Onward! How to destroy UK Higher EducationThe Onward think tank have ideas about UK Higher Education, here is why they will be a disasterApr 29, 2024Apr 29, 2024
A Spy Too Far: Anthony Blunt, the Cambridge Five and Operation Market GardenDid the Soviet spy Anthony Blunt tip off the Germans that the Allies were going to launch Operation Market Garden during WW2?Apr 28, 2024Apr 28, 2024
Brexit and International Students: Pete North’s nonsense about Britain’s UniversitiesA new year, a new attack on Britain’s university sector. This particular broadside comes from Brexiter, Pete North.Jan 3, 2024Jan 3, 2024
Rufo, Plagiarism and the Strange Death of US News MediaThe subject of plagiarism is back in the news again. The President of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, has been accused of plagiarising a…Dec 23, 2023Dec 23, 2023
Deir Yassin: The massacre that probably (very likely) wasIn a recent book, The Massacre That Never War: The Myth of Deir Yassin and the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, by the Israeli…Dec 18, 20231Dec 18, 20231
We Have to Talk About Ian Leslie…The author of popular psychology books, Ian Leslie, has thoughts to share with us about the allegedly parlous state of academic history…Nov 26, 2023Nov 26, 2023
Why do Terrorists kill? Thoughts on GazaThe latest outbreak of appalling violence in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, sparked by a near unimaginably brutal terrorist…Oct 16, 2023Oct 16, 2023
No, ‘Allo ‘Allo! did not cause Brexit and nobody said it didAs a point of clarification before I begin: I’m not writing this to defend or promote the collection, the two editors or Prof. Schaffer…Jul 7, 2023Jul 7, 2023
“Midwit historians”: The backlash against Dan SnowIn a recent Spectator article, the writer Samuel Rubinstein takes aim at the popular historian and broadcaster, Dan Snow. Snow had recently…Mar 28, 2023Mar 28, 2023
Kim Philby and Bad HistoryA review of A Spy Among Friends claimed the ITV show is bad history, but the review leaves much to be desired.Jan 9, 2023Jan 9, 2023
Prince Harry and the Collapse of the British PressThe recent imbroglio regarding the publication of Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare (Penguin, 2023) is a fascinating look into the pit of…Jan 7, 2023Jan 7, 2023
Kevin Kruse and PlagiarismOver the last few days, Twitter has blown up with allegations that the Princeton-based historian, Kevin M. Kruse is a serial plagiarist…Jun 19, 20221Jun 19, 20221
Churchill and the Bletchley Park “Geese”Churchill was fascinated by Ultra Intelligence, but were the staff of Bletchley Park his ‘Geese who laid the golden egg and never cackled’?Dec 31, 2021Dec 31, 2021
Nigel Farage is wrong to compare the Evacuation of Afghanistan to the Dunkirk EvacuationOn 31 August, Nigel Farage took to his show on GBNews, to lambast President Joe Biden and the evacuation of US and other personnel from…Sep 2, 2021Sep 2, 2021
Historians and the Culture Wars: History ReclaimedIn recent days, academic twitter, particularly the feeds and timelines of historians, has been abuzz regarding a new group: History…Aug 30, 2021Aug 30, 2021
COVID-19, History and ScepticismDisease stalks the land. Cases soar. Thousands die daily. Governments across the world, local and national, take the dramatic step of…Jan 15, 2021Jan 15, 2021
Figuring It Out at Bletchley ParkBritain’s wartime cipher cracking centre has been an obsession of mine for about 20 years. I first visited the museum, which now occupied…Aug 18, 2020Aug 18, 2020
A cuppa and the codebreakersAmong my friends, a common joke, when discussing slightly idiosyncratic research topics, is ‘teacups’. This was because, as a part of my…Aug 17, 2020Aug 17, 2020
Dinesh D’Souza, Kamala Harris and bad historyD’Souza claims Kamala Harris is descended from a slave owner. This tells us more about his cavalier attitude to fact than about Harris.Aug 13, 2020Aug 13, 2020
