New post out: We have an interview with John Bew - one of the most influential people in British politics over the past decade + foreign policy adviser to four PMs. (Free to read) samf.substack.com/p/interview-...

Happy Nollaig na mBan to all the great women, feminists, activists, historians, family, friends and colleagues in my life #nollaignamban #speirgorm

Uncivil War, my book about the British Army and the Troubles in the early 1970s, is out in paperback on 15 January. Come and hear me talk about it at the National Army Museum on 13 February: www.nam.ac.uk/whats-on/unc...

Yep. Glad to see @britishacademy.bsky.social getting on to this. These smaller departments at post '92s have been decimated in recent years and the decline is continuing. www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/univers...

Congratulations to Dr Helen Yates on the successful defence of her PhD thesis today! Dr Yates' thesis was titled "Staying Alive: Crime, Agency, and Trauma during the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852"

A column from @frankie49.bsky.social that manages to link Festy Ebosele, James Joyce and Wittgenstein, via Connemara www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-i...

Harvard. On offer this week at Lidl.

"Visitors stage anti-migrant march in Galway" Other journalists should take notes on reporting from Maxim Kelly. www.advertiser.ie/galway/artic...

If you have to write about awful people gathering and doing awful racist things, then this is absolutely the way to do it. www.advertiser.ie/galway/artic...

Fantastic new book here showcasing the excellent new research out there in intelligence history. So happy my author's copy arrived today. 🙂‍↔️

50 free copies of this short review from me of Peter Finn and Robert Ledger (eds),The official record: oversight, national security and democracy www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10..... An even shorter review would be 'go read it'.

Oli North would've used Signal.

Gordon Correa just now, 'Oleg Gordievsky has died. A KGB officer who spied for MI6, he supplied vital intelligence that helped manage tensions between the West and the Soviet Union in the 80s. Nothing suspicious to his passing, I understand'

Today's fantastic trip to MoD Chicksands and their Military Intelligence Museum, topped with a talk from Defence Intelligence. #universityofstaffordshire #ProudToBeStaffs .

I'm not sure I understand, the NZ High Comissioner got sacked because there aren't parallels you can draw between the Munich Agreement (and the Nazi-Soviet Pact for that matter), or because there are. #appliedhistory www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Percy Jackson for World Book 2025 and he's nailed the hair.

@helenyates.bsky.social Here you go!

@bbcnewsnight.bsky.social absolutely smashing it last night, right when the world needs clarity, the Newsnight team delivers again. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

How pictures paint a thousand words!

Hearing first from the bereaved and survivors is a very moving and powerful way to start the public hearings of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry. Reading the inquiry’s terms of reference, I was struck by how historically challenging some of its judgements will be for the Inquiry to make.

And here was me hoping Trump would pull a William Henry Harrison and catch pneumonia on from his inauguration. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This Saturday I'll be hosting an Open Day for anyone interested in the attendance Security and Intelligence undergraduate degree programme here at the University of Staffordshire. Roll up Roll up.. spread the word, and sign up here www.staffs.ac.uk/visit/underg...

I'm offering a short online course for the American Irish Historical Society over 3 weeks in December. Researching the Irish in the American Civil War- from where they fought to navigating pension files and other records. More details and how to sign up here: aihsny.org/events-2/aih...

Is notre dame hockey afraid of starting The Troubles 2

#BritishFBI UK National Crime Agency to sack their PR Team after evidence emerges that nobody knows who they are. www.lbc.co.uk/news/major-t...

"“I was hoping we could get one of those foreign bosses, like the Catholics have. Someone who could work a bit of latin magic on the team and bring back the glory days we haven’t seen since Henry the Eighth." newsthump.com/2024/11/12/c...

#UncivilWar Hope you can tell I really enjoyed reading this one. academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @bennetthuw.bsky.social

After a fantastic week Set in Clay Volume 6 (2024) is now published! sway.cloud.microsoft/JX9n9ThAFvVQ... Congratulations to all those whose work got included and thanks to the team of volunteers, on campus and beyond, who brought the project to completion so smoothly. Delighted to be involved.

Neil Hannon wrote the new songs for the Wonka movie. The same Neil Hannon that wrote My Lovely Horse for Father Ted. This is like when I found out that Hans Zimmer wrote the theme tune for Going For Gold.

On the seventh anniversary of THIS image, here's a funny story about the elephants, Naomi Wolf and the absurdity of online nostalgia.