Selected E-mail

 

I just found your website this morning, and have spent the whole day there. Very good job. The opinion section stinks, but it does say that it is opinions. Thank you for not attempting to re-write history and leave God and religion out of the equation. Good Job!

M.C.

(Feb 12, 2009)

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Dear Frank I recently discovered your site doing a research paper for my high school english class. You have opened my eyes to the wonders of history and how, no matter how long you study, you'll never know it all. I used to think history was boring. Thank you!

Simon age 15

(Feb 16, 2008)

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Mr. Smitha, I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation for what you've done with your website. It is a very thorough, well done resource, that has proved valuable to my students. Thank you for making this available!

Jeff Simmons

Social Studies Curriculum Specialist Idaho Digital Learning Academy

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Thank you very much for your refreshing website Frank.

I have become interested in history through current 'going-ons' in the world ( which make one despair ) and find it a daunting task to try to understand how decisions were made.

greetings from germany from a physicist

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Frank:

I've been teaching either U.S. History and/or Western Civ for 40 years, off and on, and your material makes for an excellent text. Actually, I've more than once suggested that it be used INSTEAD of the very expensive paper texts we use... I do use a free web text for my LIS grad course, "Public Documents", and the students appreciate not having to purchase an expensive textbook.

Generally, I have found your work to be excellent and free of either liberal or conservative bias.

Bob Gaines

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I somehow stumbled upon your website, and am impressed. I have been a frequent contributor to Wikipedia, often correcting serious errors and gaps of omission in their East Asian history. Although your site is obviously smaller than Wikipedia, I think the overall quality is significantly higher. Partially this is due to the lack of quality control given how they accept content submissions, but even compared to their "professional" content that has adequate footnoting, I find their articles lacking in an ability to connect specific events to larger historical movements. In general I think your site does a better job in placing events in the proper long run historical context.

I'm bookmarking your webpage.

Andrew Chow.

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Dear Frank Smitha,

What a goldmine your site is. While waiting for my textbook for teaching History of Philosophy to arrive, I discovered this site from looking for a map of the Fertile Crescent. I teach in a college for working adults, and am happy to send them to your site for support for their final projects.

Gratefully,

Paula S.

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Part of a letter from a professor in a Department of Health Administration whose degrees are in philosophy:

Mr. Smitha, I am exceedingly impressed about how you could have learned so much about such a vast subject area. I am a generalist as well, but always afraid my large breadth of interests will quickly expose their shallow depth. You seem to have pulled off both.

Thanks for making all your work available.

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Dear Mr. Smitha,

I am very much interested to this site for many reasons. It is very helpful for us who are working with students... [You] are doing a great thing for us... and for the next generation.

A. (from Bangladesh)

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Mr. Smitha, you have done a fantastic job here! I stumbled on to you web page while looking for some extra material for my lectures. I am teaching World History, 1700 to present... I am very impressed with your choice of topics and with the treatment you give each one. I have not yet looked at your medieval section (that is my "specialty" ;-) but I am sure you have done an equally superb job. I want to thank you for your generosity in sharing this material openly. I have colleagues at the university who shy away from even sharing a few lectures (but academics are a weird lot). I am new on the teaching front, having taught at a couple universities in the last year and a half. Finding some quick info, particularly as comprehensive and well organized as yours, is truly a blessing! Once again, thank you for the excellent work and the service you have done to all in the profession, particularly young(ish) profs like me ;-)

all the best,

J.
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You have done a superb job of the telling of sizeable portions of world history. There is enough detail to give it real meaning, but not so much so as to render it tedious. Thank You!

Mark
Chicago, IL

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Hi, I'm a yr 12 (senior year) student from Australia. I'm hoping to study history, political science and economics from next year at the University of Melbourne -- with an emphasis on modern history. I'd just like to congratulate and thank you for the best general history website I've found, after searching for one for a long time.Your site offers precisely what I've been looking for -- detailed introductions into a range of topics, without undue bias. That's incredibly hard to do, as I know, and all I've written have been a few short essays for my history classes at school. I stumbled across your site whilst looking for further information on the fall of
Communism a few days ago, and since then I've been spending most of my time reading parts of your site! On another note, I read your 'boring details' section of your autobiography page. Far from 'boring', you must have the sort of life experiences that I can only dream of. I feel that for someone my age, the world has become too easily accessible and too homogenised.

Keep up the good work!

C. G. (from Australia)

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I am a teacher. This web site is of tremendous help to me.

Thank you,
F. (from Pakistan)

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Dear Mr. Smitha:

My words of gratitude, however profusely I do express, can't possibly be enough!! Your devotion, energy and time to this site must be beyond imagination of ordinary human beings. You've contributed a great deal to the Internet and the world as well!!

