Bird silhouetted against sky high in an oak tree - white underside and black head visible

Bird silhouetted against sky; perched in oak tree, black head turned it its left

A bit of a red-letter day (18 April): stopped in tracks by unfamiliar birdsong at Coalpit Lane Covert. A Pied Flycatcher, the first I've seen at #Shugborough in 20+ years. Appropriately enough, its song perch on a majestic veteran oak. @nationaltrust.org.uk With apologies for poor photos!

Green Hairstreaks (7/4/26) - Satnall Hills, #Shugborough, Staffs. On the usual patch of bilberry. In the right-hand image: the punctata form: white dotted streak on the forewing as well as hindwing. @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Brimstone - the 6th species in our garden this year (20 April). Green-veined White was the 5th, but it wouldn't be photographed.

Holly Blue was the 4th species of butterfly to appear in our Staffs #GardenMeadow this year (on 8 April). On the apple blossom

A massive hardback sale by @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social - includes a certain Festschrift, which I can wholeheartedly recommend. 😉

boydellandbrewer.com/book/militar...

Quite so!

Staple fare with our grandchildren. I tease the elder g’daughter that she speaks with an Australian accent!

Picture of the cover of the British Journal for Military History, Volume 12, Issue 1, April 2026. Cover picture is of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Captain-General of the English forces and Master-General of the Ordnance, 1702 (c). Oil on canvas, attributed to Michael Dahl (1659 (c)-1743), 1702 (c). Property of the National Army Museum. Image out of copyright.

The new issue of the BJMH is now online at journals.gold.ac.uk/bjmh/ As always Open Access and free to all! In this issue we have 8 articles and 2 research notes. Sadly, we have not been able to include our normal range of book reviews this time.

Episode 10: Battle of Quiberon Bay: France’s Do... by The Untitled History Podcast In 1759 France and Britain were locked in the Seven Years War. It was a war of global proportions. In Europe, Russia, India, and the American colonies the two countries fought to establish who was the...

In 1759, a French invasion fleet bound for the UK prepared to shelter from a huge winter storm in the Bay of Biscay.

Riding into attack on the edge of that storm was a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Hawke.

On the pod, @drachinifel.bsky.social look at a gloriously batshit naval battle we both love.

Less than 24 hours to go before the new issue of the BJMH is up online. With 8 articles and 2 research notes we cover a wide range of topics over many periods. From Frederick the Great’s views on the Duke of Marlborough (limited) to the SAS's impact in the Falklands (also limited!) and 1/3

Altho many survived Titanic, Stewardesses (& Stewards) were disproportionally lost when ships sink, because their emergency duty is to go DOWN into the ship to make sure 'their' passengers get out safely.
Read more in my new book "Supposed Killed or Drowned by Enemy Action at Sea". Details in ALT.

Out today!

The cover of my forthcoming book, out in February/March. #dogs #Roman-Britain #animalturm #archaeology

Post a gif from your favourite movie from the year you turned 18.
I went to university and became a medievalist, but the Napoleonic period haunts me still.

Post a gif from your favorite movie from the year you turned 18

So, there are probably BETTER movies that came out that year, but this one brought me the most consistent joy.

Lost seal of Edward the Confessor found after being missing for 40 years An 11th-century Anglo-Saxon seal belonging to Edward the Confessor has been rediscovered more than 40 years after being declared lost. The wax impression of the ‘Saint-Denis seal’ disappeared without ...

Exciting times for the study 11thC England: the 'lost' seal of Edward the Confessor has been rediscovered in the Archives nationales de France! #SkyStorians #MedievalSky

Now that everyone is talking about Hungary, may I point out that the *really* interesting phase of Hungarian history - the ‘great power in the region’ phase - came before the early modern period? Here’s the book on the subject that I edited 25 years ago; still readily accessible and fairly priced. 😉

Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-O-War, 1600-1860 by John Harland

Everything you need to know about ships in the age of sail. A bit hard going at times, but worth the read.

#history #historybookchat #maritimehistory #navalhistory

Useful to be reminded of this.

Nemzeti Választási Iroda - Országgyűlési képviselők választása Választási szervek - Nemzeti Választási Iroda

For those interested in tracking #Hungary results in real time in English.

Why You Should Read Academic Books (Even If You Aren't An Academic) History publishing operates along largely two tracks: the first is the more traditional scholarly monograph published through an academic press (Cambridge, Oxford, Brill, etc.). The second is what is often called "popular history" and is published through a trade publisher (Random House, etc.). People can be real snooty about this

Continuing my "meta" arc, this time I'm talking about why its worth reading academic books even if you are not an academic. Also why I think a lot of the criticisms against academic works don't hold up, and how the line between pop and academic work isn't always clear cut. #medievalsky #history

With The Firearm Revolution out next week, I'm delighted to announce that you can hear me talk about it in person *and live-streamed* at the @royalarmouries.bsky.social on Wednesday 29 April. Book here for your ticket / online link. 2pm UK, 3pm CET, 9am EST.

It’s such an advance for scholarship that so many interesting and important maps are now available in digitised form online. If only they had been 25 years ago! We were lucky that Philip Preston could spend time at the archive in Abbeville in person, searching for relevant items.

You know, there are some gorgeous and detailed maps for specific locations in 17th and early 18th century France that would probably answer a lot of questions about what certain locations looked like before canals, loss of a lot of woods, etc, if only the existed for the locations I'm interested in!

The great historian of Late Antiquity Averil Cameron, who has died, reminding us that class matters alongside gender in British society wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/22/s...

Hearing that the splendid Dame @averilcam.bsky.social has passed. She was an amazing scholar. She will be missed. Please note her memoir and remember to cite her as one of the pivotal founders of the field we now call Late Antiquity. www.brepols.net/products/IS-...

@bsky.app
The winners of the Joan Thirsk Prize (2026) are:

Mark Bailey, 'Serfdom in England: Theory and Practice 1200 to 1500' @manchesterup.bsky.social

Shaun Evans, 'Coming of Age Celebrations on Welsh Landed Estates: Gentry, Culture and Society, c.1770–1920' @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social .

I've said this many times sharing books and promoting books that this is the app for books. It's a place where writers and readers congregate, a space really badly served by other platforms (including places like goodreads, alas). Let's keep that going.

A robin in a nest it has made in the folds of an outdoor table umbrella

Over the weekend, one of the tables outside the tea room at Arlington Court, Devon, was cordoned off - because a robin built a cosy little nest inside the umbrella!

To give them some peace and avoid disturbance, we've temporarily closed off the area until they choose to move on.

📷 Barry Edwards