Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 3rd Shelf
The Third Shelf: More-Ordinary Places
We struggled a little in trying to find a good summary for this shelf’s contents, the first of two dealing with locations and geography.
Locations are important to any RPG – that’s why Campaign Mastery devoted an entire Blog Carnival to the subject a while back (you can read summaries of the submissions here, many of which are as relevant to pulp as to any other genre.
But that’s even more true of Pulp than most genres of game, because more than most, Pulp celebrates the exotic diversity of the reality around us all. Like characters, locations need to be both grounded in reality and at the same time, more vivid and compelling than even the reality.
The GM has two primary tools at his disposal for achieving this vividness. The first is the sensory content that he conveys – the sights, smells, and sounds that distinguish one location from another. The other is the people and the cultures that they represent, and to a certain extent, this also defines content to be conveyed by the first.
Before you can choose what to depict, and what to emphasize and even what to exaggerate, you need to be aware of the reality. If you can identify a specific location, Wikipedia is a wonderful source of specifics; but to get to that point, it is necessary to have a broad overview of everywhere, enabling you to locate where to look for that specific location.
We use these references to select locations in general, then Google Maps to locate specific options that we research using Wikipedia for specifics.
Of course, these locations are only “ordinary” on the surface. Scratch too deeply in any of them – in a pulp reality – and strangeness should seep out. Strange things in the sewers, villains improbably lurking in the shadows, and schemers around every corner.
But this is where all that starts.
Relevance to other genres
The more exotic the genre, the more you need little touches of ‘normality’ to connect the players’ experience with the world their characters are experiencing.
The City of Brass is, first and foremost, a city. The fact that it is located in an extremely exotic location – the Elemental Plane of Fire – recast in the latest edition of D&D, along with the other inner planes, as The Elemental Chaos – simply means that some elements of the city need to be more recognizable.
The simplest solution is to start with somewhere recognizable and change whatever is made irrelevant or inappropriate by the exotic locale. You could do worse than to model it – and its localities and citizens – on New York City.
Another example: a space station orbiting Rigel-VII, a hub of trade and commerce. Four areas: a corporate sector modeled on a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles; a retail sector, based on a sprawling shopping mall in Hawaii or Tahiti, full of stalls and vendors and hawkers instead of shop-fronts; a residential sector, inspired perhaps by an inner-city backpackers’ hotel in Amsterdam; and the underbelly, modeled on the back alleys of Brooklyn. Or Detroit. Or Pittsburgh. Or Hell’s Kitchen.
Real places. Real flavor. A doorway into the things that make this place unique.
You need the ordinary to lend contrast to the extraordinary. And the best source of the ordinary is the real world. The places described by the contents of this shelf (and some of the next) should be your foundations.
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![]() Shelf IntroductionThis shelf has six sections, most of them reasonably self-explanatory (but We’ll comment on them anyway). The unifying thread is that these places are – were – well known, well explored (to varying extents). General contains books that deal with a variety of locations within a single volume, and some overall references. Exploration The great ages of exploration may lie in the past, but much of that past is only being discovered in the pulp era. Additionally, there were a few books that didn’t quite fit anywhere else that found a home in this section. The USA The US became a dominant world power in the course of the first World War. There is nowhere more iconically connected with the pulp Genre. This is the hub around which most pulp adventures will revolve. Many adventures will take place entirely within its borders, and more will start and/or finish there. Unsurprisingly, we focused quite a lot of attention on it. Europe Europe is full of places that make great settings for pulp adventures, be that the Parisian Cafes, the Streets of London, the Castles of Austria, Rome, the Vatican, Eastern Europe (Transylvania is part of Romania these days), behind the Iron Curtain (which has not yet fully descended), the ruins of Greece, the waterways of Venice, or – of course – Nazi Germany. Then, too, there’s Scandinavia, and Sicily, and the windmills of Holland, and… For all that, you will find surprisingly few books in this section, because most of them were better suited to other places within the list. The first thing that you will probably notice as you cast your eye over the list above is that an awful lot of the world seems to be missing from the list. Where’s the rest of Africa? The Middle East? What’s happened to South America? Where are the Islands of the Pacific? The Caribbean? What of Antarctica? Central America? Canada? Although these places may be well-known today, we felt that they were – or contained large areas which were – sufficiently strange and mysterious to the residents of the Pulp Era that they belonged in the second shelf on places – especially when infused with their probable Pulp genre interpretations. So if your home has yet to appear on the list, remember – so has ours! That’s for next time.
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GeneralThe term “General” is a bit vague. This section includes books that covered a variety of areas and other items that were too broad or vague to place elsewhere, which was always our first preference. Prices and Availability were correct at the time of compilation. |
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General Books
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![]() 074. The Encyclopedia Of World Geography – Edited by Graham Bateman & Victoria EganMany factual details about places (economics, politics, structure of government, etc) in a format that makes for easy comparisons. Some editions refer to Bateman as the author. We use the 2001 edition, but there aren’t any copies of that left. 2008 Edition (Hardcover): http://amzn.to/1NnAbmZ 2004 Edition (Paperback): http://amzn.to/1ThWPO0 2002 Edition (Hardcover): http://amzn.to/1Su2PmF
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![]() 075. The Writer’s Guide To Places – Don Prues & Jack HeffronAn invaluable starting point to places in which set adventures. Specific to Canada & the US, it might seem too modern but the historical context provided makes it useful nevertheless. |
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![]() 076. Thrilling Locations – Kern & Moore – James Bond 007 RPG Game supplement (Victory Games)Some of the locations are modern but several can be “reinterpreted” for use in the Pulp Era and that appear nowhere else. There are very limited cheap copies remaining, so much so that we almost excluded this. |
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![]() 077. Any period atlas (if you can find one) – in any languageSimply being able to see the major roads, rail links, relative city/town sizes, and borders pre-WWII / post WWI is a major asset. You can always get more information on a location by cross-referencing with a modern atlas and Wikipedia, this tool helps you choose locations and interpret what the modern tools are telling you. The best we have been able to find is from 1977, but includes maps from the 1930s. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough copies to provide a link. You can try searching Amazon for yourself, but there are a couple of traps to look out for. We searched for “193x world atlas”, replacing the ‘x’ with 0,1,2, and so on. This produces a search result like the one shown below.
