Peter McPhee

@petermcphee.bsky.social

570 followers 460 following 34 posts

Historian of France
Chair of the History Council of Victoria, Australia
Emeritus Professor, University of Melbourne
Latest book: An Environmental History of France, 1770-2020
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/environmental-history-of-france-9781350523852/ .. more

Videos

Peter McPhee is an Australian academic and former provost of the University of Melbourne. He is the first person to have held the position at Melbourne, as it has typically only been in place at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. .. more

History 54%

Philosophy 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Louise Edwards, Peter McPhee

Briony Neilson @brionyneilson.bsky.social · Sep 15

I'm honoured to be speaking to @petermcphee.bsky.social on Mon 6 Oct at 1pm AEDT about my book Dangers of Youth: Age, Criminality, and Juvenile Justice Reform in Third Republic France at an online event hosted by the George Rudé Society. Please register here: uni-sydney.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Picture shows a book cover for Dangers of Youth

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Aug 1

A beautiful essay about John Hirst's distinctive and significant contribution to our historical culture.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Jul 16

Félicitations ! Un travail extraordinaire.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Jun 25

Of course in some senses Napoleon was a soldier of the French Revolution but he also ended it in 1799. There are no clear ruptures in history.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Jun 25

Yes, but I'm also thinking of applied science with directly related things like the roll out of decimal measures.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Jun 25

Yes, you're quite correct: I should have had something to say about scientific and medical developments. That's a rather 'dated' volume now.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · May 30

Thank you. 91 posts!

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · May 20

www.abc.net.au/news/science...

150 years ago, 17 countries signed a treaty that affects how we live today

The next time you pick up a bag of spuds from the supermarket or fill up the car with petrol, you can thank a treaty signed in 1875 for the metric system that underpins daily life.

www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Dr Nuits de Young @nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social · May 14

The patterns look interesting.
I was having a poke around The Lady's Magazine bcos it has a bizarre 'biographical article' on Max in the Sept 1794 issue, which incl the utterly spurious claim he was a shop porter in Dublin for a time. And there's an engraving, but am not sure it counts as a pin-up.

The Lady's Magazine, Sept 1794: Boze-type engraving of Maximilien Robespierre, a young man in a dark coat with plain cravat, and powdered wig with side-curls.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · May 9

The commemoration of the massive (and tragic) Donghak peasant rebellion of 1894 in Jeongeup, South Korea. The columns refer to the 90 places involved and the names of the identified victims are added to each year. The ring reminds us never to forget. There is no memorial like this to 1789 in France.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · May 3

Brilliant article by Brooke Boney on why acknowledging First Peoples matters and the real reason why some people won't.

www.theage.com.au/national/wel...

Welcome to Country is not an election issue, so why are we talking about it? I think I know

If this Welcome to Country furore has shifted your vote, perhaps it’s time to come clean on your motivations.

www.theage.com.au

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Apr 5

(from Australia) suggesting that you can explain the US dysfunction by reference to Trump and his body alone just demonstrates what's with US politics and commentary.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Apr 3

Spare a thought for the 2,000 people of the Australian territory of Norfolk Island who don't export anything to anyone but now have a tariff of 59%. Smart people those MAGAs.

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Côme Simien @comesimien.bsky.social · Mar 22

Il y a des mots auxquels on attache une importance particulière. C'est le cas de ceux de Claude Mazauric, immense historien de la Révolution. La recension de notre livre "Haro sur les Jacobins" qu'il propose dans La Marseillaise de ce jour est un grand honneur.

"Un essai magnifique". Merci Claude 🙏

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Mar 18

A superb example of environmental history which integrates sensory experience, cultural identity, art, politics and economics in a beautifully written and gorgeous book.

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Romain Vincent @romainvincent.bsky.social · Mar 16

🎬 Sixième intervention de la première édition des Rencontres des fictions historiques

La légende noire de la Révolution française : l’imaginaire complotiste dans les jeux vidéo sur la période révolutionnaire (1789-1799) par Hugo Orain

Ici : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm_F...

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Mar 4

www.facebook.com/share/14zotK...

