War
The Forsaken Army—lost, rewritten, then found
Heinrich Gerlach's semi-autobiographical novel, The Forsaken Army, recounts events at the Battle of Stalingrad, which he participated in as an officer in the 14th Panzer Division. But what sets the novel apart as a literary curiosity is that Gerlach wrote much of it while under hypnosis.
The story goes that Gerlach wrote the book while he was being held prisoner by the Soviets after the battle. However, the Soviets then confiscated his manuscript.
Years later, after he had been freed and was back in Germany, Gerlach used hypnosis to reconstruct his lost manuscript. When it was published in 1957, it became a bestseller.
Life - Mar 7, 1960
In 2012, after Gerlach was dead, his original manuscript was found in Russian military archives. It was published a few years later as Breakout at Stalingrad (or, sometimes, Breakthrough at Stalingrad). So, if you want, you can read both versions.
Somewhat related, the Guardian has a list of 10 famous lost manuscripts.
More info: wikipedia; The Forsaken Army (archive.org link)
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 19, 2024 -
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Category: Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, War, Books
Combination Fallout Shelter and Swimming Pool
Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 30, 2024 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, Recreation, War, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1960s
Mr Civil Defense
Read the full 16-page comic here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 15, 2024 -
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Category: PSA’s, War, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1950s
Bomb Proof Eye Guards
Mechanix Illustrated - Mar 1941
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 10, 2024 -
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Category: War, Weapons, 1940s, Eyes and Vision
The Complacent Americans
One such gem is a Civil Defense "scare" album called THE COMPLACENT AMERICANS that simply must be heard to be believed. This LP - with its bright orange mushroom cloud cover and its hyperbolic advisories to sensitive listeners - could well have been produced by that genius of exploitation William Castle. But actually it was recorded under the stately auspices of the Office of Civil Defense, a sub-branch of the U.S. government (later replaced by FEMA).
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 29, 2024 -
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Category: PSA’s, War, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1960s
The Belgian-Colombian War
A short essay here has a few more details.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 13, 2024 -
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Category: War, Europe, South America, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Love & Romance
“The Family Circus” Goes to War
No one likes to make fun of THE FAMILY CIRCUS more than I. In fact, if you go beyond the jump, you'll see a couple of samples of the re-captioned cartoons I frequently post on Facebook.But I have to say that I have new admiration for Bil Keane after reading about his somewhat gutsy and altruistic trip to Vietnam.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 22, 2024 -
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Category: War, Comics, 1960s, Asia
Pigeon Drones
Read all about the wartime practice of mounting cameras on pigeons.At Wikipedia.
And at Public Domain Review, where there are more pictures.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 17, 2024 -
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Category: Animals, Inventions, Photography and Photographers, War, Twentieth Century
Sedimentary Geology and the Civil War
I'm sure Hippensteel's new book (Sand, Science, and the Civil War) is quite interesting (especially if you're a Civil War buff), but the extreme narrow focus of his argument made me laugh. From a review:More info: University of Georgia Press
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 01, 2023 -
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Category: War, Environmentalism and Ecology, Books, Nineteenth Century
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |