Jonathan Boff
@jfb1066.bsky.social
Military Historian. Writing a book on Economic Statecraft and Money as a Weapon of War (OUP, 2026). Strategy. Author of 2 award-winning books on the First World War. Professor at University of Birmingham.
Looks a bit Satanic
@theironroom.bsky.social The City of a Thousand Trades - hints of Soviet realism on the cover of this c.1935 booklet issued by the Corporation of Birmingham. What could be more appropriate for your #CityOf1000Trades #birmingham #1930s #graphicdesign
↘️ flic.kr/p/5S8XEU
↘️ flic.kr/p/5S8XEU
January 24, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Looks a bit Satanic
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
Plus @ldfreedman.bsky.social on the Greenland crisis and what it means for the future of the transatlantic alliance.
samf.substack.com/p/to-greenla...
samf.substack.com/p/to-greenla...
To Greenland and Back
Does NATO carry on as before?
samf.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Plus @ldfreedman.bsky.social on the Greenland crisis and what it means for the future of the transatlantic alliance.
samf.substack.com/p/to-greenla...
samf.substack.com/p/to-greenla...
Anyone thinking the 1970s were cool - or indeed anything other than the ghastly hellscape I remember - is welcome to watch Brotherhood of Man on BBC Top of the Pops 1976 and then come and explain to me why I’m wrong.
January 23, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Anyone thinking the 1970s were cool - or indeed anything other than the ghastly hellscape I remember - is welcome to watch Brotherhood of Man on BBC Top of the Pops 1976 and then come and explain to me why I’m wrong.
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
This is not a fight with Trump, which I agree is pointless. This is about domestic British politics and is an approach I suggested Starmer take way back in May 2025: theconversation.com/can-keir-sta...
January 23, 2026 at 6:37 PM
This is not a fight with Trump, which I agree is pointless. This is about domestic British politics and is an approach I suggested Starmer take way back in May 2025: theconversation.com/can-keir-sta...
This is not a fight I’d be bothering to have with Trump right now, if I were Starmer.
The comments were idiotic and insulting but so are most of the things that spew from that mouth.
Starmer needs to save his ammo to stand up to DJT over things that matter, not rhetoric.
The comments were idiotic and insulting but so are most of the things that spew from that mouth.
Starmer needs to save his ammo to stand up to DJT over things that matter, not rhetoric.
BBC News - www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
Starmer calls Trump's remarks about Nato troops in Afghanistan 'insulting and frankly appalling' - BBC News
Starmer calls Trump's remarks about Nato troops in Afghanistan 'insulting and frankly appalling' - BBC News
Starmer calls Trump's remarks about Nato troops in Afghanistan 'insulting and frankly appalling'
Veterans and bereaved families call the comments
www.bbc.co.uk
January 23, 2026 at 5:38 PM
This is not a fight I’d be bothering to have with Trump right now, if I were Starmer.
The comments were idiotic and insulting but so are most of the things that spew from that mouth.
Starmer needs to save his ammo to stand up to DJT over things that matter, not rhetoric.
The comments were idiotic and insulting but so are most of the things that spew from that mouth.
Starmer needs to save his ammo to stand up to DJT over things that matter, not rhetoric.
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
I wrote something about 1920s Britain for the programme for @the-rsc.bsky.social wonderful version of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.
The play's run has ended now, but you can read my essay here.
#20s30s
The play's run has ended now, but you can read my essay here.
#20s30s
January 23, 2026 at 1:39 PM
I wrote something about 1920s Britain for the programme for @the-rsc.bsky.social wonderful version of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga.
The play's run has ended now, but you can read my essay here.
#20s30s
The play's run has ended now, but you can read my essay here.
#20s30s
Here’s a prediction: those of us not killed by AI in the shape of self-driving cars will be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust because some general will tell a button-presser he has to push it now or the enemy’s AI will do it first.
#happytalk
#happytalk
January 23, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Here’s a prediction: those of us not killed by AI in the shape of self-driving cars will be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust because some general will tell a button-presser he has to push it now or the enemy’s AI will do it first.
#happytalk
#happytalk
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
For reasons unknown, my first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, is on sale for £28.99 on Amazon UK - a 62% reduction in price! It would be rude not to at that discount! H/T to @jfb1066.bsky.social www.amazon.co.uk/British-Gran...
Amazon.co.uk
www.amazon.co.uk
January 23, 2026 at 8:10 AM
For reasons unknown, my first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, is on sale for £28.99 on Amazon UK - a 62% reduction in price! It would be rude not to at that discount! H/T to @jfb1066.bsky.social www.amazon.co.uk/British-Gran...
Still waiting for Tony Blair to resign
Donald Trump withdraws Mark Carney’s invitation to join Board of Peace ft.trib.al/Eg3gT0n
Donald Trump withdraws Mark Carney’s invitation to join Board of Peace
Move comes after Canadian prime minister took aim at US president in Davos speech
ft.trib.al
January 23, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Still waiting for Tony Blair to resign
‘English Socialists are often flatly incredulous when told that Lenin, for instance, was devoted to shooting.’
Orwell, essay on Dickens.
(Pretty sure he means shooting animals, not bourgeois counter-revolutionaries, although Lenin quite liked that, too)
Orwell, essay on Dickens.
