James Kneale
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jameskneale.bsky.social
James Kneale
@jameskneale.bsky.social
Cultural/historical geographer at ucl working on drink/temperance, insurance, literary geographies, sf/fantastic/horror, &c. He/him.
Author of Temperance Lives: Life Assurance, Drink and Medicine in Britain, 1840-1918 (Bloomsbury 2026)
Pinned
Between 1840 and 1918, British attitudes towards drink changed dramatically. Life assurance company archives reveal their influence and also offer insights into the lives of ordinary abstainers.

Available (at 35% off with code GLR AT8) from Bloomsbury Academic www.bloomsbury.com/uk/temperanc...
Temperance Lives
This book explains how the rise of temperance life assurance affected ideas surrounding the dangers of drinking and abstinence between 1840 and 1918.James Kneal…
www.bloomsbury.com
Reposted by James Kneale
My 5-year-old son Mohammad was injured by shrapnel in Gaza. I am his mother, Amal, and I beg you to help him get the urgent treatment he needs outside Gaza. Please donate and share his story — your compassion can truly save his life 💔🙏

@jameskneale.bsky.social
@malortwitch.bsky.social
🚨 Urgent humanitarian appeal
My child is fighting for his life after being injured by Israeli drones and is currently in surgery in Gaza. He urgently needs life-saving medical treatment outside Gaza. Please don’t look away — your donation or share could save a child’s life
chuffed.org/project/168482
February 9, 2026 at 1:36 PM
I'm hearing that my institution is recruiting a special 'Toilet Squad' - no word yet if this is a tribute to Edwin 'Stinker' Chadwick, or a punishment detail for staff

more when we have it
February 9, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
The special issue of Cultural and Social History on “Researching Student Lives: Methodological and Theoretical Perspectives” (co-ed. w Georgina Brewis & Jodi Burkett) is live - yay! Several articles are OA :) Huge thanks to our contributors & the journal editors!
www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfcs20/2...
Cultural and Social History
Researching Student Lives: Methodological and Theoretical Perspectives. Volume 23, Issue 1 of Cultural and Social History
www.tandfonline.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Marking, and trying not to be this person
February 8, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Saved by a stranger: The 100-year-old Irish man in London
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
Saved by a stranger: The 100-year-old Irish man in London
Michael Hopkins was let down by the Irish system as a child and the British system as an elderly bachelor. Then he met a photographer at a bus stop
www.irishtimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Join us on Wednesday for Philippa Hellawell (The National Archives), 'The Ship Bedford: Atlantic and Archival Crossings in the Long Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade', at the Institute of Historical Research, London and on Zoom, 11 February, 5:30 pm. Free and open to the public. Booking link below.
The Ship Bedford: Atlantic and Archival Crossings in the Long Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade
www.history.ac.uk
February 8, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Sharing again this thread on the potentially harmful approach to research ethics - impacting all forms of research - proposed by report 2 of the Sullivan Review

doi.org/10.1111/tran.70057
February 8, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Here's a thread which follows my last book - Historic Building Mythbusting. Its a look at the stories we tell about ancient buildings, a debunking of some of those tales, and what we can learn about ourselves through folklore... the stories behind the stories 1/12🧵
February 7, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Oxford University's Handling of Sexual Harassment Allegations under scrutiny

Investigation of serious matters of sexual harassment, bullying & whistleblowing needs to be taken out of hands of universities

Their inclination is to cover up & do nothing

poetsandquants.com/2026/02/02/o...
Oxford Under Scrutiny: How A Mishandled Safety Case Preceded The Ouster Of Saïd’s Dean
Oxford’s handling of the allegation against Bent Flyvbjerg set off a chain of events that ended with the resignation of Saïd’s dean.
poetsandquants.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
ICYMI our @ehunineteen.bsky.social PGRs are hosting a conference - check out our poster - please reskeet - share with your PGRs - and do come along and join us in June!
February 7, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
Wow - @manchestermill.bsky.social catches Reform UK sending fake letters to residents without saying they’re from Matt Goodwin’s campaign, a glaring breach of electoral law.
February 6, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Checking my email on Bandcamp Friday
a woman in a white dress is standing in front of a red white and blue flag
Alt: a woman opens a cupboard and boxes fall out on here, making her fall over
media.tenor.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
Imagine you're an Egyptian mummy dug up and sold to a British tourist in like 1825 and you think Aha I'm going somewhere where people aren't so goddam dramatic about dead bodies but no, no no no, noooooooooo omg no.
February 6, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
Our brilliant PhD students have organised a conference - Placing the Nineteenth Century - and you’re all invited! Friday 26th June