If you look closely at the search results – for example, the one to the left – you will notice that it shows a publication date of 1934 (circled in red), and the availability looks fine. 25 copies at prices starting at 31 cents (circled in blue)? Bargain, put it in the list! But here’s the trap: if you click on the link next to the date (the one that reads “world atlas”, you will indeed find that you are being offered a 1934 world atlas from Rand McNally. Amazon have just one copy – the one shown as costing $7 – and that is through a third-party vendor. If you click on any other link in the search result panel, you will be taken to a page that lists the items on offer – but If you then click on “return to product information”, you will discover that you are being told about a completely different edition, raising the possibility that the 25 offers are the sum result of all available editions, not the 1934 version specifically. Since we couldn’t be sure, and the date of publication is really relevant to the desired product, we weren’t confident enough to recommend any of them. There are 1930s world atlases for sale through Amazon – a handful or less for any given year at the moment. But not enough of any of them for a safe recommendation within our guidelines. That said, if you want to take a chance on the Rand McNally Used And New listing, here’s the direct link: http://amzn.to/2cXF0Ff and here’s another to the 1934 Pictorial Atlas from Rand McNally that got our hopes up due to its price and availability: http://amzn.to/2cDiQY9 |
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078. Travel Guides – any travel guides to anywhere, the more out-of-date the better.We watch for these like a hawk at any garage sales we pass. Information on the best restaurants & what they serve, the best hotels, the popular tourist attractions, the local habits, celebrations, and society – some of it’s directly relevant, some needs translation back in time, and some can be left in the dreams of ambitious locals. We have linked to a number of (modern) travel guides in the Europe section for lack of anything more period being both available and affordable, on the presumption that most of our readers are North American and have an excellent chance of finding old US travel guides (usually for an individual state or city) far more easily than we can search out modern ones. However, we have found a couple of period US items and those are listed in the appropriate section. |
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![]() 079. Geography Of The World – DK PublishingFull color photographs and art on almost every page is designed to be a “user-friendly” reference guide to the terrains, nations, and cultures of the world. You will need to translate locations back to those of the 1930s, but even so, this can be an extremely useful resource. |
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![]() 080. Prisoners Of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About The World – Tim MarshallWe haven’t read this book, which is Amazon’s current #1 new release in the section of Historical Geography. While this is focused on the current geopolitical situations, those situations have their roots in national imperatives, cultural conflicts, and the past histories of the participants. You may have to work a little harder to apply this to the pulp world, but the starting points are here. |
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General DocumentariesPrices and Availability were correct at the time of compilation. We have not applied the availability criteria with the same rigor to Documentaries. Unless it was somehow noteworthy, we have neither looked for, nor linked to, Blue-ray versions. Unless otherwise noted, a straightforward copy-and-paste of the title should reveal such if those are your preference. |
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![]() 081. Cities of the Underworld (Seasons 1 & 2)Season 1: Season 2: |
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![]() 082. Megacities (Season 2005, Episode 3: Paris and Episode 4: New York)So far as we were able to determine, these episodes of the National Geographic documentary series have either never been collected on DVD or are no longer available anywhere. The Paris episode can be viewed on YouTube and so can the New York episode |
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General ‘For Dummies’ BooksIn most cases, we haven’t read any of these, and are recommending them for consideration based purely upon the publisher’s descriptions and on general principles except where otherwise noted. This also shifts the content of each review from one of “this book is recommended and here’s why” to “this book might be useful and here’s why”. We have made the assumption that availability and price would fall within our parameters, or close enough to them; we have rarely found this not to be the case. Selected works were so promising and so relevant, that they have been promoted to the main list of recommendations, excluding them from the above caveats. Some notes about Complete Idiot’s GuidesWhile the “For Dummies” series has a website that lists all the books currently available in the series, there is no equivalent for the “Complete Idiot’s Guides”. Our blanket advice is that if Amazon lists a “Complete Idiot’s Guide” that matches the subject of one of our “For Dummies” recommendations, you should buy both. |
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![]() 083. Geography For Dummies – Charles A Heatwole Ph. DGeography as a subject can be a little hard to define. Essentially, it’s the study of where people live and how where they live affects their society, and vice-versa. Nothing in that definition that might be of value to the pulp GM, is there? This is the sort of subject that Wikipedia is great for – when you want to get into specific details (this society, that terrain, etc); where it falls down as a resource is in providing a foundational overview. Well, to be honest, it’s there, but relatively hard to find and sometimes spotty because important information has been moved to a specific-subject page, leaving a hole in the broader coverage. That’s where we hope this book will come into the picture. Oh, and remember our general advice? Mike happened to spot The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Geography by Thomas E. Sherer Jr., Thom Werthman, and Joseph Gonzales while gathering the link above: |
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![]() 084. Geology For Dummies – Alecia M. SpoonerThe study of the minerals and mineral structures that make up the earth. This is a far more important and useful subject than many people realize; for example, if you look at the island of Manhattan, there are two clusters of very tall skyscrapers, one in midtown and one downtown. That’s because the rocky foundations there are strong enough to support such tall buildings – elsewhere on the island, they aren’t, not without impractically-deep foundations. And then of course there is the subject of mineral wealth as a motive or tool, which can be absolutely critical as shown in Lightning Research: Maximum Answers in Minimum Time. So this is definitely something worth knowing something about. |
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Exploration |
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Books about Exploration
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![]() 085. Fortune & Glory – Douglas Palmer, Nicholas James, & Giles Sparrow“Tales of histories greatest archaeological adventurers”? Say no more! Not to be confused with another book on our list also named “Fortune & Glory”. |
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![]() 086. Strange Maps – An Atlas Of Cartographic Curiosities – Frank JacobsA list of places that have been imagined or that almost came into existence. You can either use the maps for an alternate world or simply use the historical reference of how something almost happened in real life to build interesting circumstances and backstory into your world. And there can always be radicals who still want to achieve “X”… |
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![]() 087. Horizon Fever: Explorer A E Filby’s own account of his extraordinary expedition through Africa, 1931 – 1935 (Volume 1): A.E. Filby with commentary by Victoria TweedFilby was a British explorer known as “The world’s most traveled motorist” who undertook many expeditions including (most famously) the 37,000 mile journey from London to Cape Town in a series of dilapidated motorcars. Published posthumously, this is not only a snapshot of the attitudes and opinions of the era, but a great source of pulp encounters and color. Within its pages lie missionaries, big-game hunters, pygmies, gold mining, the Sahara, and swimming in the Nile with Crocodiles. Although the title describes this as Volume 1 and was published in 2012, there is no sign yet of a volume 2. |
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![]() 088. An Inquisitive Eye: Travels of an American Lady in the British Empire of the 1930s – Robert N. WhiteSybil Hall Nowell set off in 1935 on a round-the-world journey that lasted for four months and was documented through numerous and regular letters back to her family. Those letters, compiled and accompanied by historical and political context, are now contained within this book, which almost did not make the cut; there are too few copies within our availability bracket. Because it’s so relevant, especially to an American reader, we decided to make an exception. |
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The USA |
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Books About American Places
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![]() 089. How The States Got Their Shapes – Mark SteinThe sometimes unlikely and completely fascinating stories of how the states in the modern-day USA came to have their geographic boundaries. |
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![]() 090. Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It – Michael J. TrinkleinUS states that didn’t last, but that might have done so in a pulp world, great for added color. |
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![]() 091. Call Of Cthulhu 1920s sourcebooks (Chaosium):These sourcebooks are pretty self-explanatory, and too specific to be relegated to the Game Supplements section. Secrets Of New York |
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![]() 092. Secrets Of New Orleans |
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![]() 093. Secrets of Los Angeles |
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![]() 094. Secrets of San Francisco(One wonders how this might have been extended had Mythbusters been airing when the supplement was in preparation…) |
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![]() 095. Call Of Cthulhu Sourcebook: Miskatonic University – Sam Johnson (Chaosium) |
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![]() 096. The Historical Atlas of New York City: A visual celebration of 400 years of New York’s History – Eric Homberger, with illustrations by Alice Hudson, curator of the map division of the New York Public LibraryProvides a good introduction to, and overview of, the political, economic, social, and cultural history of New York City, but as some reviewers have noted, the content can be disjointed. The content is divided by time period and includes numerous maps, photos and drawings of the buildings and landscape at that time in history, but quite often the beginning or end of a particular story is not included. Contains information that can’t be found anywhere else. There are some flaws, however: editorial mistakes such as a photograph that has been reversed and a number of spelling and grammatical errors, and the text is often simplistic and limited to what might be found in a photographic caption. As a starting point for further research, as a visual aide, and as a means of getting into the city as it was in the pulp era (or earlier in history) it’s excellent – but it is not a complete reference; expect to spend time researching more detailed information on the net. |
