Evan
@evansmithhist.bsky.social
Academic/Writer - History/Politics/Criminology - British, Australian & southern African (plus transnational) history - he/him - top 2% researchers 2024 (Stanford/Elsevier rankings) - views own - cult classic, not best seller - DMs will, alas, remain unread
Pinned
Evan
@evansmithhist.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Manchester University Press - In solidarity, under suspicion
In solidarity, under suspicion - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of In solidarity, under suspicion by Daniel Frost
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
The hardback edition of our new edited book, ‘In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956’, is published through @manchesterup.bsky.social today!
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ has the vibe of someone who started a project and then ran out of time to do it all properly. There’s like 7 verses about the period from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, then 2 verses that encompasses the late 1960s and all of the 1970s-80s.
Better pacing Billy!
Better pacing Billy!
December 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ has the vibe of someone who started a project and then ran out of time to do it all properly. There’s like 7 verses about the period from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, then 2 verses that encompasses the late 1960s and all of the 1970s-80s.
Better pacing Billy!
Better pacing Billy!
Reposted by Evan
Christmas has passed and it is not yet New Year’s. Now is the time of monsters.
December 27, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Christmas has passed and it is not yet New Year’s. Now is the time of monsters.
Reposted by Evan
As part of our Best Article Prize announcement, we're featuring articles from the Special Issue on the Nuclear Pacific.
Marco de Jong's open access article, '‘Our Pacific Through Native Eyes’: Māori Activism in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, 1980–5, is available here>
Marco de Jong's open access article, '‘Our Pacific Through Native Eyes’: Māori Activism in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, 1980–5, is available here>
Browse all journals
Browse all journals
doi.org
December 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
As part of our Best Article Prize announcement, we're featuring articles from the Special Issue on the Nuclear Pacific.
Marco de Jong's open access article, '‘Our Pacific Through Native Eyes’: Māori Activism in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, 1980–5, is available here>
Marco de Jong's open access article, '‘Our Pacific Through Native Eyes’: Māori Activism in the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, 1980–5, is available here>
Hard to decide between them of which is best
December 28, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Hard to decide between them of which is best
Reposted by Evan
With that said, if you’re interested in reviewing a newly published book in the field of imperial or Commonwealth history (broadly defined) for @jich.bsky.social, please get in touch!
www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...
www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...
The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
Publishes works on the history of the British Empire, Commonwealth and comparative European colonial experiences, including imperial policies and decolonization
www.tandfonline.com
December 27, 2025 at 6:03 AM
With that said, if you’re interested in reviewing a newly published book in the field of imperial or Commonwealth history (broadly defined) for @jich.bsky.social, please get in touch!
www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...
www.tandfonline.com/journals/fic...
What is a song that is much more remembered than the film it appeared on the soundtrack of?
December 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
What is a song that is much more remembered than the film it appeared on the soundtrack of?
Christmas has passed and it is not yet New Year’s. Now is the time of monsters.
December 27, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Christmas has passed and it is not yet New Year’s. Now is the time of monsters.
Reposted by Evan
Everyone’s doing end of year round ups, so here’s mine:
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
December 24, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Everyone’s doing end of year round ups, so here’s mine:
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Reposted by Evan
This ⬇️ Please do get in touch with the book review editor of a journal in your field if you have a new book for review or if you’d like to review a particular book. I’m always happy to hear about new releases and will get you a review copy if you want to review something for @jpict.bsky.social
As a book reviews editor, publishers sending copies to journals doesn’t really happen nowadays and editors usually get copies sent directly to a reviewer. This means a reviewer needs to be locked in, but it can be hard to find a reviewer. Better luck when a reviewer pitched a book to review to me.
I know it's traditionally the publisher's responsibility to send review copies out to journals, then the editor's responsibility to send those to reviewers, but a lot of those I've contacted note this system is starting to break down - largely because of our "publish or perish" mentality
3/5
3/5
December 27, 2025 at 4:04 AM
This ⬇️ Please do get in touch with the book review editor of a journal in your field if you have a new book for review or if you’d like to review a particular book. I’m always happy to hear about new releases and will get you a review copy if you want to review something for @jpict.bsky.social
Reposted by Evan
I'm in this!
Back when Twitter was useful, I asked historians and archivists about the things they found in the archives that made them go 'wut?' and wrote this piece about it.
theconversation.com/i-asked-hist...
theconversation.com/i-asked-hist...
December 27, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I'm in this!
As a book reviews editor, publishers sending copies to journals doesn’t really happen nowadays and editors usually get copies sent directly to a reviewer. This means a reviewer needs to be locked in, but it can be hard to find a reviewer. Better luck when a reviewer pitched a book to review to me.
I know it's traditionally the publisher's responsibility to send review copies out to journals, then the editor's responsibility to send those to reviewers, but a lot of those I've contacted note this system is starting to break down - largely because of our "publish or perish" mentality
3/5
3/5
December 27, 2025 at 3:34 AM
As a book reviews editor, publishers sending copies to journals doesn’t really happen nowadays and editors usually get copies sent directly to a reviewer. This means a reviewer needs to be locked in, but it can be hard to find a reviewer. Better luck when a reviewer pitched a book to review to me.
Having briefly read, the Kyle Burke article on the history of the transnational far right in this issue is very good.
Part 1 of the JRWS special issue on the history of the far-right in the US is out! Read it for free, and spread it widely. escholarship.org/uc/jrws
No better time than now to learn what's precedented and what's not.
No better time than now to learn what's precedented and what's not.
December 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Having briefly read, the Kyle Burke article on the history of the transnational far right in this issue is very good.
As a number of people have pointed out here before, Gramsci’s ‘now is the time of monsters’ quote is actually a recent paraphrasing popularised by Zizek.
This is why it’s so important to trace things back to the beginning whenever possible.
I believe @rauchway.bsky.social calls these “historical urban legends”
I believe @rauchway.bsky.social calls these “historical urban legends”
looking up the source of quotes, whether for a book or a video script, is great for figuring out when a quote everyone "knows" and has repeated for ages is actually just weird bullshit someone else made up
December 26, 2025 at 10:18 PM
As a number of people have pointed out here before, Gramsci’s ‘now is the time of monsters’ quote is actually a recent paraphrasing popularised by Zizek.
The shitposting on BlueSky by my fellow Australians has convinced me to put on the Ashes, despite my usual aversion to cricket. Two wickets have fallen since I switched the TV on.
December 26, 2025 at 6:46 AM
The shitposting on BlueSky by my fellow Australians has convinced me to put on the Ashes, despite my usual aversion to cricket. Two wickets have fallen since I switched the TV on.
Reposted by Evan
When decimalisation occurred in 1966, the Australian government compiled an 81 page file on dangers of using decimal coins in Christmas puddings. There was a media campaign warning people not to use the new coins in their cooking. The file is now digitised.
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
When decimalisation occurred in 1966, the Australian government compiled an 81 page file on dangers of using decimal coins in Christmas puddings. There was a media campaign warning people not to use the new coins in their cooking. The file is now digitised.
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
When decimalisation occurred in 1966, the Australian government compiled an 81 page file on dangers of using decimal coins in Christmas puddings. There was a media campaign warning people not to use the new coins in their cooking. The file is now digitised.
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
When decimalisation occurred in 1966, the Australian government compiled an 81 page file on dangers of using decimal coins in Christmas puddings. There was a media campaign warning people not to use the new coins in their cooking. The file is now digitised.
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetri...
It’s German for ‘Tiny Tim, who did not the’
December 25, 2025 at 5:42 AM
It’s German for ‘Tiny Tim, who did not the’
It is a common misconception, but Oliver Cromwell did not actually ban Die Hard from being a Christmas movie during the 1650s.
December 25, 2025 at 4:20 AM
It is a common misconception, but Oliver Cromwell did not actually ban Die Hard from being a Christmas movie during the 1650s.
Reposted by Evan
And you will know us by the trail of Tiny Tim, who is not dead
December 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
And you will know us by the trail of Tiny Tim, who is not dead
Goodfellas is a Christmas movie
December 24, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Goodfellas is a Christmas movie
With Bertrand Russell's reply to Oswald Mosley's invitation to debate in 1962 doing the rounds on social media again, I thought I'd mention this book extract on how Mosley was keen to debate at universities in the postwar period and the activists who fought him.
hatfulofhistory.com/2021/06/06/w...
hatfulofhistory.com/2021/06/06/w...
When the fascists went to university (and the campaigns to keep them out)
Recently there have been several mentions of Oswald Mosley being invited to speak at universities in the early 1960s. One from a piece in The Times opining for the ‘lost days of campus free s…
hatfulofhistory.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM
With Bertrand Russell's reply to Oswald Mosley's invitation to debate in 1962 doing the rounds on social media again, I thought I'd mention this book extract on how Mosley was keen to debate at universities in the postwar period and the activists who fought him.
hatfulofhistory.com/2021/06/06/w...
hatfulofhistory.com/2021/06/06/w...
Reposted by Evan
Wish there were still TV programmmes interviewing French critical theorists
December 24, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Wish there were still TV programmmes interviewing French critical theorists
Reposted by Evan
I also wrote a narrative history of Tangiwai a couple of years ago, if that is more your speed: andrebrett.com/2023/12/24/t...
The night was clear and the weather fine: 70 years since the Tangiwai railway disaster
A narrative history recounting experiences of New Zealand’s worst railway accident, the Tangiwai disaster of Christmas Eve 1953.
andrebrett.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:07 AM
I also wrote a narrative history of Tangiwai a couple of years ago, if that is more your speed: andrebrett.com/2023/12/24/t...
Everyone’s doing end of year round ups, so here’s mine:
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
December 24, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Everyone’s doing end of year round ups, so here’s mine:
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Published two edited volumes this year. One with @andrekosvarnava.bsky.social and @yiannicart.bsky.social. The other with @d-j-frost.bsky.social.
Both available now!
brill.com/display/titl...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/