The Crusader Project
@crusaderproject.bsky.social
Long-running research project on the desert war 1940-43, with a specific focus on Operation CRUSADER.
www.rommelsriposte.com
www.rommelsriposte.com
Pinned
This Bluesky feed serves to disseminate information and new posts related to Operation CRUSADER, the #desertwar in WW2 and #ww2 in general.
If desert #armour warfare, surrendering Germans, and challenges to preconceived ideas about the Italians are your thing, you might want to give us a follow.
If desert #armour warfare, surrendering Germans, and challenges to preconceived ideas about the Italians are your thing, you might want to give us a follow.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Happy 2026! To start the year, here's a tree ring chiton, a 5cm ocean mollusk that sticks to rocks. Instead of having obvious eyes on a head, it's got 100s of tiny eyes embedded in the hard plates on its back, each with a rock crystal to focus light. Its top is one big eye spying on the world above
January 1, 2026 at 7:38 AM
Happy 2026! To start the year, here's a tree ring chiton, a 5cm ocean mollusk that sticks to rocks. Instead of having obvious eyes on a head, it's got 100s of tiny eyes embedded in the hard plates on its back, each with a rock crystal to focus light. Its top is one big eye spying on the world above
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Julia Margaret Cameron stands as one of the most innovative photographers of the 19th century, a status she achieved despite a career that lasted only a dozen years. She did not pick up a camera until the age of 48, yet she produced a body of work that defied the conventions of Victorian photography
January 1, 2026 at 6:26 AM
Julia Margaret Cameron stands as one of the most innovative photographers of the 19th century, a status she achieved despite a career that lasted only a dozen years. She did not pick up a camera until the age of 48, yet she produced a body of work that defied the conventions of Victorian photography
Reposted by The Crusader Project
One of my all-time fave celeb Twitter interactions.
January 1, 2026 at 4:57 AM
One of my all-time fave celeb Twitter interactions.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
December 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Social Justice Warriors, sir. Thousands of them.
December 31, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Social Justice Warriors, sir. Thousands of them.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Regular reminder that this is 1) perverse in every sense of the word and 2) a societal choice.
December 31, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Regular reminder that this is 1) perverse in every sense of the word and 2) a societal choice.
Good threat, but Yes and No. The final vote for the Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Law) saw KPD members under arrest already or in hiding. But most of the SPD voted against it (26 MPs were in hiding), and nobody else did, and so we will never know what would have happened had centrists found a spine.
"hitler defeated democracy using democracy" is a really pernicious myth that ignores the fact that it is not in fact legal to pass law while armed thugs from the ruling party (which rules by barely-legal constitutional cheat code) are threatening other MPs
December 31, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Good threat, but Yes and No. The final vote for the Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Law) saw KPD members under arrest already or in hiding. But most of the SPD voted against it (26 MPs were in hiding), and nobody else did, and so we will never know what would have happened had centrists found a spine.
What better way to end the year?
@vandawilcox.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social
@andraswf.bsky.social - maybe that’ll best the allegations that I am @paperghost.bsky.social’s alt.
@vandawilcox.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social
@andraswf.bsky.social - maybe that’ll best the allegations that I am @paperghost.bsky.social’s alt.
December 31, 2025 at 6:03 PM
What better way to end the year?
@vandawilcox.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social
@andraswf.bsky.social - maybe that’ll best the allegations that I am @paperghost.bsky.social’s alt.
@vandawilcox.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social
@andraswf.bsky.social - maybe that’ll best the allegations that I am @paperghost.bsky.social’s alt.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
full cost breakdown:
$0.25 - Charlemagne, who built the empire with murder
$0.25 - Louis the Pious, the indecisive son
$1.00 - the grandsons who butchered each other afterwards
$0.49 - Nithard, Dhuoda, and Angelbert who wrote the histories and suffered
$0.00 - Bernard of Septimania, fuck that guy
$0.25 - Charlemagne, who built the empire with murder
$0.25 - Louis the Pious, the indecisive son
$1.00 - the grandsons who butchered each other afterwards
$0.49 - Nithard, Dhuoda, and Angelbert who wrote the histories and suffered
$0.00 - Bernard of Septimania, fuck that guy
Oathbreakers is just $1.99 on @bookshop.org right now as an e-book! Great deal! Less than 67 cents per warring brother! From me and @profgabriele.com
Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe
The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe
bookshop.org
December 31, 2025 at 3:11 PM
full cost breakdown:
$0.25 - Charlemagne, who built the empire with murder
$0.25 - Louis the Pious, the indecisive son
$1.00 - the grandsons who butchered each other afterwards
$0.49 - Nithard, Dhuoda, and Angelbert who wrote the histories and suffered
$0.00 - Bernard of Septimania, fuck that guy
$0.25 - Charlemagne, who built the empire with murder
$0.25 - Louis the Pious, the indecisive son
$1.00 - the grandsons who butchered each other afterwards
$0.49 - Nithard, Dhuoda, and Angelbert who wrote the histories and suffered
$0.00 - Bernard of Septimania, fuck that guy
December 31, 2025 at 4:08 PM
As the twat who I replied to deleted his post or blocked me for some uncomfortable truth, here the reply goes again.