Respectfully yours
Ji GabSu from Korea

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hello

i am 22yr old student from the uk and i got to your site accidentally after searching for genghis khan (can't even remember why now... anyway i got to reading your site and it is fascinating, i have only just scratched the surface since i am still in the ancient era- but it is a great site. i am really impressed that the articles show no bias or favour to anyone in particular but also that they are comprehensive in their orderings. i would just like to say thank you for creating this site, and am glad that whatever it is brought me here, has...

thanks

r.

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Frank

I wanted to let you know that I am enjoying your site. I am teaching a course in Hebrew and Greek Legacy this summer at The University of Memphis, and I have been seeing what others have done with this topic. Of course, some of the original sources speak for themselves, but I appreciate the work you have to done to pull things together.

T.

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I just wanted to thank you for creating such a valuable site. I found the information incredible. I am a high school history teacher and I am always searching for new and accurate web sites to send my kids to look up information. My latest project is on post-WWI. Your site has fantastic information. Thanks again. I'm sending my kids there tomorrow!


Sincerely, E.

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Dear Mr. Smitha:

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful work on history. It is the most comprehensive, well organized, intelligent, user friendly site on history I have ever seen. I lack words to express how thankful I am. The maps, the links, the guided bibliography, the amazing scope, the clear and coherent texts, every aspect of it is impressive. I am currently starting a master's degree course in Literatures of the English Language and came across your site while doing preliminary research for my dissertation project (on V. S. Naipaul). I wanted consistent information about ancient India, Hinduism, Aryan civilization and related themes and have browsed through innumerable sites before I came across yours. It is one of those jewels lost in the web maze.

Thank you again,

Larissa, Brazil

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Dear Mr. Smitha

My exuberance is luckily being moderated by my fingers and keyboard. Your selfless and exacting contribution to the field of World History deserves greater recognition and reward. I cannot thank you enough.

Nathan Barna

University of North Texas

Philosophy and Information Science

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For years now, I have been ranting and cursing because nowhere on the planet could I find a history book that would give me a comprehensive overview of world history organized chronologically and presented in a way that I could absorb, retain, and enjoy. And finally, I receive it in more detail than I could have imagined possible in one source, as a gift from a total stranger. My only complaint is that I must find something new to rant and curse about.

Thank you!
C.S.

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Dear Sir,
Your site is invaluable. It is an impartial and honest presentation of the world history.It is full of facts. It has become my source for a variety of purposes. I am extremely grateful to you.

Best regards,
Nader M.

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Thank you, thank you , thank you.

You have made history very interesting.I always use this site because it helps me understand history more clearly.

H.J.

history student

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I just wanted to compliment you on your history website, of which I've actually beena fan offor a while. I'm a graduate college student, but I've barely had any exposure to history courses. I'm thankful for your website, it's a great resource for studying history purely for my personal enjoyment. It's better than any other website I've found, and I even prefer it to most history books I've read. Since you make no money from site, I thought I'd at least offer my personal gratitude.You've got agreat site even for us history amateurs, keep up the good work!

T.M.

University of Washington

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I too am a former Marine. I served from 1990 through 1996 in G. Co 2/24, 4th MarDiv. OOH-RAH! You did an outstanding job with your website -- it reads very well, and my students (high school world history) use it as one of their resources for class.

<>Semper Fidelis,

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<>I've been preparing for an interview to get into the Diplomatic Corps. While trying to fill in the gaps of my knowledge in world history, I came upon your delightful website. I must say it's a marvel in itself.

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Thank you very much for your page. It´s wonderful for the students. From Spain: Congratulations.

Antonia D.
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<>Dear Mr. Smitha
<>The subject I wrote above is an Indonesian phrase which in English mean "it's so cool." As a lecturer I realize I have so little knowledge but with your sites Ii had a chance to enlarge it. Your site is very useful. Not only that, now i'm thinking to write about contemporary Indonesian history. If that idea comes into reality I plan to send you a copy of it.

<>Regards

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Dear Mr Smithe,

I am an Australian archaeology student (mature age), and your web page has been invaluable source of Roman History for an assignment I am completing. Like you I am doing what I love and as a mature age person can see the benefits of doing so.

Kind Regards,
Delyna.

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Thanks so much for providing such a wonderful resource [one of my maps] to teachers and for supporting our project!

<>Kristin Wintersteen
<>Program Assistant, Global Classroom
<>World Affairs Council

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<>Hello from India... You are unbelievable,,....ur website too. Are you for real??
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Just ran into your site and at first glance I noticed that your maps of "the Aegean" and "Greece" are an insult to the Greek civilization which has existed in Greece, with the Pelasgoi, since neolithic (yes, 15,000 BC) according to archaeological finds. Continuity in language, religion, art, literature and above all the notion of the "Hellene" bears this out.

