Alex Middleton reviews 'The Paris Commune in Britain: Radicals, Refugees, and Revolutionaries after 1871', by Laura C. Forster @lauracforster.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @academic.oup.com

The Paris Commune in Britain: Radicals, Refugees, and Revolutionaries after 1871, by Laura C. Forster

This is an innovative and richly suggestive study of British political culture in international context. Rather than concentrating on Britain’s more heated

academic.oup.com

'...the book is a complete success, and it should become a staple of reading lists on international political-ideological interactions' Thanks to Alex Middleton for this generous & thoughtful review!

The English Historical Review@enghistrev.bsky.social · last mo.

Alex Middleton reviews 'The Paris Commune in Britain: Radicals, Refugees, and Revolutionaries after 1871', by Laura C. Forster @lauracforster.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @academic.oup.com

📣 Call for Applications 📣 History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe. This is a part-time, paid role. Application deadline: 7 August 2026. Please share widely!

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowship at History Workshop, 2026

History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe.

historyworkshop.org.uk

In Paris and at a loose end this afternoon? Come for some Commune chat @sorbonnenouvelle.bsky.social, 4pm 🙌

Society for the Study of Labour History@sslh.bsky.social · 2mo ago

An exciting new hybrid talk from @lauracforster.bsky.social on 9 June, exploring the Communard refugees who arrived in Britain following the defeat of the Paris Commune in May 1871. Find out more: sslh.org.uk/2026/05/29/e...

An exciting new hybrid talk from @lauracforster.bsky.social on 9 June, exploring the Communard refugees who arrived in Britain following the defeat of the Paris Commune in May 1871. Find out more: sslh.org.uk/2026/05/29/e...

Event: Exile, affinity, and the afterlives of the Paris Commune in Britain

Dr Laura C. Forster (University of York) will deliver an online and in-person talk on Tuesday 9 June titled: “Exile, affinity, and the afterlives of the Paris Commune in Britain”, covering her rece…

sslh.org.uk

My German is crap but from what I can gather this is a lovely and thoughtful review of 'The Paris Commune in Britain'! Thank you @christopherwimmer.bsky.social 🙌

christopher wimmer@christopherwimmer.bsky.social · 2mo ago

in der aktuellen ausgabe der @abg-zeitschrift.bsky.social habe ich das sehr schöne und lehrreiche buch "the paris commune in britain. radicals, refugees, and revolutionaries after 1871" von @lauracforster.bsky.social besprochen. www.arbeit-bewegung-geschichte.de/wp-content/u...

HAPPY MAY DAY✊🟥 For Radical May, 'Friends in Common' is half price! Treat yourself! It's a book about friendship & radical struggle, historically & today. It argues that friendship has revolutionary potential in the face of a profoundly anti-social capitalist system (1/8)

Friends in Common - Pluto Press

Friendship is potent and full of possibilities for social change

plutobooks.com

Jobs! Three jobs! I am hiring three full-time, three-year postdocs to research the long history of song at Newcastle, from any disciplinary background (within reason), starting 1 October 2026. Spread the news far and wide – all details in the link below... jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...

New article! It considers how travelling activists - lecturers, wandering outsiders & Clarion caravanners - figured in the landscape of socialist organising in the late 19thC & argues that experiences of intimacy, friendship, & frustration were key in generating socialist ideas & making socialists

Parliamentary History Journal@parlhistjournal.bsky.social · 4mo ago

In this free to read article, @lauracforster.bsky.social explores socialist political lecture tours in the late 19th century and how these produced everyday, intimate experiences that could powerfully embody socialist ideas for new audiences. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

‘In​ its short life, the Commune could fulfil little of its programme. But it transformed Paris into a network of elected democracies, cancelled rent arrears and abolished religious education.’ Neal Ascherson on the Paris Commune in Britain. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Neal Ascherson · Soup at La Marmite: Communards in Exile

Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active....

lrb.co.uk

Googled my favourite Matilda quote to find a clip of the relevant scene and the auto AI overview that I can't seem to turn off came through with something accurate for once

‘Once, the men and women waiting for soup in Newman Passage had believed that everything was possible. Now they knew it wasn’t.’ Neal Ascherson on the Paris Commune’s refugees in Britain. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Neal Ascherson · Soup at La Marmite: Communards in Exile

Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active....

lrb.co.uk

Hey everyone, a collective I'm part of is starting a radical bookshop and community space in Newcastle, a city where the last radical bookshop closed around 40 years ago. We've just launched our crowdfunder. Please take a look a share widely! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/booksfromb...

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Such a brilliant book!