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![]() 097. A Goodfellas Guide To New York: Your Personal Tour through the Mob’s notorious haunts, hair-raising crime scenes, and infamous hot spots – Henry HillLocations and descriptions of famous gangland activities in the New York City region. Even if many of them occur outside the pulp “window”, this is still a valuable reference by a mobster about mobsters and their haunts. |
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![]() 098. New York in the Thirties – Elizabeth McCausland and photographs by Berenice AbbottSince we can’t recommend “New York in the 1930s” by Samuel Fuller (you’ll find it in the ‘Honorable Mentions” section), we are listing this book instead. Only 1/3 the page count, and with a similar fraction of the imagery, but this has more text to explain what you are looking at – though it says something that the photographer’s name is on the front cover and not that of the author. At least it has the great virtue of being affordable and well-supplied within the criteria used for this series. What’s more, there is a Kindle edition. |
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![]() 099. The WPA Guide to New York City: The Federal Writer’s Project Guide to 1930s New York – Federal Writer’s ProjectThis was originally published in 1939, when it was designed to introduce the city to attendees of the World’s Fair. Reissued in 1995, this is a time capsule of the way things were then, and deliberately written to tell a stranger in town what he needed to know about the place. Eighty-six years later, we are all strangers in town as far as the world of the 1930s is concerned! Copies start very cheap at just US$0.48. Yes, you read that correctly. There are many others in this series, often focused on particular states, two of which we have included below. |
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![]() 100. San Francisco in the 1930s: The WPA Guide to the City by the Bay – Federal Writers ProjectThere are few cities that have changed in character as much as San Francisco. In the 1930s, there was no Golden Gate Bridge, there was no Pyramid-shaped Transamerica Building, in fact, there were no landmarks or icons of any kind by which the city could be recognized. That makes it a solid basis for many other cities of the period – just add a point of distinction and stir well. This book is nowhere near as affordable as the WPA Guide to New York City, but is likely to be just as useful. |
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![]() 101. The WPA Guide to Washington DC – Federal Writer’s ProjectThis book contains over 550 pages of 1930s detail of what some consider the most important city in America (New York might dispute the claim). Washington, in a lot of ways, hasn’t changed that much since then – but some landmarks have become a lot harder to find, and current politics and the intervening history cloud over a full appreciation of the world of then. This quite affordable book cuts through the political fog; Mike certainly wishes that he and Blair had it when they were working on their epic political-struggle adventure for the Adventurer’s Club campaign, “Five Star”. |
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![]() 102. Legend Tripping The Ultimate Adventure – Robert C. RobinsonA late inclusion to the list is this book, which tells the reader how to go exploring myths, legends, and history for themselves. What you will need to go hunting for Bigfoot, and where, for example. Or UFOs. Or Treasure-hunting. Or… well, you get the idea. Available in softcover or Kindle editions. |
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![]() 103. Detroit: 1930-1969 – David Lee PorembaWhat is now known as the Motor City was arguably hit by the Great Depression deeper and harder than most major settlements. It was the middle of the 1930s before the earnest efforts of the Federal and local governments began to lead to renewed prosperity on the back of the automobile industry, becoming one of the dominant industrial heartlands of America just in time to meet the call when Japan attacked at Pearl Harbor, ending the Pulp period. At best, one third of this book is pulp-relevant, but that third is so relevant that we’ll let it slide – this time. Available in paperback and Kindle formats. |
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Documentaries About American Places
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![]() 104. How The Earth Was Made: The Geology Of New York City (season 1, episode 5)This entire series is absolutely brilliant, but only one episode struck us as directly relevant to the Pulp GM, and that’s the episode listed, which explains the geology of different features within the region of New York City and how that geology has shaped the society that dwells there and the city that they have built. USA: Season 1 DVD box set available at very reasonable prices – http://amzn.to/204WmCH. Season 1 Blu-Ray is also available at equally-reasonable prices http://amzn.to/1PS9a7U. UK: A limited supply of the Season 1 DVD box set is available at ridiculously cheap prices http://amzn.to/1MbzWNM, and some more here http://amzn.to/1UTLxnV, and still more here http://amzn.to/1YdRqdf. If those run out, you can also get a boxed set of the complete first AND second season in one bundle – also in very limited supply http://amzn.to/1RM5neA. Blu-ray copies are also available: Season 1 sets http://amzn.to/1q4kvg5 and Season 1/Season 2 double sets http://amzn.to/1RCFtgy. Several of these are free of regional encoding, and hence will play on any appropriate player anywhere in the world. Canada: Limited Quantities and prices that are triple what the US pays, as usual. Season 1 DVD Set http://amzn.to/1Xffa0n, Season 1 BluRay Set http://amzn.to/1qoDEtV, and the Seasons 1 & 2 combined set (Blu-Ray only) http://amzn.to/2050fHN. |
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![]() 105. Strip the City – Season 2, episode 1: “Superstorm City (New York)”The geographic position of New York funnels deadly storms into the city, an effect that has had a profound influence on the infrastructure and development of the city. You can’t fully understand this iconic location without watching this 43 minutes of televised documentary. Unfortunately, it’s just not available in most markets – for the time being at least, you can get it through Amazon US’ streaming Video service in HD for US$2.99 http://amzn.to/1TdAIg4 but everyone else misses out – while some episodes of the series are available through YouTube, this isn’t one of them. Which caused some debate about whether or not to recommend it. What ultimately settled the debate was finding an aggregating-link service that provided 14 sources for viewing the episode online or downloading it anywhere in the world. While this may be a third-best option with no guarantees of quality (or information about prices), it’s definitely better than nothing. |
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Europe |
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Books about European Places
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![]() 106. Cthulhu Britannica – Bligh, Birch, French, Fricker, & MasonBritish-based scenarios – the characters, maps, etc are useful even if the Adventures don’t quite fit. |
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![]() 107. Stalin: The Court of The Red Tsar – Simon Sebag MontifioreNot recommended as a bio of Stalin as much as it is for color and other figures within Russia in the Pulp Period. For example, Stalin’s secret police chief Lavrenti Beria “craved athletic women, haunting the locker rooms of Soviet swimmers and basketball players.” There’s also much detail about the food at parties and other meetings of Stalin’s henchmen. This is the sort of color and reference that is gold for the GM considering contact between the Soviet administration and the PCs of any sort, and that is almost impossible to dig out. |
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![]() 108. The Discovery Of France: A Historical Geography – Graham RobbEven while Gustav Eiffel was changing the Paris skyline forever, large parts of France were provincial backwaters, both joined and divided by ancient tribal divisions, prehistoric communications, and pre-Christian beliefs. In much of the country, French itself was a minority language. By the time of the Pulp Era, all this had changed – at least superficially – but even today, looking beneath the surface of a French Division or province reveals commonalities, old rivalries, and points of distinction. Available in both paperback and Kindle editions. |
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![]() 109. The 500 Hidden Secrets of Paris – Marie FarmanWritten by a native Parisian, this is the Paris the locals know (and the tourists don’t) – the best vintage markets, the best concert venues, a restaurant where you can get a meal at 3:30 AM and many more pieces of local color, many of which can be instantly transported into the Pulp era. |
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![]() 110. The Rough Guide to England – Rough GuidesAt 726 pages, this book makes solid claim to being the definitive insider’s travel guide to England, covering history, culture, heritage, and regional highlights. Unfortunately, it’s a guide to Modern England, a nation that has changed dramatically since the Pulp era, so utility might be limited. Some things won’t have changed – when it tells you that a pub has been in operation since 18-hundred-and-something (and England has several of those), it’s a sure bet that it was there in the Pulp Era, too. So there is still value to be found by the astute GM. |
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![]() 111. England’s Hideaways: Discovering Enchanting Rooms, Stately Manor Houses, and Country Cottages – Meg Nolan Van Reesema with photographs by Tim ClinchThis book only just sneaks in under our price cap at $19.75 for a used copy. Like the previous book listed, this one is of limited utility from a Pulp perspective, but only because there’s a lot more to England than its’ stately manor-houses! It’s the inclusion of interiors, which are often absent from a lot of these books, that persuaded us to list it. |
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![]() 112. Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior – Kate FoxThe English are full of quirks, odd habits, and strange foibles, governed by a complex set of unspoken rules and a code of conduct that many find Bizarre – to say the least. “The rules of weather-speak, the ironic-gnome rule, the reflex apology rule, the paranoid-pantomime rule, class anxiety tests, and the money-talk taboo” are just the beginning. Many of these traits were in full bloom prior to the Second World War; some have even been exported to other countries within the Commonwealth, there to undergo strange metamorphoses or even complete inversions – the legendary friendliness of Canadians, the larrakin humor and casual fatalism of Australians, and many more cultural traits can all be traced back to “Mother England”. This book was a massive bestseller in England itself. We’ve linked firstly to the older edition because the price is right (and there is also a Kindle version available) |
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![]() 113. Secret London – an Unusual Guide – Rachel Howard and Bill NashLike every great city, London has it’s oddities and strange attractions. Written as a travel guide for those willing to step a little off the beaten track, this book contains lots of peculiarly English locations of the stranger kind for PCs to visit. |
