The History Book Club discussion

Here is a quick refresher of the spoiler policy and what is considered off topic or a spoiler. Goodness knows that we can all get engrossed in a discussion and then realize that it is off topic. In fact, it has happened to me.

If the discussion has nothing to do with the thread's declared topic and is clearly not even about the book being discussed or the pages and chapters assigned, that is a dead give away that the discussion should be moved to the Off Topic thread, the Glossary, the Book as a Whole or Final Thoughts threads, or any of the other supplemental threads which are not non spoiler.

It is really only the right thing to do; because we do not want to waste anybody's time. Whatever everyone can do to help accomodate this request is greatly appreciated. We are a small group so this should not be an issue.

There are threads on which you should not be discussing advance content of the book at all nor any subject not explicitly discussed in the assigned BOOKS, CHAPTERS, PAGES AND/OR SECTIONS. The weekly non spoiler threads are specifically non-spoiler specific and you must be careful about what is discussed there. You may have read these pages etc. and may be way ahead; but others have not caught up so on the weekly non spoiler threads you must not discuss anything other than the assigned chapters, pages, books, section or any pages that were read or assigned in previous week's assignments.

You will see BOOK/SECTION/CHAPTER/PAGES threads broken down by segment per week and each weekly non spoiler thread is clearly marked.

Remember what constitutes a spoiler may be different for different people, so your general opinions or extemporaneous discussions may give away more than you realize.

On the threads that will address specific portions of the book (Assigned by chapters, books, sections, pages), strict spoiler etiquette should be observed. You should avoid mentioning anything that happens in the portion of the book discussed beyond that which is under discussion. For example, in a Chapter Two segment thread you should not reference anything that occurs beyond Chapter Two. If this is unclear, please contact me. If you really feel you must allude to something from a later Chapter and Page, you MUST preface your comments with the header SPOILER ALERT in the subject line of your post or in the case of good reads in the first line of your post. What will happen with these is that they will be moved to the glossary or Book as a Whole threads or another spoiler supplemental thread which matches the topic.

If you do not know how to do this effectively on goodreads, let me know.

All other supplemental threads (including the Glossary and Book as a Whole threads) will be for discussion of major people, events and themes across the book so spoiler rules do not apply on these supplemental threads. However, even on these supplemental threads, the reader should not go off-topic. If we are talking about the definition of history and the discussion veers off topic to let us say World War II; then obviously that conversation should be moved Off Topic.

If you're reading along with the chapter/book/section/page-grouping schedule you may want to avoid all of these supplemental threads until you've finished the book.

Finally, if you come across a post that contains a spoiler, please do not get upset. It happens, in fact this has happened to me personally. We will try to bring the thread back to the topic politely and we hope you will help us out.

I think with a little patience on everyone's part that this will be an enjoyable experience for everyone. With a small group, this should work out well.

The syllabus is updated regularly and the chapter and supplemental threads are identified. Additionally if you are on a supplemental thread and confused about its specific topics, please just look at the first post on each thread that I have posted and this will identify what topics are allowed on which thread.

Thank you so much for keeping this all straight and reader friendly for all of us.

Thanks for your cooperation in advance.

Note: Some threads are for informational purposes only.

Bentley