<>Please research and correct.

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I'm an Economics Instructor at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. I am not into History but I really enjoy reading your site on history.

Thanks....Bye and God bless!

Rommel

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Well, what I really want to let you know is that I am really impressed by all you have done. You're becoming kind of one of my inspirations!!

Muhammad Xxxxxxx
Dhaka
Bangladesh

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Hello Mr. Smitha,

I would first like to say I have found your website to be very comprehensive and interesting. It provided me with good information for my research paper, which examines the effects of the Russian Revolution on U.S. relations with that country. I found the article "Civil War, Lenin, and the Rise of Joseph Stalin" to be most helpful. Unfortunately, my teacher has forbidden me from using your site because it "doesn't cite sources". Now, I found your bibliography and that coupled with the fact that all of your information matches with info from other sources has made me not doubt your credibility. Unfortunately, my teacher has a less trusting mindset. Is there some way you could get me a list of materials and page #s of the stuff you used for that chapter? If you can't that's fine, but please let me know either way soon,
as the paper is due in less than a week.

Sincerely,
Xxx Xxxx
9th Grade

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Dear Sir,

Your job in the site is just superb.I cant express how much thankful I am feeling for you.I am an engineering student from IIT-Delhi India.I love history.I have read many books on Indian History,but I had no resourses to learn about world and other world issues in the past.

Through your site I will now satisfy my desire to learn all those issues that I wanted to learn.I have forwarded your site to many of my friends.
Being too junior to you all I can say to you sir is, just Thank You but it is not a usual one which I say to my friends, here I genuinely mean it.
Best Regards.

Chandrakant

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Many thanks for your useful and prompt help. I guess now that you’ve provided me with the information, I have no choice but to sit & work (under the supervision of my daughter – that is…:-)

Have a great New Year

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Jan. 2, 2002

apart from work, the internet serves little for me. there's much junk out there and i'm constantly surprised at the lack of useful reading materials.

frankly, i've got no idea why u r doing what u do but i honestly love it. i enjoy ancient history and yours is an oasis in the vast internet desert. i'm also please to note your abundance in material that is not just limited to western history. my previous searches for history materials have rarely gone beyond how america came to be founded. whatever motivates you and why, please continue.

stanley, singapore

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Unbelievable! I have been reading your site on and off for 6 months now.
Gave the URL to several people because I liked it so much.

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I read about ancient History purely for entertainment -- best opera you can find anywhere. But still I expect it to be accurate and balanced. Your site is really good on all points. Many thanks for such a good read.

Newmouse

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It is indeed rare to find a person who is open-minded enough to change his view on anything, but you had the guts to look at truth straight in the eyes and aknowledged it.

George A. (Macedonia)

I am working on a masters in strategic studies at the Navy War College ... I like the balance in your work much better the assigned reading here ....Keep up the good work.

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I enjoy the way you put together historical facts and regimes.

C.J

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Your site has proved to be most useful and I am integrating it into my general curriculum. Not only do you cover the important elements in sufficient detail so as to be challenging to my students of higher ability, but the materials are also written in such a fashion so as to be accessible to the large majority of my less talented kids.

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Nice job on writing a concise history of the 20th century. I was reluctant to undertake a re-reading of the topic because most authors feel it necessary to get into the details to deeply. For my purposes your rendition is excellent. Thank you-Onward!

Dan B:

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Never have I read such a well conceived and thoroughly enjoyable composite history of the ancient world.

Tom Allen

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I believed that I had found some fundamentalist Christian site slamming an ancient culture. However, upon further perusal, seeing the same tone in the other sections as well, I started to laugh. It is rare that an author can be so very carefully nonbiased! A lovely site. Cudos!

B.J.B

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You have written this amazing story of humanity's development with amazing simplicity and interconnectedness. You have successfully shown the cohesive development of humankind; unlike many other historical accounts, yours does not treat each civilization in isolation. Rather, you have shown to us that geographical limitations don't mean much. (Malaysia)

Gloria Ayob

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This is really great and fascinating and gives you the right glimps of all the civilizations brought closer despite the distances... I am myself of Assyrian origin... Now I live in Moscow.

Leonid Ushanov:

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I have enjoyed your work immensely and was quite impressed with
your knowledge of Buddhist mythos. I have shared your work with colleagues throughout the Net.

Masahiko Nishimura

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I have enjoyed this work immensely and have shared it with my colleagues at work and with high school and junior high school students.

Storm J. Stevenson

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Fabulous and congratulations! .

The Reverend Gregory Klotz:

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I am a History teacher, and am working at this moment with Jewish History in Ancient Times, and could not find many interesting things on the WWW till now... Thank you! (Brasil)

 

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