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![]() 114. London Then and Now – Diane BursteinHalf the attraction of this book for most customers would be the comparisons of the way things were with the way they are now, as archival photographs are contrasted with modern images of the same locations. With most locations, there would be a great expectation that the “old” images would be from too far back for pulp purposes, but London was changed so radically by World War II – everything from preparing for invasion to the Blitz – that we think a fair number of these will still be relevant. We haven’t actually read the book to be certain, though, so make up your own mind whether or not it’s worth the price. The paperback editions ($28-30) are ridiculously expensive in comparison to the hardcovers (1 cent used, 16.85 new) so buy the more durable edition if you buy at all. |
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![]() 115. The London Book: Highlights of a Fascinating City – Monaco BooksAnother book that only just comes in under our price cap, with second hand copies costing just over the $20 limit but new copies starting at $18.41. This is a book of photographs and accompanying text of factoids and history which “brings to life the city’s past and present”. According to Amazon, it features over 300 images, engaging text, and page after page of visual delights … from the splendor of the royal palaces and historic cathedrals to the lush green parks (plenty of rain!) vibrant markets, and world-famous shops. As usual, some of this will be unchanged from pre-war times and some will not. |
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![]() 116. Ireland: A visual journey around the Counties Of Ireland – Peter Zoeller and Michael Diggin300 contemporary images of the natural beauty of Ireland covering all 32 Counties by two of the country’s leading landscape photographers. |
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![]() 117. 101 Things You Didn’t Know About Irish History: The People, Places, Culture, and Tradition of the Emerald Isle – Ryan Hackney, Amy Hackney Blackwell, and Garland Kimmer“Forget about shamrocks, leprechauns, and all that blarney; 101 Things You Didn’t Know about Irish History dispels the myths and tells the true story of the Irish,” touts Amazon. Which sounds like a good reason to at least consider buying it, in this context. Paperback and Kindle. |
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![]() 118. Scotland – Nigel BlundellLike many books in the travel arena that aren’t all-too-modern travel guides, this is a lot of high-quality photographs with some accompanying text. What puts this book a step ahead of its rivals is the inclusion of a chronological listing showing all the major historical events of Scotland. |
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![]() 119. Hidden Scotland: Scotland’s Hidden Past – Ann LindsayThis is a difficult book to review because it won’t be released until October 1st! But the Amazon blurb was too enticing to resist – the first elephant to visit Scotland got stuck in a pub in Renfrewshire? Curious Places, Bizarre Happenings, Perplexing Oddities, some verifiable fact and some shrouded in mystery and myth – and it includes detailed instructions on how to get to all the places mentioned. Sure, there will have been developments in that respect since the Pulp era – but why let that stop you? |
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![]() 120. Austria (Enchantment of the World) – R Conrad SteinDespite what Amazon’s entry for this book states, there is only one Author of this book! New copies sell for $59, so used copies for one cent have to be considered a bargain! Let’s be upfront about this: it’s a children’s book, for ages 10 and up. Part of a major series, it examines “climate and geography; plants and animals; history; government; economy; people and languages; religion; spiritual life; mythology; culture; the arts and sports; daily life and more”, all “highlighted by breathtaking color photographs and numerous original maps” that show “population distribution, natural resources, topographic features and historical landmarks” – and there’s still more of use in this book, and each of those in this series. All that useful info in one place? Who cares if it’s a children’s book – under those circumstances? |
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![]() 121. Fascinating Austria – Michael Kuhler with photographs by Martin SiepmannWhenever a book lists the photographer as one of the authors, you have a fair idea of what to expect: Images and a little contextual text, with the occasional factoid. The description, which states “Majestic peaks, deep valleys, crystal-clear lakes, and lush green meadows are captured in detail” leaves no doubts – and that’s before it mentions the Danube, which is one of the main feature subjects of the book. And at only 96 pages, this is a relatively thin volume compared to many of the others that we’ve listed. So it was listed with some hesitation. What tipped the balance was the solitary customer review, which states that a copy was given as a gift to someone who “loves Austria” and who presumably has, therefore, other books on the subject to compare it to – and who loved this one. In the absence of personal experience with the book, that’s a recommendation that’s hard to ignore. |
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![]() 122. Austria: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Peter GielerThis book sounds promising, offering a window into the society of a nation that was once half of the massively-significant Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not having read it, we can’t really say more without quoting the entire Amazon blurb, which suggests that the syntax of the writing can be a little hard to decipher and even harder to extract from. All we can do is put the book on readers’ radars; the decision to purchase is up to you. |
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![]() 123. Journey Through Vienna – Dodo Kresse with photographs by Janos KalmarFocuses largely on the architecture of Vienna – “museums of world-wide fame, and architectural styles from Gothic and Jugendstil to contemporary buildings” – but “the music and art of the Viennese way of life are explored” as well. The more you look past that obvious focus, the more value you find in this book for any GM who intends for his PCs to visit what was one of the leading intellectual centers of Europe for a time. |
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![]() 124. Only In Vienna: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects – Duncan J. D. Smith (“Only In” Guides)A “comprehensive illustrated guide to more than 80 fascinating and unusual historical sites” including “hidden courtyards, mysterious cellars, little-known museums and forgotten cemeteries…” does it get much more pulp-ready? |
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![]() 125. The World of Yesterday – Stefan Zweig, translated by Anthea BellThis is Zweig’s autobiography, let’s be up-front about that. To be honest, it was the review excerpt from Publisher’s Weekly that sold us on including it, and in this section specifically: “a chronicle of three ages: the golden days of Vienna that ended with World War I; that war and its aftermath; and the Hitler years. Three ages do come to life in Zweig’s book.” And just happen to bracket the entire Pulp period, inclusively. |
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![]() 126. Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century – And After (2nd Edition) R.J. CramptonThe history of all the key Eastern European states up to the collapse of Communism, the consequences of that collapse for the region, and considers what the future could hold for them. Discusses each of the states individually rather than taking an overly-broad perspective. 552 pages and quite possibly on the dry side, an impression backed up by reader reviews, which describe it as “Comprehensive, detailed, and scholarly”, “methodically organized”. Several readers suggest that the book is excellent on details but lacking in its ability to convey the big picture. In other words, this would be useful once you knew which country you wanted to look into in detail, but not so helpful in making that selection in the first place. |
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![]() 127. Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations and Parties (2nd Edition) – Janusz BugajskiConsiders the big-picture of Eastern Europe’s present and future by spitting it into three regions: Part 1 – post-Yugoslavia, with individual chapters devoted to the six new countries that have emerged; Part 2 – the Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania); and Part 3 – the (somewhat) more stable countries of Central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary). Why is this book being listed here? Because the collapse of communism “stimulated the resurgence of strong ethnic and nationalist movements in each of the 13 nations covered in this volume,” as Library Journal put it in reviewing the book. Each nation gets 20-40 pages that includes everything from history, statistics, ethnic policies and both majority and the minority ethnic groups subject to those policies. The important point: the current situations have their roots in the pre-communist histories and societies – in, and prior to, the pulp era. Which makes this book relevant, and helps justify the preceding listing as well. At 520 pages, this isn’t far short of that book, and – if anything – seems even more focused on the scholarly appraisal of the regional geopolitics. However, the focus on ethnic politics means that other aspects of the region’s culture get relatively little attention; as a resource, both these books are less than the whole story, but each contains about 1/3 of that story, with some overlap, perhaps more (the missing part, the culture and cultural inheritance, is best served by travel guides detailing specific nations). |
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![]() 128. A History of The Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (2nd Edition) – David M. Crowe“An overview of the life, history, and culture of the Gypsies, or Roma, from their entrance into the region in the Middle Ages up until the present, drawing from previously untapped East European, Russian, and traditional sources.” As some of the most colorful inhabitants of the region, Gypsies are a natural for Pulp. |
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![]() 129. The Rough Guide to Romania – Rough GuidesWe discussed the Rough Guides and what makes them appealing in an earlier entry. If you want to go beyond old Dracula movies as your source for the local culture, this is the book for you. |
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![]() 130. The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia – Richard Overy Ph. DIt’s possible to view the entire Second World War as being a clash between these two Nations, with the entire Western Campaign being about securing Germany’s flank, the Africa campaign about securing war material, and the early Eastern campaign as having the objective of opening invasion routes for the main action – the invasion of Russia itself. Certainly western media and public opinion constantly underestimates the role of Russia in defeating Germany; the Western Allies didn’t get to Berlin until after the Russians had overrun it, which is why it was later surrounded on all sides by East Germany. Despite this, the two were more alike than different in many ways, as this detailed historical analysis makes clear. Publisher’s Weekly note that the book requires careful reading or important nuances may be missed. At 928 pages, this is a substantial volume; expect higher-than-normal postage rates to apply. We’ve linked to the paperback because of lower prices and wider availability, but you can also choose the Kindle edition from this page, or get to the hardcover by clicking on “see all 12 formats and editions”. |