CFP deadline: Friday 1st May

We’re all excited for our keynote speaker, @drclaireocall.bsky.social 🤩

Please share - and send us an abstract!
February 6, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
'A Queer Scrapbook' is a treasure trove of LGBTIQ+ histories from across Britain and Ireland. Packed with material, the book explores urban, rural and regional queer life since 1945.

Meet two of the editors at @queerbritain.bsky.social on March 11th, tickets here: www.outsavvy.com/event/32181/...
February 6, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
Epstein managed different networks. The UK media has rightly centred the powerful pedophile ring. It has maintained an uncanny silence about the global, anti-democratic, far right political network. Farage is up to his neck in it. If it weren’t for unprecedented double standards it’d be career over.
Dinner with Mr Brexit: Bannon’s European Revolution – Planned with Farage, Backed by Epstein
Nigel Farage was the figurehead and his partner Laure Ferrari started it. Steve Bannon and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were providing almost daily support
bylinetimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
NEW BOOK!

I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line

academic.oup.com/book/62279
Utopia
Abstract. Ideal societies, better worlds, more just and peaceful ways of living: these have long been the stuff of human beings’ social dreaming. In this c
academic.oup.com
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
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If you'd like the crib notes on Eva Gore-Booth's extraordinary life, EPIC have a post on her here: blog.epicchq.com/eva-gore-boo... and you can read her full biography next month when @sonjatiernan.bsky.social's excellent book is republished by @manchesterup.bsky.social
February 4, 2026 at 6:56 PM
POV I'm stuck in a Philip K Dick short story
February 5, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
Full time AHRC doctoral studentships now available in Arts & Humanities at University of Hertfordshire for October 2026 start - please do share widely!! This includes both History & Heritage Studies among other subjects 🌟😀 www.herts.ac.uk/research/res...
AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award studentships
The AHRC Doctoral Landscape Award is a major new funding scheme from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Its aim is to grow the UK’s capacity for doctoral research in the arts and humanit...
www.herts.ac.uk
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
A PhD opportunity at CCCU in History/Archaeology/Heritage. Preference is for a modernist, but proposals in other areas will be considered. Dr @davehitchcock.bsky.social is the point of contact. www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/f... #skystorians #medievalsky #archaeology
CCCU History and Archaeology PhD Scholarship
Find out about the CCCU History and Archaeology PhD Scholarship which will support a student looking to explore a modern historical topic.
www.canterbury.ac.uk
February 2, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by James Kneale
going to talk by Emily Gee about her book Hostel House and Chambers: Accommodating the Victoriana nd edwardian Workling Woman on Thursday at London Archives, 6-8pm. Se. some #ArchitecturalHistory and #housing people there maybe. Book is of interest to feminism, suffrage and modernism researchers too
February 4, 2026 at 11:35 AM
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We didn’t have Magdalene Laundries in the UK. But we DID lock away young women–for life–as well as many boys, too. I’ve just recorded this episode of Travels Through Time with host Peter Moore, on my work on the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913
travelsthroughtime.podbean.com/e/sarah-wise...
Sarah Wise: The Undesirables (1947) | Travels Through Time
Our guest today is Sarah Wise, an author known for her incisive social studies of nineteenth century history. In this episode Wise takes us back to a more recent year, 1947, so she can investigate the...
travelsthroughtime.podbean.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by James Kneale
For anyone interested in our 18-month post in British Studies please follow the link below. @ihr.bsky.social

www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Jacob Price Fellowship in British Studies (18 month FTC):London Senate House - Hybrid
The University of London is both the UK’s largest provider of international distance and online learning and the convenor of a federation of 17 renowned higher education institutions.
www.jobs.london.ac.uk
February 4, 2026 at 6:59 PM