Redirecting...

www.facebook.com

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Feb 26

Alas, the easiest way to explain history is to ascribe it to a trope connected with an individual, as if the smash and grab going on in the US can be fully explained by reference to Trump

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Feb 26

Yes, you're right. The book sounds interesting so I'll keep an open mind!

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Feb 26

The old clichés about "Robespierre's Terror" and his omnipotent control, apparently even over mirrors and underwear. Thanks for sending.

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Feb 25

Macron made Trump “the first president in history who had to be interrupted and corrected by an ally when the president of the United States was lying and lying about that ally”

www.huffpost.com/entry/lawren...

Trump Dragged After Being ‘Fully Humiliated On The World Stage’

Donald Trump was “humiliated and exposed in a way that no previous president ever could be," said MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.

www.huffpost.com

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Feb 15

Sometimes you need to laugh.

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Feb 15

youtube.com/watch?v=JYqf...

youtube.com

Reposted by Peter McPhee

History Council of Victoria @historycouncilvic.bsky.social · Feb 12

📚We are excited to announce our first Book+Author event of the year, feat historian Dr Geraldine Fela in conversation with our excellent host, Dr Yves Rees! The talk will take place in our brand new venue, the intimate Bard's Apothecary.

➡️Book now: historycouncilvic.org.au/book_author_...

Reposted by Peter McPhee

History Council of Victoria @historycouncilvic.bsky.social · Feb 12

🎉 We are excited to join the history community here at BlueSky as the peak body for history in the Australian state of Victoria!

Follow us for updates about HCV events, advocacy, news and opportunities. We have a bumper calendar coming up in 2025!

➡️ Learn more: www.historycouncilvic.org.au

History Council of Victoria

The History Council of Victoria is the peak body for history in Victoria. Through its activities, it encourages the understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of history, and aims to raise the profile ...

www.historycouncilvic.org.au

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Dr Nuits de Young @nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social · Feb 11

A name used in my favourite Artois family… Memorial slab, with #MementoMori skull, in St Martin's, Carvin, to Robert Antoine & Barbe Catherine Duquesne, children of Jean François Duquesne & his wife Scholastique de Robespierre.
@ser-1789.bsky.social @petermcphee.bsky.social @mlinton.bsky.social

An early 18C incised floor-slab in St Martin's Church, Carvin, France, with inscription for the siblings Robert Antoine & Barbe Catherine Duquesne. They are children of Jean François Duquesne and Scholastique de Robespierre. There is a skull memento mori carved at the bottom.

Reposted by Dhavan V. Shah, Scott L. Althaus, Peter McPhee

Mike Wagner @prowag.bsky.social · Feb 8

We are not far away from your spouse’s cancer trial stopping, your parent’s Alzheimer’s clinical trial evaporating, your teen’s mental health intervention disappearing. It’s easy to attack universities, but the recent actions from the White House will stop cutting edge medical research very quickly.

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Dr Nuits de Young @nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social · Jan 30

For #18thCenturyists, let us remember Ms Faithfull as one of the more authentic-looking figures in Coppola's 'Marie Antoinette': Maria Theresia.
@invitinghistory.bsky.social @suburbanbeatnik.bsky.social @hottycouture.bsky.social @mlinton.bsky.social @petermcphee.bsky.social @annihawk.bsky.social

Marianne Faithfull as Maria Theresia in Sofia Coppola's film 'Marie Antoinette': a woman in 18C costume, with powdered hair and a richly decorated black dress, seated in a lavishly decorated room with gilded furniture and plasterwork.

Reposted by Peter McPhee

Yale University Press @yalepress.bsky.social · Jan 27

This Friday, January 31st at 6pm EST, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell explores the controversial and extravagant fashion during the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette in 18th-century France in a Virtual Fashion Week 2025 event hosted by The National Arts Club. Register here:

Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Join Dr. Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell for an exploration of one of the most exciting, controversial, and extravagant periods in the history.

bit.ly

Peter McPhee @petermcphee.bsky.social · Jan 28

Are we at a turning point in world history? | David Motadel www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Are we at a turning point in world history? | David Motadel

Political leaders increasingly caution that we are facing a historical ‘inflection point’. Are we?

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