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![]() 131. The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia – Orlando FigesUntil you see the subtitle and read the blurb that accompanies this book, you might be forgiven for thinking it was a work of fiction. Even the cover contributes to this impression; save for an accidental mis-click, we would have missed it. The Whisperers “chronicles the private history of family life during the violent and repressive reign of Josef Stalin. Drawing on a vast collection of interviews and archives,” it “re-creates the anguish of family members turned against one another–of the paranoia, alienation, and treachery that poisoned private life in Russia for generations” (quotes from a review by The Economist, as quoted by Amazon). |
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![]() 132. Stalin and the Scientists: A History of Triumph and Tragedy 1905-1953 – Simon IngsAnother book that we almost missed because only the Kindle edition contains a review. “This is the story of how the Soviet Union’s scientists became both the glory and the laughing stock of the intellectual world”. The author’s own pro-Leninist ideology appears to seep through, and should be taken with a grain of salt. |
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![]() 133. The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin’s Russia – David KingThe least-essential, least-useful, and perhaps, most-interesting of the books we have listed on Stalin’s Russia. New copies of this book are very expensive, but fortunately there are second-hand copies at more reasonable prices. The book examines how Stalin doctored photographs to advance his own political career and erase his victims from memory; for over 30 years, King assembled the world’s largest archive of manipulated photos from the Soviet era, the best of which are the feature subjects of the book. Sheds light on an under-reported aspect of the regime, and makes you wonder what might be happening now, in this age of Photoshopping. |
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![]() 134. Civil War and World War in Europe: Spain, Yugoslavia, and Greece 1936-1949 – Philip B. MinehanA lot of people don’t realize that large parts of Europe were either at war or undergoing popular revolutions long before World War Two was actually declared, and those that do think first of Franco’s Spain (because it was central to the training of Nazi military forces), and hence directly connected to WWII. This is a comparative history of the three Civil Wars noted in the subtitle from various standpoints. New copies retail for $40, but used copies are more affordable at about a tenth that price. We’ve also gone for what Amazon describes as the “2009th edition”, which we seriously expect to a typo! NB: There are several other books related to Greek History of the period and the period leading up to it that we wanted to list but they cost too darned much. Look for them in the Honorable Mentions, if you are passionately interested. |
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![]() 135. National Geographic Traveler: Greece, 4th Edition – Mike Gerrard“Expert (travel) advice, insider tips, and the cultural feel of each destination not easily found online” – the best sights and sites in Greece, such as the Acropolis, cutaway illustrations of some of the most famous structures, detailed maps, and photographs. Broken into chapters by cities and areas, with one chapter devoted to Athens. A lot of focus on where tourists can engage in various practical and hands-on activities like wine-making, tapestry-weaving and marble sculpture workshops – and it seems likely that these would spring up in areas where they were already, or had historically been, a local activity. |
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![]() 136. The Rough Guide to Greece – Rough GuidesWe’ve recommended a couple of Rough Guides already, and like the others, this has a very good reputation; but the description of this seems to be more oriented towards tourism and less useful to a pulp GM. Nothing we can quite put our finger on, just an overall impression. However, it does seem to have some information that our preferred choice (above) seems to lack, so it still makes the list. Paperback and Kindle. |
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![]() 137. The Italians – John HooperLooks beyond the clichés to the real people and culture of Italy and brings it to life. Answers questions like “How did a nation that spawned the Renaissance also produce the Mafia?” and “Why does Italian have twelve words for coat-hanger but none for hangover?”. Examines everything from the convolutions of Italian Politics to Italian Opera. |
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![]() 138. Italy for First Timers – Ms. Lynnette HartwigAimed specifically at tourists of the first-time-visitor variety. Some of the content won’t apply to a pre-WWII Italy, and some will be right on the money for a pulp GM, which is the most you can hope for from any book not specifically aimed at the Pulp period. How to navigate the Public Transportation system may or may not be useful, for example, but how to get good service in Italian restaurants and how to pick a hotel that you won’t regret are likely to be of direct plot value. |
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![]() 139. The Great Book of Italy – Maria Laura Della Croce and Annie SacerdotiThis is a combination of two other books – “Wonders Of Italy” and “Masterpieces Of Italian Art”. Except under unusual plot circumstances, the first is more likely to be of interest to the Pulp GM. Includes photographs of “Natures Masterpieces” from the Alps to the South. New copies are expensive but second-hand can be quite affordable. Amazon has incorrectly listed the authors at the time of review, but the names should still be recognizable. |
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![]() 140. Dream Of Venice – JoAnn Locktov (editor) and Charles Christopher (photographer)“Evocative Photography and beguiling text” – so what else is new? But competent photographs that capture the essence of the city and its style will do, and these are at least that good if not better. |
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![]() 141. Rome: A photographic tour – Alexandru Ciobanu122 photos on 86 pages so there isn’t going to be much room for text unless they are all half-page in size. Most of them clearly are, anyway. Anyone can search for photos of the coliseum, or a piazza – the beauty of a book like this is that it takes you to places beyond the obvious, and that’s what you need to bring a city to life in a narrative passage. Descriptions give a thumbnail history of the photographs, Some readers have criticized the sequence of images, which are in neither topical or geographic sequence, and don’t even match the sequence in which they are mentioned in the text. There are many possible reasons for this; even simply maximizing the space available for the images could account for it. So be advised, but don’t let it put you off. |
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![]() 142. Experience Rome – Insight GuidesThere are a lot of Rome travel guides, with none of them offering any compelling reason for seeming better than the others, with the exception of this one. “Local expert authors guide you to authentic Roman experiences and fresh discoveries” and “The neighborhoods sections contain our selection what to see and do from an insider’s perspective, from the historic center to picturesque Trastevere and the Vatican City to upmarket Via Veneto and Villa Borghese,” were the two parts of the publisher’s information that stood out for us. |
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![]() 143. Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church – Thomas J ReeseNot to be confused with the book below! The geography of somewhere like The Vatican City (a country in its’ own right within Rome) will make no sense if you don’t understand what goes on there. From more than 100 interviews with officials, this book contains a first-hand look at the people, politics, and organization behind the institution, and what the processes are that keep it ticking over. Amazon have the paperback for $30 and a Kindle edition for $16.60, but there are other vendors selling through Amazon for as little as $5 new and one cent used. |
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![]() 144. Inside The Vatican – Bart McDowell, with photographs by James L. StanfieldStanfield is a veteran National Geographic photographer. For almost a year, he photographed almost every corner of the Vatican, making this a perfect companion volume to the other “Inside The Vatican” we have listed. |
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![]() 145. Vatican City (English Text) – Orazio PetrosilloThis is something of a blend of the two previous entries in nature. It is also a book sold to tourists within the Vatican itself for very high prices – higher even than the Hardcover ($57-67) and new copies of the paperback ($37+) listed here; but with used copies listed for one cent, this is a good bet to be worth grabbing to see the Vatican the way the Church wants it to be perceived. |
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![]() 146. Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads Of History 1st Edition – John Julius NorwichIf it weren’t for one small problem, we would recommend this book without hesitation. We’ll come back to that in a moment. Sicily is the ancient stepping-stone between the Europe and Africa, linking the Latin West and Greek Eastern Mediterranean. Every powerful dynasty in the region, from Roman Emperors to Spanish Kings and French Princes have been tempted by its’ position. And yet, for most of its history, Sicily is little more than a footnote. This book gives the complete history of the island and the many attempts to claim – and hold – it, that shape the culture of the island to this day. Okay, that gushing review tells you why we would recommend it. Hardcover copies are just outside our price range, but we’re prepared to live with that since we have no alternative. But here’s the problem – if you click on the Kindle tab, or the paperback tab (both of which offer better prices than the hardcover, or seem to, you get taken to a book by the same author that has a completely different name. It might be the same book, even though Amazon themselves have specified the hardcover as a first edition. But we don’t trust the links. Nor does that leave us 100% confident that the reviews we have synopsized above apply to the book they are attached to – they could be about this other book (which has a volcano on the cover). So, while we are still recommending this work, it isn’t with any certainty. |
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![]() 147. Seeking Sicily: A cultural journey through myth and reality in the heart of the Mediterranean – John KeaheyWhile this book touches on the history, it is more about the archeology, culture, personality, politics and society that has evolved as a result. The blurb is at pains to point out that the author was not content to let images from the tourist traps ‘sell’ the story; instead, he went places the tourists never see and talked to the actual people who lived there and not the exuberantly flamboyant tour guides. Available in hardcover and Kindle, it’s notable that third-party vendors have both new and used copies for less than the Kindle price. |