Verso Books@versobooks.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The Paris Commune was established 155 years ago today. We're marking the occasion by offering 30% off books on the commune - including preorders on Quentin Deluermoz's upcoming book, The Paris Commune: A Global History.

Hey look - a lovely review in the @lrb.co.uk of @lauracforster.bsky.social's magnificent book about the exiles of the Paris commune! www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Neal Ascherson · Soup at La Marmite: Communards in Exile

Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active....

lrb.co.uk

Happy St. Patrick's Day, New York.

Call for Papers New Left Histories and Historiographies: Mapping a Renewed Research Field Workshop to assess the current state of research on the New Left. Cfp for an event to be held in November at QMUL. Info here www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event... @bbkhistorical.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social

'...a lively, scholarly account, full of bold personalities and surprising connections' Thanks to Neal Ascherson for this generous review of 'The Paris Commune in Britain' in the @lrb.co.uk today Particularly pleased to read that the book took Neal to the Newman Arms in search of the Communards 🍻

London Review of Books@lrb.co.uk · 5mo ago

‘Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active. Plenty of “Vive la Commune!” and “Down with Capitalism!”, but no barricades.’ Neal Ascherson on the Paris Commune in Britain. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

‘Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active. Plenty of “Vive la Commune!” and “Down with Capitalism!”, but no barricades.’ Neal Ascherson on the Paris Commune in Britain. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Neal Ascherson · Soup at La Marmite: Communards in Exile

Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active....

lrb.co.uk

'...a lively, scholarly account, full of bold personalities and surprising connections' Thanks to Neal Ascherson for this generous review of 'The Paris Commune in Britain' in the @lrb.co.uk today Particularly pleased to read that the book took Neal to the Newman Arms in search of the Communards 🍻

London Review of Books@lrb.co.uk · 5mo ago

‘Solidarity with Commune veterans on the part of British working-class movements was usually more symbolic than active. Plenty of “Vive la Commune!” and “Down with Capitalism!”, but no barricades.’ Neal Ascherson on the Paris Commune in Britain. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

This is really excellent and informative, as ever. From the best @eskandarsadeghi.bsky.social

London Review of Books@lrb.co.uk · 5mo ago

‘If Trump’s intention was to remove Khamenei from the political landscape, he may instead have fixed him in it, recast in the eyes of his devotees as a figure of sacrifice rather than failure.’ @eskandarsadeghi.bsky.social on the US war on Iran, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

I've got a new article out @parlhistjournal.bsky.social 💥 It's about late 19thC socialist caravan tours & the production of everyday forms of cross-cultural connection & provincial internationalisms that were vital for the development of socialist ideas in this period

Travelling Activists, Radical Hospitality and the Intimate History of Socialist Organising in Britain, c.1880–1914*

This article considers the political lecture tour, and particularly the travelling socialist caravan tours organised by Clarion socialists at the end of the 19th century, to argue that, for socialist...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

What does history have to offer to a world beset by upheaval? @lauracforster.bsky.social, @julialaite.bsky.social, Laura Schwartz, Anne Irfan and Jo Kelcey consider the complexities of this question in our new podcast 🎙️

History Workshop in Turbulent Times

How can history offer illumination and hope at a time of global upheaval and chaos?

historyworkshop.org.uk

CONFERENCE - 'Sociability & Political Life', University of York, 3rd/4th July 2026 Get your abstracts in by 14th Feb!

Laura C Forster@lauracforster.bsky.social · 9mo ago

📢Call For Papers📢 Sociability & Political life Marc Jaffré & I are organising a conference! We're asking: can there be politics without sociability? How have friendship, intimacy, socialising & informal attachments been central to political projects & movements? Get your abstracts in by Feb 14th!

The latest issue of History Workshop Journal is out now, and it marks two exciting milestones: 50 years and 100 issues of innovative radical history. You can read the journal on the HWJ website through the link below! academic.oup.com/hwj...

CONFERENCE - 'Sociability & Political Life', University of York, 3rd/4th July 2026 Get your abstracts in by 14th Feb!

Laura C Forster@lauracforster.bsky.social · 9mo ago

📢Call For Papers📢 Sociability & Political life Marc Jaffré & I are organising a conference! We're asking: can there be politics without sociability? How have friendship, intimacy, socialising & informal attachments been central to political projects & movements? Get your abstracts in by Feb 14th!

📖 EPISODE 230! 📖 In today’s episode, we discuss the book Friends in Common: Radical Friendship and Everyday Solidarities by @lauracforster.bsky.social and @joeljoel.bsky.social (and published by @plutopress.bsky.social).