Jenrick and Farage and their fellow travellers are asking for the implementation of actual Nazi policies, while pretending to defend Jewish people.
Fuck them.
Jenrick and Farage and their fellow travellers are asking for the implementation of actual Nazi policies, while pretending to defend Jewish people.
Fuck them.
One of the first things that Germany did in the 1930s was to make Jewish people and political antagonists stateless. It was a critical part of the pathway to the Holocaust.
Staatenlosigkeit in Deutschland in Geschichte und Gegenwart | Staatenlosigkeit | bpb.de
Die massenhafte Ausbürgerung stand am Anfang der Vernichtung der Jüdinnen und Juden im sogenannten Dritten Reich. Diese Praxis des NS-Regimes hinterlässt bis heute ihre Spuren.
www.bpb.de
December 31, 2025 at 12:40 PM
As the twat who I replied to deleted his post or blocked me for some uncomfortable truth, here the reply goes again.
Jenrick and Farage and their fellow travellers are asking for the implementation of actual Nazi policies, while pretending to defend Jewish people.
Fuck them.
Jenrick and Farage and their fellow travellers are asking for the implementation of actual Nazi policies, while pretending to defend Jewish people.
Fuck them.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Contrary to the post format going around, I don't think I've got involved in any stupid Blue Sky beef this year.
Block early and block often, kids.
Block early and block often, kids.
December 31, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Contrary to the post format going around, I don't think I've got involved in any stupid Blue Sky beef this year.
Block early and block often, kids.
Block early and block often, kids.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Another favourite wartime fact is that Peter Butterworth of Carry On fame - was a POW at Stalag Luft iii and was involved in the Wooden Horse escape.
When he later tried to audition for a role in the film he was turned down for not looking heroic enough.
When he later tried to audition for a role in the film he was turned down for not looking heroic enough.
December 31, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Another favourite wartime fact is that Peter Butterworth of Carry On fame - was a POW at Stalag Luft iii and was involved in the Wooden Horse escape.
When he later tried to audition for a role in the film he was turned down for not looking heroic enough.
When he later tried to audition for a role in the film he was turned down for not looking heroic enough.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
The MI6 agent who interviewed Coco Chanel about her wartime work for the Abwehr was Malcolm Muggeridge.
Ok folks: what is your favorite fact that you share with people (maybe a bit too) eagerly?
December 31, 2025 at 9:43 AM
The MI6 agent who interviewed Coco Chanel about her wartime work for the Abwehr was Malcolm Muggeridge.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Calls to strip pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah of his British citizenship pile torment on top of torture.
New piece by me on a dangerous and manufactured storm:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
New piece by me on a dangerous and manufactured storm:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s tweets were wrong, but he is no ‘anti-white Islamist’. Why does the British right want you to believe he is? | Naomi Klein
I have no interest in defending his social media posts, but calls to strip the newly freed activist of British citizenship pile torment on top of torture, says Naomi Klein, Guardian US columnist and c...
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Calls to strip pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah of his British citizenship pile torment on top of torture.
New piece by me on a dangerous and manufactured storm:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
New piece by me on a dangerous and manufactured storm:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Open up this picture fully.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
December 30, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Open up this picture fully.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Then look at the surface of Mars.
Then look up to the top right.
Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky.
Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos.
That's Earth.
Doesn’t sound like he’s a great loss to learning.
The reason this Harvard history professor decided he was done with one of the best and most privileged jobs in the world was, in his own words, because he was forced to lecture in a mask during peak Covid.
I’m not making this up.
I’m not making this up.
December 31, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Doesn’t sound like he’s a great loss to learning.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Three years ago, today.
