I take one tablet daily, the only reminder that I'm living with HIV. It keeps my viral load undetectable, meaning that I can't pass HIV on. I can expect a normal lifespan. One of the greatest challenges is stigma, due to a lack of knowledge. HIV has changed. #WorldAIDSDay

Let's start today with a rarity. Yes, the book itself is rare for sure, The Douay New Testament (wiki link below). But there is some historic damage to some of the pages and the repair is something I have only heard about, never seen: they have been STITCHED back together!

At a loose end tomorrow? Our book club is back for winter. From 8pm UK you can quiz @alexchurchill.bsky.social and @pikegrey1418.bsky.social all about Ring of Fire! Email [email protected] for zoom logins

At a loose end tomorrow? @thegreatwargroup.bsky.social book club is back for winter. From 8pm UK you can quiz myself and @pikegrey1418.bsky.social all about Ring of Fire! Email [email protected] for zoom logins

Last night we had an event in the shop. The lights were low, the cabinet was looking sparkly. I couldn't resist a bit of a scan along the shelves.

'Bitter and pungent' Discuss 😉

We are visiting the 1916 Somme battlefields from 5-8 June 2026 and telling the stories of the men involved in that tragedy. And who better to do experience it with than Peter Hart, Richard van Emden and Alex Churchill. Mark in your diary and book today: www.istoriatravel.org

Huzzah!

Found this cracking picture of Charles Townshend yesterday. I think all the braid must have gone to his head. Survivor of two sieges, which is more than can be said of most of the men under him.

I've written a piece for the Write On! Magazine about my weekend with @thegreatwargroup.bsky.social last month and my first steps into learning to "do history". Please give it a read and let me know what you think.. pentoprint.org/thursday-con... #history #ww1 #writing #pentoprint #greatwargroup

New online course. The perfect gift for the nerd in your life.

We lived in a pub when I was growing up and when I was 3 (50 years ago!) we had someone in to draw the pub for a business card. I sat next to him and watched him draw every line. I was transfixed and it was a huge inspiration for me. I’ve dreamt about owning that drawing for years…

Places are going fast for this. Your chance to start bridging the gap between passionate enthusiast and thinking historian…

Today come with me on a bonkers jaunt to Arabia in WW1… achurchill.substack.com/p/free-featu...

Hand-knitted in Pudsey by my beautiful mum and still inspiring donations many years later. donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk

This is going to be brilliant! I’m in 😁

@cwgc.bsky.social This needs a serious and proper response. It shouldn’t take one man to make something happen, but anger is building and a great many people are watching to see what happens next. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Tell me more about ‘Sleepy Joe.’

Not ICE. Border Patrol. They’re wearing Border Patrol uniforms with clear Border Patrol patches on them. There are many videos of ICE officers doing outrageous stuff but a lot of the absolute worst videos are of Border Patrol, who are basically Bovino and Miller’s most aggressive tool right now.

The world would be immensely better if more religions and their believers had even a tenth of the dedication the Sikhs do to doing good for people with no gatekeeping or expectations of anything other than "you are a fellow human in need and we can help you"

Never forget this. Monster.

Still trying to get my head round this stuff so I'm going in for a second time.

Some commentators losing their minds that the perpetrator is named Anthony Williams and the hero named Samir Zitouni. Bloody foreigners coming over here saving people’s lives.

Anyway, we need some joy, so here's the Egyptian foreign minister being given a Lego Pyramid by the Danish foreign minister.

The morning after Halloween @pfieldbookshop.bsky.social By mid-afternoon everything was completely back to ‘normal’.

Every far-right riot and protest that was tolerated, every racist dog whistle from public reps, every bit of hate and misinformation allowed to spread by social media companies, all led to this moment in Drogheda last night where someone felt emboldened enough to try to burn children alive.

Kyiv has many cozy bookstores. They offer food for the brain (books) and coffee for long, often sleepless nights. Nations that read can think critically. Please, read books.

Born and bred in Pudsey but now an exile in the south, I can’t wait for this.

Ready for the biggest two mights of the year @pfieldbookshop.bsky.social

Just a stab in the dark but I feel like we may have our big halloween thing coming up again!

"Let's not forget, when we remember the service and the sacrifice with this poppy, that the people who bled and died for our democracy and our freedom, weren't just my grandfather who looked like me & worshipped the same God, but people across Empire & Commonwealth, who were Muslim, Sikh & Hindu'

The reform party nativity scene. No unmarried mothers. No Middle Eastern people. No refugees. No people seeking emergency accommodation. And not a wise fvcking man in sight…

Hi, we would really like to grow our following a little here in the skyblue realm. If you think you have followers who might appreciate our posting of beautiful and interesting books please do consider reposting this so they can consider giving us a follow. Thank you...

Sunset over the Liri Valley and Point 575 from 593 #Cassino #WW2

A copy of the first edition of The Science of Discworld signed by all three authors, including the Pratchett himself...

Trustee Nicolai Eberholst talking about the war on the Eastern Front. The book “Ring of Fire”, written by Nicolai and GWG Director Alex Churchill, covers the outbreak of WW1 from a global perspective and not the Anglo centric perspective that we are accustomed to.

The final keynote speaker of the weekend was GWG director Alex Churchill bringing to a close a fabulous conference featuring a very diverse array of topics all relating to the Great War. If you would like to join us next year you can join the GWG here greatwargroup.com

This has brought joy

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a hand hobby, something that you love to do that you find fun and fulfilling that also requires use of your hands and attention so that you can’t multitask by doomscrolling at the same time

I ❤️ @pfieldbookshop.bsky.social Patreon Day!

Because every day is a mental health day…

Things that have left me speechless today 1/ The stained glass in St Vitus Cathedral

On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read

There’s still room to squeeze in a few more at the Great War Group Conference. Tickets available from www.greatwargroup.com/shop We’d love to see you there!

Portlanders — show off your corner of war-ravaged Portland below.

Why do the boxes in our storeroom look so worried all the time!?

Big moment! 😊 First time seeing @alexchurchill.bsky.social and I's book "Ring of Fire" in a bookstore in Denmark!!! So if your i Copenhagen, you can get it at @politiken.dk boghal!

Hey a thing I really don’t want to get lost here is that while Tylenol doesn’t cause autism, IT’S FINE TO BE AUTISTIC. Let’s not grant them the premise that autism should be eradicated in our way to correct the science, okay? Okay.

Our @thegreatwargroup.bsky.social conference is a month away! So many talks and seminars to choose from. @pikegrey1418.bsky.social will be giving an exclusive talk about the Battle of Galicia. This oft-ignored scrap in 1914 consumed a million casualties along a 200 mile front in three weeks!