The historian’s curse: May your research be relevant to contemporary events

The historian’s curse: May your research be relevant to contemporary events

Routledge is having a Black Friday sale, so please indulge me in promoting my books with them. • 'No Platform’ • 'Histories of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Australia' • 'The Far Left in Australia since 1945' • 'The British Left and Ireland in the Twentieth Century' www.routledge.com/search?autho...

Did some book proposal reviewing in exchange for books

Thanks for the recommendation Google Scholar! 😀

PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

Thanks for the recommendation Google Scholar! 😀

What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections? New CFP from Paper Trails here: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026 🗃️

PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! Here’s a pile of my previous books and edited collections

PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! Here’s a pile of my previous books and edited collections

#SkyStorians #History @socialhistsoc.bsky.social 50th anniversary conference CFP now live! A Lancaster, historic home of SHS, 1-3 July 2026. CFP deadline 16 Jan 2026. socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...

The US-centric nature of BlueSky is one of its most frustrating qualities

As a kid in Australia in the 1980s-90s, everything I knew about Canada came from watching Degrassi or You Can’t Do That on Television.

PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Emeritus Professor Graeme Turner AO FAHA FQA — one of Australia’s most influential humanities scholars and a towering figure in the Academy’s history. humanities.org.au/our-communit...

"you'll be visited by three spirits" The three spirits

Our new book, 'In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956', is now also available from @manchesterup.bsky.social as an e-book, which you can find here: www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781... Check your institutional library for access!

Only 13 per cent of applications awarded for DECRAs this year. Solidarity with all the ECRs trying to negotiate academia at a time like this.

Moved to Manchester in the year this film came out. When I got it on DVD, I was amazed at how many places I recognised. The inside of the Factory club scene was filmed in Jilly’s Rockworld, for example.

Historians of South Africa, is there an accessible electronic database of legislation passed during Union of South Africa period? Trying to get exact wording of some Acts from 1910s to 1930s.

Historians of South Africa, is there an accessible electronic database of legislation passed during Union of South Africa period? Trying to get exact wording of some Acts from 1910s to 1930s.

Historians hesitant to join in with this because their facts are often not ‘fun’

This presumes a career path

On 23 November 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was released in the UK. It was the first time that the TMNT had been called the ‘Ninja Turtles’ because the cartoon had been renamed the ‘Hero Turtles’ due to a panic about ninjas in 1980s Britain. tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...

On 23 November 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was released in the UK. It was the first time that the TMNT had been called the ‘Ninja Turtles’ because the cartoon had been renamed the ‘Hero Turtles’ due to a panic about ninjas in 1980s Britain. tribunemag.co.uk/2021/04/when...

Not really a cricket fan but at least it’s not US politics on my TL

For non-Australians, this quiz might give an indication of how far things are away from each other in Australia. TBH things are a lot of further than I expect too!

Ending the week with a new edited collection published. Three years in the works and glad to see it is finally out. Shout out to my co-editor @d-j-frost.bsky.social! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

RIP Mani youtu.be/2LcOj2Vs2Z0?...

A question for #historians arising from this podcast. Do we have historical records of injuries typically associated with sport (hamstrings, ACL, broken metatarsal) occurring before the 20th century and/or in a non-sport context?

The hardback edition of our new edited book, ‘In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956’, is published through @manchesterup.bsky.social today! You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

In the early 1960s, both Australia and Britain were faced with the prospect of American Nazi Party leader, George Lincoln Rockwell, applying for a visa to their country. Australia denied him entry and Rockwell was deported from the UK after sneaking in via Ireland. www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/9/...

Our new book, 'In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956', is now also available from @manchesterup.bsky.social as an e-book, which you can find here: www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781... Check your institutional library for access!

It’s been great working with @d-j-frost.bsky.social on the third volume in our series on the history of the British far left. The volume, once again, brings together established and emerging scholars and Dan was instrumental in getting a lot of them involved in the project. It has been exciting to!

🗃️ #historians #history

The hardback edition of our new edited book, ‘In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956’, is published through @manchesterup.bsky.social today! You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

Once upon a time, it was quite common for academics to do a group email to other people when a new publication came out. This was largely superseded by posting on social media. But got wondering, in an age of fragmenting social media, do people still do the mass email out?

Historian pals: looking for some reading recommendations on post-1945 sex work in England and, particularly, London — both in terms of its actual conduct as well as campaigns against it, including by police. Particularly late 1950s-early 1960s!

A nice obituary for Tyler West, who recently passed. Tyler was a historian of the political extremes in Aotearoa/NZ and Australia. I met him in Adelaide a few months ago as he started his PhD. As a researcher, he published really interesting stuff and was digitising rare radical history material.

obligatory

What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?

Our book comes out this week!!!

American academia is such a bizarre thing

Always draft my work in Cambria

"Persian forces readers to confront the uneasy coexistence of humanitarianism and hypocrisy in Australia’s post-war nation-building." Pierluigi Bolioli reviews @drjpersian.bsky.social's 'Fascists in Exile' for @jich.bsky.social (advance access) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Just a reminder that I once wrote this book about the history of free speech, academic freedom and protest on university campuses (focusing on the UK, but with a transnational eye). It is also currently on sale with the code 'BF2025S'! www.routledge.com/No-Platform-...

Me to journal editors

That time when I was on ABC Radio National talking to Philip Adams about mystery aeroplanes

For those interested in the history of attempts to build a left alternative to the UK Labour Party, this volume covers several such endeavours from the 1960s to the 2010s, including the International Marxist Group, Militant, the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Socialist Labour Party.