Thanks everyone--secret was my first reading of it too, but other people in the room doubted it bc of the phrase 'do a secret'.

Friends! Historians! What is this word?? I have a guess but will keep it to myself so as not to cloud your reading of it. #skystorians #18thc #historians

Haven't been on in a while, so in case you missed it...Masquerade is out now and you can find her in a good bookshop near you (or online!) 💖✨ #18thC #history #nonfiction @yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social

The girls took pics of Bess chasing bubbles.

IT'S TIME! The #CFP for #BSECS2027 has been released! This year's theme is 'Artifice and Authenticity'. The deadline for submissions is the 15 September 2026. The conference will by the 6-8 January 2027 @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social #18thC #skystorians 🗃️ www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...

Next Weds 10 June we welcome @jamie-gemmell.bsky.social (KCL) to our seminar, who will present their paper titled ‘John Satia and the 1731 ban on Black apprenticeship’ Register below to join us either in person at the IHR or online from 17:30. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Today on #BetwixtTheSheets, I am talking to the marvellous Meg Kobza about her new book on the history of the masquerade ball in Georgian Britain. 🎭 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO GO! #CFP #skystorians #18thC

So given this is Season 4, and Season 1 was in 1813, it must be the Seditious Meetings Act 1817, which means they're *definitely* trailing Bridgerton Season 6: The Peterloo Massacre, where Eloise's forgotten radical tradesman boyfriend reappears only to die in her arms at the hands of the Yeomenry

Well played, London Underground.

Everything is awful but the creativity behind some of these handmade posters gives me a glimmer of hope in humanity.

My course syllabi now contain a link to this document, "why Professor Holliday Doesn't Use Generative AI". Feel free to share/repurpose or just check out the links for your own reference. It won't stop some of them, but I want students to know why. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

This Author has the privilege of sharing the tale of Mrs Catherine Perceval with avid readers & riotous revellers alike. The Author hopes this will satiate the ton's boundless appetite for gossip. For now. yalebooks.co.uk/the-real-mas...

Whatever my uni declares, I am not going to engage with AI. I am not going to use AI or teach students to use it. I am going to continue to explain to students why it is harmful. Absolutely absurd to allow this anti-intellectual, environmentally devastating technology into the university at all.

This works for Masquerade pre-orders too 😘

Including Novels, Needleworks, and Empire by @chloewigstonsmith.bsky.social, and a preview of Masquerade by @fancyhistorian.bsky.social! Free postage in the UK. Offer runs until 31/1/26. Not available in North/South America & Australia/NZ.

This thread. The lack of acknowledgement of luck is a constant in the humanities. I have had a really successful career, made a living as a writer. And I am a pretty good researcher, I can present interesting ideas in a way people want to read them. Is that why I'm successful? 1/3

14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.

We have two vacancies on the Council of the *British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies*: 1. Postgraduate Representative 2. Communications Officer Happy to answer any questions about @bsecs.bsky.social Council life! More info here: www.bsecs.org.uk/the-society/...

Evenings and mornings.

We have a whole report on this www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/univers...

It’s my birthday! A really wonderful gift would be if you could listen, like and share my new podcast series, Uprising: The Civil Wars (and, if you have enjoyed it, give it 5 ⭐️) In the words of Henrietta Maria, Merci. 🎧 play.megaphone.fm/quvuyhkqs66t...

Congratulations to Katie Donington, Abdul Mohamud, Robin Whitburn, Nicholas Draper and their contributors! Their #OpenAccess book Teaching Slavery published today. Read and download free at: bit.ly/48vnDdJ #Education #Colonialism #Slavery #Racism

TODAY! We’re looking forward to this in-person CECS seminar with the always wonderful Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth @carolinemccaff.bsky.social

A movie that takes place where you're from.

This is the most frustrating and exhausting thing about academia. When I mentioned it to a headhunter who was asking about things that could change, they said, “you are the first person to bring this up” — but two other women in the room backed me up.

15 depts in College of Humanities and Social Sciences will be completely eliminated and replaced by ~ School of Human Behavior & Well-Being ~ Center for Interdisciplinary Programs & Writing Studies ~ Institute for Y (e.g. Intelligence, Value, and Societal Structures) Wth? Sounds like BBC show W1A.

You have to understand what pieces like this from the NYT are and are not. They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today. They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.

For colleagues in the UK: Yale UP is running a 50% discount through November, using the promo code FIFTY. Lots of books at much better prices, including my own: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Early Bird Registration for #BSECS2026 closes on the ***15 NOVEMBER 2025*** www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/... #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

I have fallen victim to the craze.

Had an interesting lunchtime talk today at @yalebooks.bsky.social from Dr Meghan Kobza about her upcoming book The Masquerade: A History of Extravagance and Intrigue. Now I want to go to a Masquerade 🎭 find out more about the book here yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Anthony Blinken was explicitly calling the actions of the RSF and SAF in Sudan a genocide all the way back in January. Which people who’d actually been paying attention to the situation in Sudan before now (when it’s handy to use it Sudan as a rhetorical gotcha against Gaza protesters) would know.

When no one at the école noticed your work

My review of @benltjackson.bsky.social's excellent book!

‪ Great to see Mary Newbould's new book on #Sterne and networks of reception out and open access rom @universitypress.cambridge.org! Lots of rich #18thcentury material here, including oral recitals & naughty Sternean poetry @shandyhall.bsky.social @lsternetrust.bsky.social

🎉We are pleased to announce new Applied History Fellowships in partnership with @royalhistsoc.org & @findmypast.bsky.social. Join us on the 19 November at our launch event to find out more about the Fellowships and how to apply: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

These lovely new books are for work. I promise. #18thc

Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.

PSA: I have now become THAT person who blabs on about pre-ordering her book. Tbf, it is 25% off online @waterstones.bsky.social w/code OCTOBER25 (only through Friday!) so you might as well treat yourself 💅🏻 #18thc #skystorians #history @yalepress.bsky.social www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...

My guess is that Lord Clive lacked A-level standard in any Indian language when he went to work there

It's not Masquerade Monday, BUT! 'The Masquerade: A History of Extravagance and Intrigue' is now available for pre-order & you can get 25% off through Friday! www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas... If you think Bridgerton will be juicy, just wait til you get your hands on this 😏🤫 #18thc

By contrast, JB Pritzker told me that people should flood the No Kings protests precisely in order to let the American people know that something is deeply amiss. More Dems should be doing this, to send the message widely that we are in real trouble right now. newrepublic.com/article/2016...

We are in the process of working our way through HUNDREDS (no exaggeration) of fabulous CFPs. If you have submitted a proposal for #BSECS2026, we will be in touch on or before the ***15 October 2025*** to let you know if you've been successful. #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

The sad spectable of American comedians selling out in Saudi Arabia www.thenation.com/article/cult...

So the church (C of E, anyway) has finally caught up with the very first moments of Christianity as a faith, in which women were the first witnesses and teachers.

Nothing says Christmas like a pair of pyjamas decked in chains. Now, for low price of £13, you too can be Jacob Marley.

"In the name of 'fighting antisemitism', the Trump administration is publicly making an example out of arguably the most famous Jewish public intellectual in the country today."

THIS IS IT! You have until 11.59pm TONIGHT to submit your proposals for #BSECS2026 Ease yourself into the New Year by joining us @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social, 7-9 January 2026 #skystorians #18thC 🗃️ www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...