Looking forward to more extensive coverage of the civil war about to break out in our hellhole cities.

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?

The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

cityam.com

Looking forward to presenting my paper: 'High, Open, Bleak and Boggy: How Scotland's Environment Shaped Its Involvement In The Second World War' at the 'Scotland and World War Two' conference at Perth UHI on Friday 7 November, 9am to 3pm. Contact Lars Cook at Lars.Cook.Perth@uni.ac.uk for more info.

I had a mid-career fellowship and it was exactly what I needed to finish my book. The BA application forms are far simpler than you might expect if you’ve only ever seen forms for other funders. So, if you’re eligible, do explore further. Best of luck if you apply.

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 11mo ago

We’ve opened a call for our British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships which enable established scholars to have the time to complete a significant piece of humanities or social sciences piece of research, through a one year period of leave www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

Delighted to have signed a contract with @edinburghup.bsky.social to produce a scholarly edition of Fred Urquhart’s war-time letters. Urquhart, an accomplished writer, was a lover of men and admirer of flamboyant women. His letters offer a Rabelaisian account of the British #SWW home front.

This piece on the distribution of aid in Gaza paints a picture so awful it is hard to conceive on.ft.com/4lzxFOQ

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’

A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. Many never make it back

on.ft.com

Page proofs time … plus slight tweak of subtitle (in UK edition). Out November 6 in Britain and late November in N America. #AdvanceBritannia

Great to see the Policy Histories series, which I worked on when I was at the British Academy, in the New Statesman.

The British Academy@britishacademy.bsky.social · last yr.

We must "look to history to sharpen decision-making,” writes British Academy Public Policy Adviser Harriet Thompson in @newstatesman.com. But politicians, trapped in 24-hour news cycles and crisis management, lack time to consult the history books. Read more: www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/20...

Hugely enjoyed speaking on this panel last week!

Wendy Ugolini@wugolini.bsky.social · last yr.

A lovely UG student sent me this 'academics in action' shot from our #SWW colloquium @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social. From our AHRC panel on UK service personnel in colonial spaces.

80 years ago a bus strike meant many people had to walk to central London for #VEDay. A potent marker of how Churchill had fought a Tory War but the peace would belong to Labour. Read more in my book: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Then Historiographies panel with @georgedevans93.bsky.social Geoff Hicks and David Thackeray - these pics from David illustrating Māori women and parliament in 1890s #QMCBS 🗃️

Our free festival of ideas - the @britishacademy.bsky.social Summer Showcase - is on 20/21 June. With workshops, panels, film, research exhibits and more. I’ll pick out a few highlights on this occasional thread, but you can see the programme and book here www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/summe...

Great news! I am recruiting a(nother) PhD student! 'Ulster Americans' is a collaborative PhD with National Museums NI, specifically the Ulster American Folk Park, and is open to home and international students so please spread the word! More details in the link. www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post...

Since it's Commonwealth Day, here's my 2020 article on "Brexit and Empire", on free-access in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. Quite a lot in here on the hopes and fears vested in the Commonwealth, and their relationship with the Brexit debate. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Brexit and Empire: ‘Global Britain’ and the Myth of Imperial Nostalgia

In the wake of the 2016 referendum, the idea that ‘imperial nostalgia’ motivated the Leave vote became a staple of academic commentary. Yet such claims suffer from four important flaws. They are us...

tandfonline.com

North American / UK and rest of Commonwealth covers, out November 2025

Fixed-term post: Teaching and Research Fellow in Black British History @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLU474/t...

Teaching and Research Fellow in Black British History at The University of Edinburgh

Explore an exciting academic career as a Teaching and Research Fellow in Black British History. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

jobs.ac.uk

For the @newstatesman.com i wrote a profile of the historian Correlli Barnett, which charts the perils of self-loathing nationalism and the rise of Britain's new right www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/0...

The prophet of the new right

In the life and work of Correlli Barnett, we can find all the most dangerous currents of contemporary conservatism.

newstatesman.com

Enjoyed a fantastic paper from @jtthalstead.bsky.social last night on doctrine within the 'Imperial Army'.

Dr James Halstead@jtthalstead.bsky.social · 2y ago

Getting all the self-publication out the way early…. I’ll be speaking at the IHR next month on the topic of my PhD. You can sign up to attend both in person and online here: www.history.ac.uk/events/imper...

I'm delighted to share the advert for a collaborative PhD which I'll be co-supervising with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald of the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies (Omagh). This project, 'Finding "home" in a cultural landscape of migration & belonging' has a deadline of 10 March www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post...

Honoured to be reviewed by Richard Evans (and to be called a young historian!). I’m glad he found it enjoyable and that it “provides a stimulating and thought-provoking reassessment of Tory thinking in the war years.” Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)

The New Statesman@newstatesman1913.bsky.social · 2y ago

Richard J Evans asks: Did the Tories create modern Britain? A revisionist history claims the postwar consensus was shaped by Conservative visions. www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

I'm pleased to formally announce the new Editorial Team and International Editorial Board of 'The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History'. @jich.bsky.social @yiannicart.bsky.social @jonasgjerso.bsky.social @evansmithhist.bsky.social @helengilmour.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...

Learn about The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Learn about The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History aims & scope, editorial board, journal metrics and more.

tandfonline.com

Interesting thread and paper.

Elizabeth Marlowe@lizmarlowe.bsky.social · 2y ago

Important & meticulous corrective by Staffan Lunden on Dan Hicks' much-praised 2020 book _Brutish Museums_ about the 1897 looting of the Benin bronzes. I am among the many who uncritically accepted Hicks' unsubstantiated claims about the staggering ... 1/3 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...