(Pretty sure he means shooting animals, not bourgeois counter-revolutionaries, although Lenin quite liked that, too)
January 22, 2026 at 3:06 PM
‘English Socialists are often flatly incredulous when told that Lenin, for instance, was devoted to shooting.’
Orwell, essay on Dickens.
(Pretty sure he means shooting animals, not bourgeois counter-revolutionaries, although Lenin quite liked that, too)
Orwell, essay on Dickens.
(Pretty sure he means shooting animals, not bourgeois counter-revolutionaries, although Lenin quite liked that, too)
@curatorian.bsky.social here’s one for whenever Ladybird Appreciation Day is
January 22, 2026 at 2:11 PM
@curatorian.bsky.social here’s one for whenever Ladybird Appreciation Day is
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
Enjoyed talking about this project with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social this week, have a listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/framing-the-... @draefox.bsky.social @mpmfinch.bsky.social @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
January 22, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Enjoyed talking about this project with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social this week, have a listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/framing-the-... @draefox.bsky.social @mpmfinch.bsky.social @univpressofkansas.bsky.social
In fact, @curatorian.bsky.social I did post this yesterday (although I confess I didn’t know it was PAD (as we Penguin Appreciators call it) until you told me
January 21, 2026 at 6:05 PM
In fact, @curatorian.bsky.social I did post this yesterday (although I confess I didn’t know it was PAD (as we Penguin Appreciators call it) until you told me
Germany lost the First World War because it declared war on its largest trading partners.
January 21, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Germany lost the First World War because it declared war on its largest trading partners.
What’s he got against windmills?
Holland has lots of windmills and I bet he like tulips and little boys with their fingers in dikes.
Holland has lots of windmills and I bet he like tulips and little boys with their fingers in dikes.
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 5:03 PM
What’s he got against windmills?
Holland has lots of windmills and I bet he like tulips and little boys with their fingers in dikes.
Holland has lots of windmills and I bet he like tulips and little boys with their fingers in dikes.
If Wall Street had really been worried that Trump might be about to use force in Greenland and isn’t any more, the S&P would have been down by a lot more than it was yesterday and would be up by a lot more today
January 21, 2026 at 3:16 PM
If Wall Street had really been worried that Trump might be about to use force in Greenland and isn’t any more, the S&P would have been down by a lot more than it was yesterday and would be up by a lot more today
Reposted by Jonathan Boff
The stupidity is annoying but it’s the lack of historical understanding that I find especially inexcusable.
The USA’s successes have all come with allies, nor despite them.
Even Reagan’s victory in the Cold War during the 80s was not a US success alone but built on the strength of its alliances
The USA’s successes have all come with allies, nor despite them.
Even Reagan’s victory in the Cold War during the 80s was not a US success alone but built on the strength of its alliances
January 20, 2026 at 9:45 PM
The stupidity is annoying but it’s the lack of historical understanding that I find especially inexcusable.
The USA’s successes have all come with allies, nor despite them.
Even Reagan’s victory in the Cold War during the 80s was not a US success alone but built on the strength of its alliances
The USA’s successes have all come with allies, nor despite them.
Even Reagan’s victory in the Cold War during the 80s was not a US success alone but built on the strength of its alliances
If there were any security logic to the USA ‘needing’ Greenland, would not the same logic apply to Canada and mean that’s next in his fevered brain?
January 20, 2026 at 5:34 PM
If there were any security logic to the USA ‘needing’ Greenland, would not the same logic apply to Canada and mean that’s next in his fevered brain?
I agree that mercantilism is dumb and risks conflict.
But let’s get the history right.
The mercantilism of 1689-1815 was not the cause of the wars.
Wars in the c18th century were primarily about dynastic rights (all those Wars of Succession) and governance (wars of revolution), not economics
But let’s get the history right.
The mercantilism of 1689-1815 was not the cause of the wars.
Wars in the c18th century were primarily about dynastic rights (all those Wars of Succession) and governance (wars of revolution), not economics
The dangerous triumph of neo-mercantilism ft.trib.al/Y5udOfl | opinion
The dangerous triumph of neo-mercantilism
Liberal trade policies are giving way to frictions that could lead to outright conflict
ft.trib.al
January 19, 2026 at 10:42 AM
I agree that mercantilism is dumb and risks conflict.
But let’s get the history right.
The mercantilism of 1689-1815 was not the cause of the wars.
Wars in the c18th century were primarily about dynastic rights (all those Wars of Succession) and governance (wars of revolution), not economics
But let’s get the history right.
The mercantilism of 1689-1815 was not the cause of the wars.
Wars in the c18th century were primarily about dynastic rights (all those Wars of Succession) and governance (wars of revolution), not economics
Time to stop doom-scrolling and try to concentrate on my work for at least the next 5 minutes
January 19, 2026 at 10:05 AM
Time to stop doom-scrolling and try to concentrate on my work for at least the next 5 minutes
Your cryptic crossword clue of the day:
Popular MP from Newark (anag., 6)
Popular MP from Newark (anag., 6)
January 17, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Your cryptic crossword clue of the day:
Popular MP from Newark (anag., 6)
Popular MP from Newark (anag., 6)