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![]() 148. National Geographic Traveler: Sicily, 4th Edition – Tim Jepson with photographs by Tino SorianoHaving read about the locals in different parts of Sicily in the book listed above, the only thing you need to complete your location prep is to know how to find them – or their locality – yourself. That’s where this book comes in. Once again, you can’t escape the history of the island, but that is followed by everyday experiences of the occupants and where the tourist can find them for themselves. |
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![]() 149. Germany in Pictures – Jeffrey Zuehike (Twenty-first century Visual Geography)The geography, history, government, economy, people, and cultural life of modern-day Germany. How much of that will apply to Germany under Hitler is another question. Despite the title, this is reported to be a small book with lots of text and thumbnail-sized photographs. It’s still 80 potentially- useful pages from a Pulp GM context – but don’t be fooled by the title. For a change, second-hand hardcovers are the cheapest option, but if they are missing the dust jacket, you may want to go with one of the used paperbacks instead. |
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![]() 150. Germany: The land – Kathryn Lane (Lands, Peoples and Cultures)The geography, cities, transportation, economy, and wildlife of Germany. Most of what is on that list would either be directly valid in the Pulp era or would be works in progress as Germany proved its industrial (and propaganda) muscle to the world – and to the German people. We’re linking to the paperback, but if the cheap copies there run out, click on the Hardcover, where there are more cheap used copies. Warning that this book is aimed at 9-12 year olds, so expect heavy sanitization of the content. |
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![]() 151. Berlin: A photographic portrait of the Weimar Years, 1918-1933 – Thomas FriedrichThis book shouldn’t be here. It fails both elements of the availability criteria. But there are very few books of its kind at any price for Germany, and the pre-Nazi years (early Pulp era) are especially rare, and it only just fails – so we have made an exception to the usual standards.\ |
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![]() 152. ~and then there were four: Berlin Memories, 1930s and Beyond – Ellen Stein, Marcelle Robinson, Daisy Roessler, and Lisa KleinFour childhood friends realize that each of them had unique and different experiences growing up in pre-Holocaust Berlin. These are their stories of what it was like to be from a middle-class Jewish family in the early days of the Nazi era, both before and after Hitler came to power, and the experience of living in England during the war and their subsequent life adventures. |
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![]() 153. Insight Guides Scandinavia – Insight GuidesA travel guide that does two things differently of acute interest to Pulp GMs: First, it deals with the entire region in one volume, permitting comparisons and correlations while highlight differentiations; and Second, there is a focus on the cultures of the different nations, with each receiving their own section. |
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![]() 154. Finland in Pictures – Francesca Davis DiPiazza (Twenty-First Century Visual Geography)An overview if Finland’s geography, history, politics, economy, and culture. See our caveats for “Germany in Pictures” (listed earlier) regarding applicability of content. Technically, this doesn’t quite meet our availability criteria (not enough copies at a cheap price) but it’s the only book of its type that we could find. |
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![]() 155. Finland (Exploring Countries of the World series) – Franco FigariThe stunning cover photograph caught our attention (as it is intended to do) but the key phrase in the description is “in-depth knowledge of [Finland’s] history and culture”. New copies are ridiculously expensive at $95+ but some used copies are very affordable at $1.87. There aren’t quite enough of them but the price persuaded us to let it slide. |
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![]() 156. Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf – Richard D. LewisAmazon’s copies are very high-priced compared to those of the other vendors selling through them, especially the Used copies ($30 vs $0.67). By pursuing a ‘Lone Wolf’ policy, Finland raised itself from a struggling, war-battered state to one of the most developed countries in the world over the course of only fifty years. Richard Lewis traces Finnish origins, history, geography, values and culture. Unusually for this sort of book, there is a focus on leadership style, negotiation strategies, and the uniquely Finnish self-image. |
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![]() 157. Finland: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Terttu LeneyThe ‘Culture Smart!’ series, of which this is a part, provides “essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. They … tell you “what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts,” enabling you to “steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes”. Or in the pulp GM’s case, how to know when the players have made such a faux pas, and how toxic it will be to good relations with the locals. Note this is another case where Amazon have the title slightly wrong – they lust the subtitle as “& Etiquette”. |
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![]() 158. The Rough Guide to Sweden – James Proctor and Neil RolandThis appears to be fairly average as travel guides go at initial glance, with nothing especially noteworthy in the publisher’s description. Things got more interesting when we looked at readers’ reviews; unlike most, the rough guide didn’t focus on the two largest cities to the detriment of the coverage elsewhere; only 25% deals with those cities, with 60% devoted to the rest of Sweden. So that was a thumbs up. “The book specifies open/close times very well (although you always double check). As someone traveling in the winter, I appreciated that fact! Some guidebooks don’t list the months that something is open!” – another set of useful information, another tick. Other readers reported spelling errors in some of the Swedish business names and errors in the map keys – neither of which should bother the Pulp GM especially. Other readers praised it for its accuracy, so we’re inclined not to worry about those possible negatives. |
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![]() 159. Culture Shock! Sweden: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette – Charlotte Rosen SvenssonSimilar in theme to the ‘Culture Smart: Finland’ book listed above – of which there is also one (see below) but this provided specifics about the content where the “Culture Smart” entry was only canned text about the series. It’s also almost 100 pages longer. New copies are expensive, but used ones are well-priced and there is a Kindle edition. If the affordably-priced copies of this book run out – which could happen – it would be time to turn to the Culture Smart entry. Third-party vendors selling through Amazon have this at a mere $0.48 new, and $0.10 used. The Kindle version costs almost twice as much, however. |
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![]() 160. Norway In Pictures (2nd Edition) – Eric BraunOnly 80 pages and mid-priced, though other vendors have more affordable copies. Customer reviews suggest that the photography is excellent, and that visual display is the main box for this listing to tick; anything of value in the text is a bonus. One of the PCs in Mike’s Zenith-3 superhero campaign is a native of Norway, so he has been on the lookout for evocative images of the country for some time, and from what little he has shown the rest of us, there are very few countries with so profound a visual difference between the seasonal extremes. |
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![]() 161. The Rough Guide To Norway – Phil LeeShort on detail in the Amazon description, but at least it’s not canned text. Once again, the customer reviews proved more informative: “Most travel guides consist of lots of photographs taken on the best weather days, bumper sticker location descriptions, a few travel hints, and listings of high-end accommodations. The Rough Guide to Norway … aims at a somewhat more demanding audience … who … want honest and substantive travel narrative, along with practical details”. Favors maps, graphics, and written descriptions over photographs. It’s also a lot more substantiative than several of the other guides we looked at. Kindle and Paperback editions. |
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![]() 162. Living In Norway – Elisabeth HolteHow do ordinary Norwegians live in an environment totally dictated by nature? This book answers the question by dividing the year into its four seasons and showing how the lifestyles change with the weather. The publisher’s description is very long (compared to most) and almost poetic. If that’s a sample of the writing style, this would be a very easy book to read. |
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![]() 163. Norway Culture Smart: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Linda MarchThe description is canned text about the series. Customer reviews suggest that the biggest drawback are monochrome photographs, and that the information on the Norwegian culture and customs is dead on the money. |
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![]() 164. Insight Guide to Denmark – Jane HutchingsCanned description and there isn’t much detail in the customer comments either, but they are all uniformly positive. As usual with the insight guides, there is an emphasis on the unique character of the subject nation and how best to experience it for yourself. To be honest, though, we are mostly recommending this on the strength of other books in the series which received more detailed reviews. |
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![]() 165. Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes – Helen DyrbyeDanish cultural idiosyncrasies described with a wry sense of humor. The pick of the books on the Danes for GMing purposes so far as can be told from the description of the content, but that statement comes with a caveat, which will be addressed in the next entry. |
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![]() 166. Culture Shock Denmark: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette – Morten StrangeThere is virtually no official description of content for this book, but if it lives up to the standards for the series established for other titles, it might be even better than the Xenophobe’s Guide listed above. However – and it’s a big however – the author left Denmark at the age of 20 because he didn’t like his home culture, came back twenty years later to write this guide, and still doesn’t like his home culture, an attitude that is reportedly palpable within the text. So, on the plus side, we’re getting both an insider’s perspective and an outsider’s perspective; on the negative, there is potential bias; and in the middle is the unproven suspicion that this might be better organized, with more readily accessible content, and possibly even more comprehensive, than the alternative. All of which makes it very hard to choose which one to recommend. So we’re listing both and letting readers make up their own minds (it is worth noting that most customers who buy this book also buy the Xenophobe’s Guide). |
