Geography and prehistory,a survey of the literature with a select bibliography

This brief review explores the relationship between geography and prehistory. Various major themes have characterized this relationship: the study of distributions and locations; the exploration of environmental influences and ecosystems; the reconstruction of past environments; the establishment of the rôle of man as an agent of ecological change; and the discernment of the development of the landscape. The links between these two disciplines, which have been provided by these common research themes, have recently been strengthened by the adoption of a new methodology.     

John F. Kennedy and Latin America: The "Thorough, Accurate, and Reliable Record" (Almost)

U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, vol. 10, Cuba, 1961-1962
U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, vol. 12, American Republics, 1961-1963     

Deserted medieval villages and fields in Germany,a survey of the literature with a select bibliography

In Germany research into deserted settlements developed into an important branch of settlement history. It was realized that the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, following on a period of high-medieval expansion of settlement and cultivated land, were themselves a time of great decline. The theoretical explanation for this development is the late-medieval agricultural crisis, a concomitant of the late-medieval fall in population. We must distinguish between a high-medieval phase of settlement desertion associated with a concentration of population into larger villages and towns without a drop in absolute population figures, and a late-medieval desertion period when settlements and fields contracted because of loss of life due to famines and the Black Death. Different research methods have been used to locate deserted settlement sites, both from documentary evidence (Rückschreibung) and by doing field-work. By mapping the relict features of deserted villages and fields our knowledge of the evolution of settlement- and field-patterns was increased. In particular, the evolution of the three-field-system has been explained as part of the concentration of population into larger settlements. A classification of the desertion process has helped with the terminological clarification of the subject, although there remain areas of dispute. The introduction of the desertion quotient made it possible to map the distribution of the deserted settlements. In the light of most recent research based on medieval archaeology this map needs corrections. It is now obvious that the late-medieval desertion quotient was not only high in areas of marginal land quality but also in fertile areas with a long history of settlement continuity. In those areas vestiges of earlier occupations were literally ploughed into the ground. This example illustrates that future research on deserted settlements must be of an interdisciplinary nature.     

隐者与兔狲和“白狼”的故事

认识桑德尔老人,是我的一番特殊经历,他的人品、见识和医术给我留下了难忘的印象。     

中美关系史上一件"谜案"的历史考察 --"罗斯福下令史迪威除掉蒋介石之说"辨析

近年来,开罗会议期间罗斯福指令史迪威清除蒋介石的说法出现于国内许多论著中.本文从罗斯福对华政策、开罗会议期间罗斯福与蒋介石关系、美在华中国通对蒋介石的态度等方面对这一说法进行了辨析,指出开罗会议期间罗斯福指令史迪威干掉蒋介石的说法纯属子虚乌有.