The Society for Military History is now archiving historical materials related to military history that are disappearing from federal or state websites. We are open to submissions, anonymously or otherwise. Please see www.smh-hq.org/archivedreso... and note there the submission links.

Read our letter to Meta, sent last week, condemning their unlicensed use of authors' work to train AI. #DoTheWriteThing #MetaBookThieves - societyofauthors.org/2025/04/04/t...

The SoA's message to Meta: don't steal our books - The Society of Authors

On Thursday 3 April, the Society of Authors (SoA) organised a day of action to deliver a message to Meta. Read all about it here.

societyofauthors.org

Great news: the full rights to the Lisle bio have just been signed back over to me. So I can now think about revisions, which it sorely needs: it's 10 years old now. Cheriton first, though; getting the THB website running again, and getting the newsbooks online. Anyone know how I can clone myself?

In an infringement of copyright & total disregard for my livelihood, many of my academic publications have been taken without my consent to train AI. I stand with the @Soc_of_Authors Action. Pls sign & share this petition to protect authors' rights: www.change.org/p/protect-au...

Sign the Petition

Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training

change.org

Following the news about Meta's mass theft of writers' work to train AI, we're joining the #DoTheWriteThing day of action today - Make a noise on social media - Write to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy - Tell Meta they don't have the right to use your books writersguild.org.uk/do-the-write...

#DoTheWriteThing - join the day of action - The Writers' Guild of Great Britain

Following the The Atlantic’s article, which revealed that many UK authors have had their work taken without consent as part of the Library Genesis ‘LibGen’ dataset and used by Meta …

writersguild.org.uk

Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition which now stands at 10,000+! If you haven't added your name, #DoTheWriteThing -

Sign the Petition

Protect authors’ livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training

change.org

The Ecclesiastical History Society is delighted to join BlueSky and the #academic community here. Our Society is dedicated to the study of all things #churchhistory. We will be moving from posting on our X account soon, so please give us a follow!

Whether genealogy, history, or any other discipline. Always. view. the. original. document. Never trust the third party, even if they are the UK GRO and the copy they give you is "certified" as correct. Their incorrect transcription in 1997 threw us off track for nearly 30 years.

RJ1611@rfj1611.bsky.social · 2y ago

A stunning reminder of why you should ALWAYS view the original cert, even if you have purchased an official copy. In the 1990s we ordered a physical copy of my ggm's 1891 birth cert, which back then had to be transcribed by hand at GRO & posted to us. From this copy (on right), we read that

PLEASE, please, stop following the empty accts. You know the ones: no pfp, bio, posts, replies. You know they're sockpuppets, right? Bad faith managed accts that quietly accumulate followers, before eventually going live to those followers as a spam or disinfo channel. How does it work? >>

Thanks all, for reposts yesterday regarding legal advice 👍 (I've deleted the call-out now)

Rather than use Signal they should have asked me to take minutes for them. There's no way in hell the best cryptographer would ever decipher my handwriting without me there to explain 👀

I'm looking for references to the smell of death, decay, and cadavers in the early modern period. Any pointers would be much appreciated!

This

Erin deWard@erinrdeward.bsky.social · 2y ago

Publicly available is not the same thing as in the public domain!

🚨 THIS WEEK🚨 Forget the myths—Cromwell and the Levellers weren’t on the same page. @1642author.bsky.social explains how this political movement sought more radical changes than even Cromwell wanted. 🎧 #Levellers #CivilWarHistory Listen now 🎧 pod.fo/e/2b957f #History #Podcast

The MHRA has transitioned from Twitter/X and will now use Bluesky to communicate our work. We are excited to contribute to establishing Bluesky as a dynamic, inclusive, and engaging platform for academic exchange and collaboration. To celebrate this new chapter, we are hosting a book giveaway! 👇

🚨 THIS WEEK🚨 When we look back, we often project our ideas of democracy onto the past. @1642author.bsky.social shows why the English Civil Wars don’t fit that narrative. 🏛️ #HistoryMisconceptions #PodcastTalks Listen now 🎧 pod.fo/e/2b957f #History #Podcast

I was expecting this stunt from eBay at some point. Instructions below about how to opt out.

