John Levin
@anterotesis.bsky.social
Digital History, Radical History, Social History.
Dadaists, Coin clippers, Escaping Debtors, Londoners.
Critics and Critiques of Political Economy.
Open Access, Public Domain, Hacking Around.
Editor of British History Online at the IHR.
Also Cats & Spain.
Dadaists, Coin clippers, Escaping Debtors, Londoners.
Critics and Critiques of Political Economy.
Open Access, Public Domain, Hacking Around.
Editor of British History Online at the IHR.
Also Cats & Spain.
Reposted by John Levin
A reminder that racist historian David Starkey, said in 2020:
"Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived."
He's speaking at this year's How The Light Gets In festival.
"Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived."
He's speaking at this year's How The Light Gets In festival.
January 23, 2026 at 11:40 AM
A reminder that racist historian David Starkey, said in 2020:
"Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived."
He's speaking at this year's How The Light Gets In festival.
"Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived."
He's speaking at this year's How The Light Gets In festival.
Usury pure and simple:
Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’
Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest added
www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
#DebtStrike
Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’
Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest added
www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
#DebtStrike
Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’
Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest added
www.theguardian.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Usury pure and simple:
Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’
Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest added
www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
#DebtStrike
Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’
Millions of graduates are trapped by ballooning debts, as their repayments are dwarfed by the interest added
www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
#DebtStrike
Reposted by John Levin
Some very useful items here for parliamentary historians. Many thanks to @anterotesis.bsky.social!
A thread of #PublicDomain books I've got Google Books to make fully and freely available this year.
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Published by HMSO
books.google.co.uk
January 23, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Some very useful items here for parliamentary historians. Many thanks to @anterotesis.bsky.social!
Reposted by John Levin
New #OpenAccess #LegalHistory from @uolpress.bsky.social
Law and Justice in the 1950s
Case Studies From a Neglected Decade
uolpress.co.uk/book/law-and...
#History
Law and Justice in the 1950s
Case Studies From a Neglected Decade
uolpress.co.uk/book/law-and...
#History
Law and Justice in the 1950s - University of London Press
The 1950s was a decade of considerable legal development in England and Wales, despite often being regarded as very conservative in contrast to the more radical 1960s and 1970s. This collection illust...
uolpress.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 10:04 AM
New #OpenAccess #LegalHistory from @uolpress.bsky.social
Law and Justice in the 1950s
Case Studies From a Neglected Decade
uolpress.co.uk/book/law-and...
#History
Law and Justice in the 1950s
Case Studies From a Neglected Decade
uolpress.co.uk/book/law-and...
#History
Reposted by John Levin
Und thus, modernity comes to a close just like it started, with a guy ranting at windmills
Trump: "There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills all over the place. And they are losers. One thing I've noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses, and the worse that country is doing. I haven't been able to find any wind farms in China."
January 21, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Und thus, modernity comes to a close just like it started, with a guy ranting at windmills
Interesting example of how data collection procedures affects economic measurements:
#oeconomica #inflation
#oeconomica #inflation
INFLATION RISES AGAIN, GO THE PUSH ALERTS TO TENS OF MILLIONS OF PHONES
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...
Will it be another plane weird UK inflation print?
Blame on current air fares
www.ft.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:45 AM
Interesting example of how data collection procedures affects economic measurements:
#oeconomica #inflation
#oeconomica #inflation
Reposted by John Levin
Always great to see digitisations made freely available online! I scanned the HLHS back run of newsletters and journals a few years ago: www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk/publications...
January 20, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Always great to see digitisations made freely available online! I scanned the HLHS back run of newsletters and journals a few years ago: www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk/publications...
New from Bristol Record Society:
Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade
archive.org/details/bris...
Really great to see BRS publish #OpenAccess on @archive.org !
#History #EnslavedHistory
Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade
archive.org/details/bris...
Really great to see BRS publish #OpenAccess on @archive.org !
#History #EnslavedHistory
Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade : Kenneth Morgan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Kenneth Morgan (ed.), Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade (Bristol Record Society publications, Vol. 80, 2025)A collection of transcribed documents relating...
archive.org
January 20, 2026 at 1:25 PM
New from Bristol Record Society:
Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade
archive.org/details/bris...
