Rousseau was the original politics journalist: “Let us begin by discarding all facts, for they are irrelevant to the question.”

If it’s 6 June, it must be 194 years to the day since Jeremy Bentham died, stipulating in his will that his body should be preserved at University College London so he could be wheeled in to attend every council meeting. Except most of the stories about his remains aren’t true 🧵

english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.

The poll shows that trust in historians has risen since 2017, up from 71% to 77% - ranking the profession third after nurses and doctors for the trustworthiness of their expertise: bit.ly/49I9NV7 2/4 #Skystorians

British mythology ranges from Beowulf to Sauron to Mr Blobby in a way that is somehow so natural nobody questions it

One week today: publication day for uclpress.co.uk/book/the-kin...! My brilliant co-authors Rachel Rich, @sarahfoxhistory.bsky.social @adamcrymble.bsky.social & I are excited for the book to be out. It will also be available open access, as our dataset is: zenodo.org/records/8070... #HistFood

Obviously I love being a scholar because the work is infinite, just a literally endless amount of possible work one can do

So I’ve started a 1 month stint at Princeton University Library as a research grant recipient, looking at their collection of illustrated animal alphabet books… …I’m definitely gonna write up a whole rant about the books that were too lazy to find an X animal 😭🙄 (from The Quaint ABC Zoo, c.1920)

It’s not always clear where dazzle ends and other geometric camouflages begin, but a good starting point is to ask “does it look like Bridget Riley going to war?”

Took my summer class to the MFA today. After I sent them off to do their activity worksheets, I stood myself in front of this delicious painting for a satisfyingly long time. Anyway, art is good for a dopamine boost. Visit your local art museum. This has been a PSA.

Buried in Pope Leo's Magnifica Humanitas encyclical is a quote from Gandalf, so LOTR is now *canon* canon

🦚 The Peacock Skirt by Audrey Beardsley,created for Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé. This #illustration would certainly have floored the late Victorian establishment! 🎌 Read Probing the Boundaries: ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/probing-th... 🗃️ #arthistory #skystorians #art #academia #theater

So, a quick story. I have been at @comicpalooza.bsky.social, been swamped with long lines almost the entire weekend so far, and there was this very nice gentleman named Jin (not sure of the spelling). He came the first day and said he was bringing books the next day to get signed. 1/

1. London Underground station flooding has reportedly been reduced by around 90% thanks to a group of engineers: beavers. After conservationists reintroduced a family of beavers into a nearby city park, the animals built dams and restored wetlands that now absorb and slow floodwater naturally.

I don’t know what to tell you, man. I’m a medieval historian, and, in my field, if you don’t check your sources (and your sources’ sources) you are just asking to be taken for a ride by some bored 19th C. aristocratic English antiquarian with a penchant for inventing history.

Not now, mysterious freezing cold submarine-eating underwater structures

THREAD. A while ago my parents' cat Bridget went missing. As the worrying weeks dragged on my dad devised a way to distract himself: he began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time & inhabiting art's most iconic scenes. What he produced (& how quickly) was phenomenal...

For the whole of May, get 40% off the fifth volume in the series, Catholic Print Networks in Restoration London, 1660-1688 by @creutcke.bsky.social using the code HISTORY40 here: boydellandbrewer.com/book/catholi... #skystorians #CathHist #history #bookhistory #catholicism

IYKYK....

Art of the ancient Americas may not be your thing, but you have to love this earthenware crab vessel. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. 🦀 This is going into our imaginary museum replica store, pronto. #LACMA Colombia, Calima style, Ilama period, ca. 1500 BCE-100 CE. 🏺 1/ 📸 me

I feel like the 17th century English space program run by Oliver Cromwell's brother-in-law has the potential to become a history meme

interlude (putting this early) lambert: "oh hey u guys are back early" cromwell: "moon's irish" lambert: what? cromwell: loading a blunderbuss, getting back into the flying chariot "moon's irish"