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![]() 167. The Rough Guide to Switzerland – Matthew TellerSwiss Culture, History, and everything a tourist needs to know to get the most out of their stay. So says the blurb. Most Rough Guides are 400-and-a-bit pages, this one weighs in at more then 500. Customer comments suggest that the restaurants and accommodation prices are dating, and there are extremely poor reviews of the Kindle edition. Except possibly for the Kindle comments, none of that should matter to the pulp GM, leaving only the positives, especially when supplemented with some of our other Swiss-oriented recommendations (below). |
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![]() 168. Insight Guide To Switzerland – Insight GuidesFewer reviews but more uniformly positive. Only 368 pages, around 160 fewer than the Rough Guide – that’s a lot of content difference. As usual, the description for this entry in the Insight Guide Series is very encouraging – history, nine features on aspects of the country’s life and culture, and so on, with hundreds of photographs (presumably fairly small) and 20 maps. But there’s a rub – that description refers to an out-of-print edition. Our natural caution kicks in at this point. Buy cheaply and it doesn’t matter if there’s nothing but redundancy, or if the standards have slipped. |
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![]() 169. National Geographic Traveler: Switzerland – Teresa FisherThe product description suggests that this 320-page book contains less practical information than the Rough Guides usually contain, but has more information on out-of-the-way parts of the nation in a narrative format, with greater emphasis on experiencing the local lifestyle during visits – which is great for the GM who wants the natives to be experiencing the local lifestyle while resident there. |
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![]() 170. Living and Working in Switzerland: A Survival Handbook – David HampshireDesigned to provide newcomers with the practical information necessary for a relatively trouble-free life in the Swiss nation, either permanently or for an extended period. ‘Written in an entertaining style’. Copies are a little on the expensive side for something of such narrow utility to the GM, but still well within our price limits. |
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![]() 171. Xenophobe’s Guide to the Swiss – Paul Bilton.The product description consists entirely of extracts from the book which are excellent at capturing a part of the culture and making it accessible to the reader – whether that’s the GM, or the GM reading a relevant entry to the players as flavor text. For example, “Degrees of unease: The diversity of the Swiss is apparent in the degree to which they worry. The German-speakers do little else. The French-speaking Swiss are great visionaries and philosophers with noble thoughts and global dreams. They worry that their Swiss-German compatriots do not share these dreams. The Italian-speaking Swiss are less interested in the solid values of work and have a terrible tendency not to worry nearly enough.” As with the other Xenophobe’s Guide, this seems to be a collection of anecdotes and only loosely-organized paragraphs; for all that those are excellent, it might be that the culturally-oriented book below will prove more useful as a reference. |
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![]() 172. Switzerland – Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture – Kendall MaycockThe product description is the same canned series information mentioned previously. With one exception, however, the customer reviews were all positive, and the relatively structured format makes this potentially more useful as a reference book. That one review has based it entirely on one section, that on languages, which reportedly discusses only German-speaking Swiss. While that is a serious hole, it is not enough in our opinion to ameliorate the potential value in other areas in and of itself; it does raise concerns that other sections might also be myopic in scope, however. So this is not a blanket approval. There are two editions; we have chosen to link to the older (cheaper) one (pictured) in preference. The older one has a different author named, Kendall Hunter. Older (cheaper) edition: http://amzn.to/2dIjsjY Newer (more expensive) edition: http://amzn.to/2cFfPGx
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![]() 173. Holland: Living With Water – Art de VosThe Dutch are dominated by water in the form of the canals and waterways that reclaim the land, a perpetual struggle that has defined the lives and character of the nation and its residents. This book examines the impact that water has inevitably had on the Dutch in both text and images. New copies are very expensive and there aren’t many used copies – far fewer than should ordinarily allow this book to be listed – but it seemed so fundamentally important to understanding the Dutch that we have granted it an exemption from the usual restrictions. So be warned, copies are in short supply, cheap copies even more so. |
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![]() 174. Holland (New Millennium Edition: Europe) – BonechiPictures and cultural information about Holland. 144 pages containing 500 color photos, most of them large. 48 towns are covered in commentary and images. Buildings, inside museums, street scenes, and aerial views add to the diversity of subject matter. There are lots of cheap used copies or you might spend big (a whole $15.21) for a new copy – there are still eight left. |
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![]() 175. Holland Insight GuideThe usual canned description. This is a tourist guide with emphasis on the local culture. There are two editions, both have cheap used copies at trivial prices. Links have been provided to both, below. Newer Edition (more cheap copies but likely to sell faster, pictured): Older edition:
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![]() 176. The Rough Guide To AmsterdamAt only 280 pages, this is the shortest rough guide we’ve come across – guess that’s what happens when you are dealing with a single city and not an entire country! The contents read more like a typical tourist guidebook, as well.
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![]() 177. The Rough Guide to Belgium & Luxembourg – Martin DunfordThere are two editions of this book. The description of the older one reads like a more typical travel guide, while the newer guide’s description gives a far more favorable impression of its value as a pulp reference. So we are recommending it in preference to the older one, even though copies are more expensive. We’ll link to both, however, in case copies of the new run out. That said, there are more pages to the older one, and that always makes us wonder what has been cut out. 6th edition (376 pages): http://amzn.to/2dIq5Da 5th edition (392 pages): http://amzn.to/2cFlPPD
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![]() 178. Culture Smart: Belgium – Mandy MacdonaldCanned description, 168 pages. Beyond that, we can’t tell which is better, this book or the one listed below. |
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![]() 179. Culture Shock: Belgium – Mark ElliottAlso a canned description. 272 pages, and copies are cheaper than the alternative. |
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![]() 180. Spain For Dummies (4th edition) – Neil Edward SchlechtA combination of general introduction and oddly practical advice for a GM, such as how to get the best seats at a bullfight. |
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![]() 181. National Geographic Traveler: Spain (fourth edition) – Fiona Dunlop with photography by Tino SorianoIn depth information of both the commonly-explored areas and many lesser-known ones, featuring cutaway illustrations, experiential sidebars, detailed maps, and photos. Organized into chapters by cities and areas. History and Culture sections provide context, and additional sidebars highlight subjects of special relevance such as Spanish wines. |
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![]() 182. The Rough Guide to SpainEarly appearances of the Rough Guides emphasized the practical nature of the information and the inclusion of important and useful facts that other guides did not. Later examples hinted that these refinements may not apply to older editions, without being conclusive. The customer comments on this book, however, suggests that it was with the 6th edition that accuracy began to go downhill after being reportedly excellent previously. Others make no such complaints – at least up to the 8th edition. Which leaves us somewhat confused… 15th edition, 944 pages, more expensive: 14th edition, 944 pages, much cheaper (pictured):
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![]() 183. Culture and Customs of Spain – Edward F. StantonThis is part of a series entitled “Cultures and Customs of the world), which has not appeared in previous searches (perhaps they were more than 10 pages of results deep). The description gives the impression that this is a prose exploration, not divided into small bites in the manner of the Xenophobes’ Guides or structured facts like the Culture Shock and Culture Smart series. As such, it promises depth but difficulty in quick access to the information, and more abstraction relative to the other cultural guide series. Ultimately, that probably makes it less useful, from a pulp point of view. Unfortunately, it was the only one of all those Culture series with anywhere close to enough copies available. So, hobson’s choice: this book it is. |
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![]() 184. The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 – Antony BeevorOne of the most bitterly hard-fought wars of the 20th Century, has long been viewed as the entrée to World War II. So terrible was the conflict that for decades, there was an unspoken social compact amongst the Spanish to ignore the subject; only when mass graves were uncovered more than 60 years after the War ended was what the Spaniards themselves described as “the pact of forgetting” broken. That story is beyond the scope of this library of recommendations, but this history of the war, revised with access to new sources to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war, is definitely on-point. It doesn’t simple recite the events, it examines the tensions and causes – so, while the war itself is arguably a crescendo to the Pulp era, this history covers rather more of the relevant time period. The number one best seller in Spain for 12 weeks. |
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![]() 185. Spain In Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 – Adam HochschildIt is well known that the Nazis were involved in the Spanish Civil War. What is less appreciated is that there were volunteer Americans – on both sides of the conflict. This tells the stories of some of those Americans – why they involved themselves, and how their presence impacted the course of the war. A New York Times bestseller. |
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![]() 186. Portugal: A picture book to remember her by – edited by David Gibbon84 pages of photos of Portugal and its landmarks. There aren’t quite as many copies available cheaply (new ones go for more than $100) but it’s close enough that we’ll give this book a pass because there was nothing similar available. |
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![]() 187. The Rough Guide to PortugalA travel guide that goes beyond the usual tourist traps with insider tips on everything from driving on Portugal’s roads to shopping for linen and lace. Portugal’s art, history, architecture and literature are all explored. This seems to be Rough Guides back to their best. |