Really great to see BRS publish #OpenAccess on @archive.org !
#History #EnslavedHistory
Documents on the Bristol Slave Trade
archive.org/details/bris...
Really great to see BRS publish #OpenAccess on @archive.org !
#History #EnslavedHistory
Reposted by John Levin
We're in Employment Tribunal about this. And a civil case has been filed. It's just so terribly slow in getting to a conclusion to erase that grey area that VCs are so gleefully exploiting.
Community Legal Knowledge Project
Our branch has been challenging punitive policies aimed at chilling the right of association via various routes. A key component in these strategies is our collective legal work. This page brings t…
qmucu.org
January 19, 2026 at 7:29 PM
We're in Employment Tribunal about this. And a civil case has been filed. It's just so terribly slow in getting to a conclusion to erase that grey area that VCs are so gleefully exploiting.
Why hasn't this vicious policy of a number of university managements, been taken to court yet? What are #UCU @ucu.org.uk doing about this?
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
January 19, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Why hasn't this vicious policy of a number of university managements, been taken to court yet? What are #UCU @ucu.org.uk doing about this?
Reposted by John Levin
📢📢 This Wednesday marks the start of our Third International Congress on the History of Prisons and Punitive Institutions at
@upna.bsky.social Here is a summary of the programme. You can download the detailed version in English here: www.unavarra.es/congreso-his... See you soon in Pamplona!
@upna.bsky.social Here is a summary of the programme. You can download the detailed version in English here: www.unavarra.es/congreso-his... See you soon in Pamplona!
January 12, 2026 at 8:11 PM
📢📢 This Wednesday marks the start of our Third International Congress on the History of Prisons and Punitive Institutions at
@upna.bsky.social Here is a summary of the programme. You can download the detailed version in English here: www.unavarra.es/congreso-his... See you soon in Pamplona!
@upna.bsky.social Here is a summary of the programme. You can download the detailed version in English here: www.unavarra.es/congreso-his... See you soon in Pamplona!
Reposted by John Levin
This craven cowardice is not only morally repugnant, but also completely at odds with the Royal Society’s own code of conduct. By failing to uphold the code, Sir Paul Nurse looks like he’s himself also breaching it - both are bringing the Society into disrepute. royalsociety.org/-/media/abou...
So image manipulation in science papers is now OK, I take it.
Elon Musk should keep UK Royal Society membership, says president - www.ft.com/content/088b...
via @FT
Elon Musk should keep UK Royal Society membership, says president - www.ft.com/content/088b...
via @FT
January 9, 2026 at 7:06 PM
This craven cowardice is not only morally repugnant, but also completely at odds with the Royal Society’s own code of conduct. By failing to uphold the code, Sir Paul Nurse looks like he’s himself also breaching it - both are bringing the Society into disrepute. royalsociety.org/-/media/abou...
Reposted by John Levin
#ICYMI earlier this week, Robin Eagles of the Georgian Lords posted on uncovering the lives of Black Londoners, among them one who almost certainly joined John London in voting in the 1749 Westminster by-election:
historyofparliament.com/2026/01/05/s...
#HistParl #BSECS2026
historyofparliament.com/2026/01/05/s...
#HistParl #BSECS2026
Steps towards identifying new Black voters in 18th-century Westminster and Hertfordshire - The History of Parliament
A few months ago, the History welcomed a guest post by Dr Gillian Williamson with her groundbreaking research into John London, to date the earliest known
historyofparliament.com
January 9, 2026 at 1:06 PM
#ICYMI earlier this week, Robin Eagles of the Georgian Lords posted on uncovering the lives of Black Londoners, among them one who almost certainly joined John London in voting in the 1749 Westminster by-election:
historyofparliament.com/2026/01/05/s...
#HistParl #BSECS2026
historyofparliament.com/2026/01/05/s...
#HistParl #BSECS2026
Reposted by John Levin
A library based on access to subscription databases that vanish completely as soon as the payments stop is, in an important sense, not a library. It is not a repository. It's just a viewing platform.
January 6, 2026 at 9:31 PM
A library based on access to subscription databases that vanish completely as soon as the payments stop is, in an important sense, not a library. It is not a repository. It's just a viewing platform.
