American Dialogue / Witches | Fresh-Read Kills | Sept. 30, 2024

Sharing my thoughts on some recent reads #booktube #historathon2024
BOOKS DISCUSSED
American Dialogue: The Founders and Us by Joseph J. Ellis
Witches: The History of a Persecution by Nigel Cawthorne
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HISTORATHON 2024
Historathon is a year-long celebration of reading historical nonfiction. The goal is to read, discuss, and spotlight works of history, and to encourage reluctant readers to give history a try. The calendar year will be divided into three-month blocks, with each block focusing on a particular period of time:
Jan-March = Prehistory-500 CE
April-June = 500-1500
July-Sept = 1500-1820
Oct-Dec = 1820-Present
To participate, simply read a work of history that falls into the time period for each quarterly segment of the year. Read more if you’d like! Tailor the choices to your interests or try something completely new.
Historathon "Side Quests": We will also be encouraging/participating in history-related activities throughout the year, including watching historical films/documentaries, trying historical recipes, listening to historical music, etc. Feel free to join us!
We will be using the hashtag: #historathon2024
To join us on DISCORD, follow this link: / discord
To join us on VOXER, contact any cohost and we'll be happy to add you. (My Voxer handle is listed below.)
COHOSTS
‪@passageoftime8561‬
‪@bookssongsandothermagic‬
‪@BookTimewithElvis‬
‪@billruttenberg‬
‪@ReadbyFred‬
‪@RaynorReadsStuff‬
‪@NicholasOfAutrecourt‬
‪@TheHistoryShelf‬
‪@TriumphalReads‬
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Find me on Instagram: @revenant_vin
Contact me on Voxer: revenantvin
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[@KatJack-vl8xj]

if you haven't read Ronald Hutton's books, you might find them interesting. He is an academic who specializes in early modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and modern paganism, Currently, he is a professor of history at the University of Bristol and has appeared on British TV and radio. You can find a lot of his talks and conversations on KZbin.

[@revenantreads]

I haven’t read his books yet, but I have watched a number of his lectures on KZbin. I plan to pick up some of his books the next time Yale University Press has a sale.

[@DrL_Reads]

Healthy skepticism is always nice to bring to reads about historical events.

[@revenantreads]

Agreed!

[@ToddsBookTube91]

another nice edition of Fresh-Read Kills! Happy Autumn to you Vin!

[@revenantreads]

To you too, Todd!

[@TriumphalReads]

Great discussions Vin, sorry you had a couple of meh books there, especially the occult ish one as I know you like those haha.

[@revenantreads]

Thanks! They can’t all be winners.

[@Cobaltdragon]

Excellent point about sources and questioning the content of the material 👍 Scott Cunningham, Starhawk, Ann Moura and Edain McCoy are all good sources of information about pagans and the history. Great to hear your viewpoint about this book.

[@revenantreads]

I’m familiar with those names, and I read some Cunningham years ago.

[@Cobaltdragon]

@@revenantreads lol just noticed I mentioned all of them in one of your earlier videos on the subject. One I didn't mention is Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler - good overview and she did interviews with a wide range of people.

[@revenantreads]

@@Cobaltdragon Yes, I plan to read that one at some point.

[@richarddelanet]

Did I miss the criticism about the Cawthorne book? I got the idea he might be sketchy, but nothing about the book. Can you give a few example about where he is disappearing in the proverbial night-time alley smoke?

[@revenantreads]

@@richarddelanet I point out that the introduction implies the innocence of the Rosenbergs, while historians have generally accepted their guilt. Even their son admitted they were spies. This sort of thing makes me question the author’s sources, which I unfortunately can’t check because they’re not given. Add to this my skepticism that presenting these hundreds of cases without context or commentary actually helps us understand the time period better, as the author claims.

[@DDB168]

Cawthorne is the James Patterson of non-fiction. Best to avoid. I've been reading a few political books too, for election season. AND of course watching Planet America on KZbin 😉

[@revenantreads]

Yeah, this was my first encounter with Cawthorne.