Andy Tattersall@andytattersall.bsky.social · 2y ago

eBay have changed their terms of service and you're automatically opted-in for your personal data to be used for AI development and training. To turn this off, sign into your account click on the Hi (your name)! > My eBay > Account > AI training preferences and you can toggle off the permission.

💥 BOOSTING 💥 Buy from Kennys. www.kennys.ie Screw Amazon and buy indie. This has always been my advice to my own customers tho: buy from an indie like Kennys or from me direct. In my case I can sell my own books cheaper than Amazon, but still make more £ per copy! Customer wins/indie wins/I win.

🌎🐎John Hyphen🎮🤠@johnhyphen.bsky.social · 2y ago

reminder that @kennysbookshop.bsky.social is the longest-running online bookshop *on the entire internet* (!!!) they have FREE postage in ireland (and it's not so expensive to mainland europe, either) don't give any money to jeff bezos and his employee-abusing company, go straight to kennys.ie

My god, the petty defensiveness of follow farmers and obsessive account collectors, when you put them on a polite "please go away" list. How dare I not want to be a grain of sand in their involuntary "following 167k" club! I'm desperate for Bsky to offer soft blocks, or follower confirm/deny.

❓Naval history question! ⚓ "Letters of marque" and "letters of reprisal": were these the same thing, or were they different legal instruments (though obviously to the same end)? In Oct 1642 the English parliament is using "letters of reprisal" (E.124[14]). #navhist #earlymodern #history

Dear media, please stop saying AI is “training” on copyrighted works. AI is “stealing” copyrighted works. It is “plagiarizing” copyrighted works. It is “breaking multiple laws.”

Erin Fogg says Free Link@criminalerin.bsky.social · 2y ago

Oh for fucks sake arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Amen

Poor future schoolkids. Poor future students. Poor future historians. Imagine being a future person having to learn about and try and understand our present. Make things a little easier for them, start keeping a diary. A proper one, on paper. Start soon.

Slava Ukraini.

I just found a family document from 1944 with a swastika on it. Understandable, as the family was German and everything state-issued had swastikas on it somewhere, but nevertheless still a jolt to actually see one on a piece of paper, in my hand, for the first time.

As I was saying. My little site coming "home" in the next couple of months, current host's servers are in Ohio.

Bert Hubert 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦@berthubert.bsky.social · 2y ago

It is very hard to accept, but it is no longer safe to move EU governments & societies to US clouds. Not only is it dangerous to do so, it is also likely flat out illegal in the near feature. We're trading convenience for utter dependence on a mad king. It should stop. berthub.eu/articles/pos...

On 3 Mar 1644, in front of the "Oxford Parliament", George Wilde preached a sermon on Psalm 122, verses 8 and 9, dedicated to "Sr William Boteler Knight, High-Sheriffe of Kent, and Colonell to a Regiment of Horse for His Majesties Service." 1/3

I don't want to dunk on respectable accts otherwise doing good things, so I'll sub-post my vp on this: Pepys was a confessed serial sex predator who blighted many women's lives. Today he'd be shunned, so let's not hypocritically fetishize his life & career. Diary is useful but the man was a POS.

First event of the year at Wolsingham Library was a great morning with lovely feedback: If your library/organisation might be interested in a talk about Charles I, Prince Rupert, or the Civil Wars, please do get in touch - or even suggest they stock 'Charles I's Private Life'!

Huzzah!

Europe & the World at the IHR@ihreurope1500.bsky.social · 2y ago

HERE YOU ALL ARE! We're the "Europe & the World, 1500-1800" seminar @ihr.bsky.social. We host exciting papers and sessions by scholars of all seniority with a wide interest in the #EarlyModern. Come and join us, in @ihrlibrary.bsky.social or on zoom! www.history.ac.uk/seminars/eur... #SkyStorians