Affordable, paperback edition of Civic Reformation just arrived! Very nice cover by Edinburgh UP. I suppose that's the last book unboxing post for a few years. Time to think of new content ideas...

📚 Enjoy free access to thousands of Edinburgh University Press ebooks!  Until March 2026, your library can enjoy free access to our collection through Paradigm’s University Press Library. @paradigmpubserv.bsky.social  Find out more:

🚨Call for Papers🚨 We are thrilled to issue a call for papers for our annual conference on 28th March 2026 We'd love to hear about the amazing sources you are using and can't wait to spend the day talking all things Scottish History 💙 Submit a proposal: scottishhistorysociety.com/call-for-pap...

You can pre-order the paperback of Civic Reformations for 15$ USD or 12.50 GBP! Or get the hard cover right away for 50% off.

Our #StAndrewsDay sale is live! We're sharing the celebrations with you by offering 50% off all published and pre-order books over the weekend! Enjoy! https://edin.ac/32O7hNr

Four days left until #nacbs2025 begins! St. Joseph’s Oratory is ready to welcome you!

CBC Ideas is replaying the episode about my research on the case of witchcraft and demonic possession in 17th-century New France! Fun listening for spooky season! 👿🧙 👻https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/quebec-demon-possession-witchcraft-in-1660-1.6685584

My book publisher wrote to me to ask my permission for my work to be used to train generative AI. I fundamentally disagree with this, but want to explain to them how wrong headed I think this is. Does anyone have experience of this or an example of how they responded to their publisher?

Fantastic ending to Baroness Kidron's speech in the House of Lords yesterday, which led to the government's defeat on AI & copyright. Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."

I like when articles about the university reflect how universities actually work. I think this is a useful argument that one of the most impactful things humanities faculty can do is to be extremely annoying about AI on university committees. Let 'em hear it. thepointmag.com/examined-lif...

In huge news, the UK government was just defeated in the House of Lords for a second time over AI & copyright. The government had removed amendments to the Data Bill that would require AI companies to disclose their training data. The Lords have now reinserted them. 🧵 1/2

IN CASE YOU MISSED IN: there IS a livestream for Alex Walsham's #Reformazing #GiffordLectures! Free up your evenings for the next fortnight, #EarlyModern #Skystorians!

Reminder: it's this evening! (5C.1, though)

It took a year, but I'm finally holding a book launch party for Civic Reformation and Religious Change in Sixteenth-Century Scottish Towns. If you're in Montreal on May 8, come by! @edinburghup.bsky.social

With the election tomorrow, various geopolitical types seem to have suddenly noticed Canada, and are marvelling at how closely integrated we seem to be with the US. A couple of points that seem to be missed from the high-level overviews

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

The irony, that Meta wouldn’t open its doors to take a 500 word letter of complaint from writers, when they’d already taken millions of words from us. Apparently they’ve got enough now. Thanks.

I published a book on Scottish history and teach courses about monarchies, religion and politics, and the ethics of surveillance capitalism. I never thought those four items would converge the way they are at the present moment.

Goodbye Instagram...

Happy Monday! Based on King James VI&I's portraits, how is everyone feeling today? Royston was one of King James' favourite residences. (We can see the former palace from our office!) We'll be sharing more about James' Royston in the run up to the 400th anniversary of his death later this month.

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.”

So it’s over then, works for me

If you’re at the London Book Fair, why not visit Edinburgh University Press? You can find AUPresses member @edinburghup.bsky.social in booth 7C40! #LBF25 #ReadUP

For all you Reformation historians out there: the Society of Reformation Research (SRR) seeks papers and panels for its annual meeting at Sixteenth Century Society conference, October 30-November 1, 2025 in Portland Oregon! This year's theme: "The Revolutions of 1525" #History #Reformation 🗃️

Is the most ominous, as it lays the groundwork for an actual invasion. This is really happening. Canadians are justifiably terrified & it feels like we've been largely abandoned by what should be our closest ally: the UK.

So, so devastated to see History Scotland magazine come to an end with the Spring 2025 issue. It has been a pleasure to work on the magazine over the past 10 years, and its loss is a big blow to those working on, or interested in, Scottish History.

Team! We are looking for a new *permanent* medievalist-Latinist to work with us at St Andrews! #medievalsky www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMD844/a...

The first review of Civic Reformations is out! Recommended in Choice Magazine: "Through examples drawn from primary sources, Slonosky demonstrates that the Calvinist reformers gained the cooperation, at times enthusiastic, from town leadership throughout the kingdom." -D.M. Hall.

You're in the business of communication so if there's a gap, your audience isn't to blame (as you imply). Problem is there's no way to turn annexation into a polite radio chat. There's no "just asking questions" on a threat of war. You're doing the authoritarian's work for him and we can see it.

Review of Lyndal Roper's new book on the German peasants war #earlymodern Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/b...

Teaching history divorced from the concerns of the present is actually doing a bad job at teaching history.

The new Your Scottish Archives portal was launched on Tues 10th Dec 2024. Your Scottish Archives is a unique project to gather and make available worldwide, through a dynamic online portal, catalogue descriptions from archives across Scotland. #archives

Come to Montreal!

I just reposted instructions on how to do this on a Mac! Essentially: open Word, expand “Microsoft Word” menu > Preferences > Personal Settings > Privacy > uncheck the (one single) box. Save. Restart. All done.

A week ago, I had dinner with a key author of the AI consultation. Not just dinner: I berated them for about 7 hours. In return, they gave me a horrid cough. Which is a fair revenge. Anyway, here's a thread about what I took away from the conversation. These are my inferences, not quotes.

Sharing for the first time on here one of the greatest things ever created at the University of Pennsylvania

This about sums up this week's mood:

This is awesome. I thought I was the only one...

McGill-Queen's University Press is offering 30% off their books during December with the code SNOW30. That could include this book about a case of witchcraft and demonic possession in seventeenth-century New France, where - in wintery coincidence - there was also SNOW. www.mqup.ca/possession-o...

Over-the-top Christmas display or guerrilla allegory?

This is pretty much the position of my students. It's not social media itself, it's the ads and infinite scroll that are problematic. (RE: Australian, and potentially Quebec, ban on social media for under-16s)