The ad for and review of Stephen Mihm's A Nation of Counterfeiters advertised and linked to right here on the Cliopatria page reminds me of a comparison I have often made: that Nigeria today enjoys much the same international reputation for scams as did the US in the 19th Century. This is a fine example that the path to development is not necessarily straight and narrow.

Ralph E. Luker - 9/15/2007

Your comment surprises me, David. I'm sure you know of the critics of academic publications in both the social sciences and literary criticism as being full of insider jargon. A carnival is a periodic featuring of exemplary posts about a field of interest from a wide variety of blogs. I tend to post "link-heavy" posts here at Cliopatria, with the assumption that readers will left-click on those of interest. A visit or two to carnivals would make clear what they are. Otherwise, I am only semi-literate in blog-insider talk. Some of my colleagues here are capable of leaving both you and me wondering what the dickens they're talking about.

David M Fahey - 9/15/2007

The "end of H-Net" flap gives me the opportunity to point out the obvious: we join electronic conversations and media at different times. For instance, although I am active on one blog (alcohol/drugs history) and contribute occasionally to others, I know very little about blogs. The terminology often baffles me. For instance, after following Cliopatria for a couple of years I still have no idea what a "carnival" is. In other words, blogs seem to foster an in-group conversation that is unaware that it is an in-group conversation. I contrast this to printed books and articles that strive to be intelligible to a fairly large audience.