🖤Madonna / AN1685.B.758 🩶Teyana Taylor / WA1947.191.153.1 🌹Bee Carrozzini / EA1975.17 💎Gracie Abrams / WA1993.296 📷 Getty Images and Ashmolean Museum

We're back with the Ashmolean meets the Met Gala! We can't wait to hear your favourite looks 👇️👇️ 💙Hailey Bieber / WA2013.1.163 🤍Heidi Klum / ANMichaelis.5 🌸Naomi Watts / WA1948.34 🩵Anna Wintour / EA1956.178 📷 Getty Images and Ashmolean Museum

This could be business casual if we even gave a shit

Now is the month of maying, as depicted by Simon Bening of Bruges in a book of hours, early 16th century.

the love song of j. alfred prufrock the power ballad of j. alfred prufrock the country-western crossover hit of j. alfred prufrock espresso [remix] feat. j. alfred prufrock the love song (j. alfred prufrock's version)

Today is Primidi the 11th of Floréal in the year 234. Floréal is the month of flowers. Today we celebrate rhubarb.#JacobinDay More information on rhubarb

Dr Frankenstein: it’s alive! Igor: great! what should we name him Dr frankenstein: uh we won’t igor: I dunno, might lead to some confusion Dr frankenstein: it will literally never come up

Derrick Johnstone has created a fabulous database with genealogical records for more than 600 emigrants and another 2,000 wider kin/associates in Scotland and children born in East New Jersey. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #genealogy #FamilyHistory #NewJersey #1680s #migration #GenHour #skystorians 🗃️📚 eastjerseybound.scot

@fancyhistorian.bsky.social is incredible in all things, so everyone should go listen to this episode asap! Even if you think you’re not interested in masquerades (you’re mistaken), there’s much more going on in the Georgian world. Truly, something for all historical tastes 😌

Anytime I get to talk about wild statues I’m happy, so @batw.bsky.social lived up to the hype as far as I’m concerned!

This is such an incredible thread. Just trust me.

Real “Letterpress is my Passion” energy here.

*historian here!* “living thru the end times… AGAIN”

no one likes historians because every time someone says “oh this is unheard of” historians are all like “well actually” and fundamentally it just doesn’t sound as impressive if you have to say “in these slightly precedented times”

Our spring 2026 issue is out! Featuring four articles, the annual Conversations on Early Modern Women and Race, three exhibition reviews, and twenty-five book reviews www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/emw/curr... #EarlyModern

17 APRIL 1776, LONDON: “You may think of America, if you please, but we think and talk but of one subject”: Horace Walpole writes to a friend in Italy of how London is obsessed with the Duchess of Kingston’s trial for bigamy.

🏺 I hope you all can enjoy this friend-shaped Bes jar from Late Period Faiyum, now at the World Museum in Liverpool. 📜 www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/bes...

Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:

Who wants to see itty bitty printing presses?

Welcome to the Royal Studies Journal We’re an open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to global royal studies across all periods, places, and disciplines. Explore our latest research, special issues, and book reviews, Join the conversation: rsj.winchester.ac.uk @royalstudies.bsky.social

me when someone cites the deep magic to me even though I was there when it was written: holy shit, for real? I don't remember that part at all

So many resources! But we can always have more! On blackwhiteandread.com, we now have resources for first gens like me (finding cfps & orgs), independent scholars (open access libraries/archives for unaffiliated researchers), job seekers, and public scholars looking to pitch work. Check it out!

Today we will be mainly posting pictures of artefacts that look like sweets. 🍬🍫

Silhouetted pteropod flapping against the distant sky

Huge thank you to @marloavidon.bsky.social and Aelfred for putting together @stuartsymposium.bsky.social! It was so much fun and I’d do it again without a second thought 😄

The lawn outside the Radcliffe Camera had a trim today 🌱 No, it’s not AI. Designed and carefully cut by James from our University Parks Estates team. 📷 Instagram | Jimigk13

“A great many things keep happening, some good, some bad”. Gregory of Tours (539-594):