Reposted by John Levin
Can confirm that Google Books is remarkably good at releasing public domain books if evidence of their public domain-ness is presented along the lines John suggests - citing Crown Copyright duration, or author date of death (perhaps with a wikipedia link).
January 6, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Can confirm that Google Books is remarkably good at releasing public domain books if evidence of their public domain-ness is presented along the lines John suggests - citing Crown Copyright duration, or author date of death (perhaps with a wikipedia link).
As it was asked about on Mastodon, here's the form to get Google Books to release #PublicDomain titles:
support.google.com/websearch/an...
NB: Snippet view shows Google has a digital version to release.
NB 2: cite relevent law, or proof that author died over 70 (in UK) years ago.
support.google.com/websearch/an...
NB: Snippet view shows Google has a digital version to release.
NB 2: cite relevent law, or proof that author died over 70 (in UK) years ago.
Your Google Books inquiry - Google Search Help
support.google.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:32 AM
As it was asked about on Mastodon, here's the form to get Google Books to release #PublicDomain titles:
support.google.com/websearch/an...
NB: Snippet view shows Google has a digital version to release.
NB 2: cite relevent law, or proof that author died over 70 (in UK) years ago.
support.google.com/websearch/an...
NB: Snippet view shows Google has a digital version to release.
NB 2: cite relevent law, or proof that author died over 70 (in UK) years ago.
A thread of #PublicDomain books I've got Google Books to make fully and freely available this year.
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Published by HMSO
books.google.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 2:30 PM
A thread of #PublicDomain books I've got Google Books to make fully and freely available this year.
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Published by HMSO
A Brief Guide to Official Publications
London, HMSO, 1960.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=q20...
Reposted by John Levin
“I’m a developer for a major food delivery app. The 'Priority Fee' and 'Driver Benefit Fee' go 100% to the company.
The driver sees $0 of it.”
www.reddit.com/r/confession...
The driver sees $0 of it.”
www.reddit.com/r/confession...
January 2, 2026 at 9:36 PM
“I’m a developer for a major food delivery app. The 'Priority Fee' and 'Driver Benefit Fee' go 100% to the company.
The driver sees $0 of it.”
www.reddit.com/r/confession...
The driver sees $0 of it.”
www.reddit.com/r/confession...
Not a deep dive, but interesting glance at non-university-based history data sets:
‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#History
‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#History
‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research
Wealth of datasets compiled as private passions are now a goldmine for those hunting for their ancestors
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Not a deep dive, but interesting glance at non-university-based history data sets:
‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#History
‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
#History
Reposted by John Levin
#OTD in 1819: The Seditious Meetings Act is passed. One of the 'Six Acts' passed to suppress radical movements in the wake of Peterloo.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#History
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#History
December 24, 2025 at 8:04 AM
#OTD in 1819: The Seditious Meetings Act is passed. One of the 'Six Acts' passed to suppress radical movements in the wake of Peterloo.
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#History
statutes.org.uk/site/the-sta...
#History
Reposted by John Levin
Garden of Earthly Delights
December 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Garden of Earthly Delights
Reposted by John Levin
Excellent summary of the miserable mismanagement of the British Library: dosh for the execs, dregs for the workers. Oh, and a series of CEOs with no library background, and -- no chief librarian? Why yes! That sounds like a brilliant set of priorities. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
The worst of times: Trouble at the British Library
Cyber chaos, striking staff and a crisis of leadership. Claudia Cockerell investigates a national treasure’s year of reckoning
www.standard.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Excellent summary of the miserable mismanagement of the British Library: dosh for the execs, dregs for the workers. Oh, and a series of CEOs with no library background, and -- no chief librarian? Why yes! That sounds like a brilliant set of priorities. www.standard.co.uk/news/london/...
Reposted by John Levin
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
The King's Slaves
A provocative account of how empire and absolutism institutionalized slavery in America
press.princeton.edu
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
Reposted by John Levin
A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out!
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Prison reform from below: London, c.1780–1830*
Abstract. This article explores the history of the English prison reform movement from ‘below’ – that is, from the perspective of prison inmates. By highli
academic.oup.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out!
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...