Gone but not forgotten.
Oleksandr Matsievskyi
10 May 1980 – 30 December 2022
#SlavaUkraine
Gone but not forgotten.
Oleksandr Matsievskyi
10 May 1980 – 30 December 2022
#SlavaUkraine
December 31, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Three years ago, today.
Gone but not forgotten.
Oleksandr Matsievskyi
10 May 1980 – 30 December 2022
#SlavaUkraine
Gone but not forgotten.
Oleksandr Matsievskyi
10 May 1980 – 30 December 2022
#SlavaUkraine
Brilliant post and very informed and informative discussion below.
it's just super weird that Carthage was so large and yet we have essentially no idea how, e.g., its government worked.
Working on book revisions and I have made this point like, 11,000 times but once more I feel the need to suggest that Carthage does not get a fair shake for how impressive its military machine was.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
December 31, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Brilliant post and very informed and informative discussion below.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
it's just super weird that Carthage was so large and yet we have essentially no idea how, e.g., its government worked.
Working on book revisions and I have made this point like, 11,000 times but once more I feel the need to suggest that Carthage does not get a fair shake for how impressive its military machine was.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
If Rome hadn't come first, the Carthaginians would have dunked the Hellenistic world into the sea.
December 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
it's just super weird that Carthage was so large and yet we have essentially no idea how, e.g., its government worked.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Maybe I'm missing something here, but for me this is the single most terrifying thing I can remember any mainstream British politician saying. It is a very clear rejection of free speech, liberty and the rule of law. It's coming in less than four years.
December 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Maybe I'm missing something here, but for me this is the single most terrifying thing I can remember any mainstream British politician saying. It is a very clear rejection of free speech, liberty and the rule of law. It's coming in less than four years.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
What should you do with your extra eels? Split them among your friends, yo!
In 973 Bishop Æthelwold gave 16k eels to Thorney Abbey & Peterborough Abbey: each monastery got 8,000 annually.
And sure...that seems like a lot. But its only about 22 eels a day! Not even one an hour!
🗃️🧪
In 973 Bishop Æthelwold gave 16k eels to Thorney Abbey & Peterborough Abbey: each monastery got 8,000 annually.
And sure...that seems like a lot. But its only about 22 eels a day! Not even one an hour!
🗃️🧪
December 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
What should you do with your extra eels? Split them among your friends, yo!
In 973 Bishop Æthelwold gave 16k eels to Thorney Abbey & Peterborough Abbey: each monastery got 8,000 annually.
And sure...that seems like a lot. But its only about 22 eels a day! Not even one an hour!
🗃️🧪
In 973 Bishop Æthelwold gave 16k eels to Thorney Abbey & Peterborough Abbey: each monastery got 8,000 annually.
And sure...that seems like a lot. But its only about 22 eels a day! Not even one an hour!
🗃️🧪
Reposted by The Crusader Project
Did a new reading thing this year. I've decided reading 1st (or near 1st) edition hardcovers places my brain squarely in the era in which the book was created and meant to be read. A great way to escape the 2020s.
So here are six micro-reviews of novels I read, all published between 1963 and 1991.
So here are six micro-reviews of novels I read, all published between 1963 and 1991.
December 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Did a new reading thing this year. I've decided reading 1st (or near 1st) edition hardcovers places my brain squarely in the era in which the book was created and meant to be read. A great way to escape the 2020s.
So here are six micro-reviews of novels I read, all published between 1963 and 1991.
So here are six micro-reviews of novels I read, all published between 1963 and 1991.
Reposted by The Crusader Project
This is…a lot. From the AI cover art (c’mon SWJ, wtf) to the grasping at straws to connect Clausewitz (c’mon dude, not everything is dead Prussian) to a core misunderstanding of Posse Comitatus and the context of US hemispheric military action. Oy vey.
A Shield Made up of Well-directed Blows: Clausewitz and the New Logic of America’s Counter-Narcotics Campaign
This article argues that America’s counter-narcotics campaign has evolved from law enforcement into a Clausewitzian model of active defense, treating fentanyl trafficking as a strategic, weapon-like t...
smallwarsjournal.com
December 30, 2025 at 2:36 AM
This is…a lot. From the AI cover art (c’mon SWJ, wtf) to the grasping at straws to connect Clausewitz (c’mon dude, not everything is dead Prussian) to a core misunderstanding of Posse Comitatus and the context of US hemispheric military action. Oy vey.