't have been written if not for that premise.
This book was good but the wife character was intolerable. Once she is introduced you can just assume whatever she says is right and whatever the MC Or Fitzpatrick says is wrong
There is nothing wronge with the word 'Meta-narrative'.