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![]() 188. National Geographic Traveler: Portugal (2nd Edition) – Fiona Dunlop with photographs by Tino SorianoAs usual with the National Geographic series, the first goal is comprehensiveness, with details on each of seven distinct regions within Portugal, and the second goal is to permit the tourist to experience the “real” Portugal and not the manufactured tourism industry through a focus on traditional and local experiences. Sidebars provide introductions to culturally diverse topics such as the Wine industry and the musical style known as Fado. |
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![]() 189. Portugal: A tale of Small Cities – David Stewart White and Deb Hosey White
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![]() 190. Living In Portugal – Anne De StoopThe ‘living in’ series takes you on an armchair visit to the houses, gardens, museums and palaces of the foreign locale named. This combines a style guide with the usual travel guide, highlighting the “brilliant colors, lush perfumes, and traditional lifestyle” of Portugal. There is a newer edition of this book but at $50 a copy it’s priced out of our window. |
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![]() 191. The Portuguese: A portrait of a People – Barry HattonPortugal is a part of the European establishment engaged in every possible arena from the EU to NATO, and it once ruled a vast Empire. Yet it seems to be inconspicuous and largely overlooked. In this book, the Portuguese people are put under the spotlight to reveal the idiosyncrasies that make them unique, blending historical analysis with personal anecdote and travelogue. This is a narrative examination of the culture of the citizens of Portugal, making its content long on depth and short on quick accessibility. Amazon are showing the wrong cover with this book, which is why there is no cover image to the right. |
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![]() 192. Culture Shock Portugal: A survival guide to customs and etiquette – Volker PoelzlThis was the only “non-narrative” oriented guide to the Portuguese culture that we could find. The description is even more terse than the canned descriptions that have featured in some other examples from this series. On top of that, this book has received some very mixed reviews, with accusations of being boring and of not addressing the brief – i.e. describing the culture of Portugal. We suspect that with the preceding volume to provide context, this might be a better book than it is given credit for – but purchase at your own risk (hint: buy a cheap copy, just in case!) 292 pages. |
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![]() 193. The Ancient Greeks For Dummies – Stephen BatchelorIf you were to ask most people to name the ancient civilizations that have had the greatest impact on modern times, the order might vary but the top four would almost certainly be the Ancient Greeks, The Romans, the Vikings, and the Ancient Egyptians. Of those four, only the last would be truly debatable. If you want to use modern-day Amazons, this is where their culture would derive from. On top of that, you have the physical and cultural legacies of the Ancient Greeks – ruins that form great settings for Pulp encounters, and so on. This is your window into all of that. |
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![]() 194. The Romans For Dummies – Guy de la BedoyereMost people have probably heard the saying, “All roads lead to Rome” – in the era of the Roman Empire, it was quite literally true. The legacies of Rome are instrumental in defining the power, position, and prestige of Catholicism, and the history of virtually all of Western Europe and most of the Middle East and Northern Africa. On top of that, much of Mussolini’s regime was superficially supposed to resurrect the past glories of this Empire. Could this book get much more relevant, however indirectly, to the Pulp GM? |
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![]() 195. The British Monarchy For Dummies –Ever since the American Revolution, the British Monarchy has been a subject of mild fascination for Americans (sometimes greater, sometimes less), often perceived as a quaint hangover of a long-past era. But in the Pulp era, and the time immediately preceding it, the direct power and indirect influence of the British Monarchy over world events, and people all over the world, is both immediate and vital. In a nutshell, to understand half the world, you need to understand the British Monarchy of the Pulp Era and the preceding half-century or so. But the British Monarchy has a very long history, and how much of this volume will be relevant to the Pulp GM is open to question. What can be said is that those parts that are relevant will be indispensable. We therefore recommend a cheap copy of this book as a vital resource. |
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Documentaries about European Places
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![]() 196. Empire (4 parts? 5 parts? Depends on which listing you consult)The British Empire is one of the dominant elements of the 18th and 19th century worlds, and remnants (and legacies) certainly live on into the Pulp era. This documentary series examines the history and impact of that Empire on different parts of the world, as well as in domestic England. Mike adds, “I come from a nation that is part of the modern-day successor to that Empire, the British Commonwealth, and I learned things from this series that were both pulp-relevant and extremely interesting”; for any US-based GMs, who have less familiarity with the Empire, this is practically Required Viewing. There are limited copies available on DVD unfortunately, and they aren’t all that cheap http://amzn.to/1MA1zec but streaming copies are also available at a far more reasonable price http://amzn.to/21FDCJm. As you might expect, there are lots of copies available from Amazon UK at a reasonable price (and a different cover) http://amzn.to/1RhbnOi. For a change, it’s not all doom-and-gloom for Canadian readers, as there are a number of copies available – admittedly at a somewhat higher price than their southern neighbors http://amzn.to/1S3IyT5. |
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![]() 197. Underground Britain – Episode 2: London (or Episode 3 according to some sources)We can’t put it better than Amazon’s review: “Rob Bell climbs, crawls, dives and burrows into the amazing world of Underground Britain in search of the most extraordinary, mysterious and challenging subterranean places, from hidden man-made constructions to stunning natural wonders.” But it’s the wartime construction under London, and (in particular) how much of it actually predates World War 2, and hence takes place within the Pulp Era, that we find relevant. Unfortunately, we could find only one copy of this on DVD (from Amazon US), and that one appears to be an Australian Import (to judge by the SBS logo – SBS is a TV network here in Australia) at that. Fortunately, SBS offers a streaming catchup service which includes this documentary, though we have no idea if non-Australians can access it. Assuming a worst-case scenario, there is a more widely-available documentary on the subject that we have not seen, but which might be a “better-than-nothing” substitute – at the very least, but it’s not all milk-and-honey: this is a DVD import from England, and will not play on most US equipment. The name of this potential substitute is “The Secrets Of Underground Britain” and it is available from Amazon US for about US$13 http://amzn.to/1XVGEft, from Amazon UK for roughly £8-11 http://amzn.to/25WyTu8, and from Amazon Canada (very limited quantities) for about CDN$18 http://amzn.to/1UyfAvK. Fortunately, we also found it on YouTube :) |
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![]() 198. Destination Flavour – ScandinaviaAlthough this DVD set is about cooking and the Nordic food revolution that is underway, Chef and host Adam Liaw succinctly characterizes the cultural differences between the different Scandinavian countries in the course of this 6-part series. Each episode takes place in a different Nation, building to a comprehensive review of peoples too often thought of as interchangeable by outsiders. Available (new) from Australia’s ABC shop in a region-4 PAL format (which will not play on most US equipment) If that doesn’t solve the problem, watch for it on food networks, streaming services and the like; we are sure it will turn up eventually. And check Amazon every now and then, as well. |
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Afterword by Saxon:
In a pulp setting a “more ordinary place” doesn’t mean completely ordinary or outright mundane. I mean, such places probably exist, but I’d be suspicious that their mere presence was an indicator of something – perhaps a cover for a nefarious plot. And if it’s not, perhaps it should be.
No, everywhere should be extraordinary, dramatic, exaggerated, hyped, energized, distinctive.
In a such a larger than life world, people may not notice it as readily, simply because they live there, are used to it, and take it for granted – but the player characters shouldn’t be allowed to fall into that mindset; every day could and should bring the possibility, even the probability, of adventure.
Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean a fist fight with criminal goons, or a car chase through crowded streets dodging fruit carts – it might be something as simple as exploiting the point of view of a tourist: what interesting new thing might be brought to the character’s attention? What minor human drama will play out before him? And how will it suck him into its vortex?
That is the potential that should be implicit in every location described by the GM. At its heart this is a type of flavor text, and all the games master has to decide is what pieces of local color distinguish the pulp adventure version of, say, New York city from the real life version, on this particular day.
But there is a difficult balance to walk; the setting also has to establish the credibility of the setting, to ground the PCs and the players in the scene to come, no matter how outré and fantastic. It is the anchor of the entire plotline, whatever that may be.
The solution is to base it in reality, look for the color that makes each place distinctive, and put it front and center. Let the PCs play tourist in a wonderland of excitement, and let the adventures be just another wild ride in this amusement park of wonders and wonderful places.
“Ordinary”? In Pulp, Ordinary places should be anything but.
Next week: The Fourth Shelf: Exotic Locations!
- The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others) Pt 0: The Front Desk
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 1st Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 2nd Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 3rd Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 4th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 5th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 6th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 7th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 8th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 9th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 10th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 11th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 12th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 13th Shelf
- Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 14th Shelf
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December 9th, 2016 at 4:29 pm
[…] information will also be found in the sections dealing with specific countries and regions (shelf 3, shelf 4, and shelf 5) and in the history section of Shelf […]