Jim Ambuske
@jimambuske.bsky.social
Historian of the American Revolution | Director of Digital History at More Perfect | Narrator of Worlds Turned Upside Down | Scotland Enthusiast | Views my own.
www.jimambuske.com
www.jimambuske.com
Stole an hour today to visit colonial NYC:
1. Stone marking SW bastion of Fort Amsterdam/George
2. Iron fence that guarded George III statue on Bowling Green
3. Alexander Hamilton Customs House, where Ft. Amsterdam/George stood
4. Pearl Street, where Catalina Trico & husband Joris once lived
1. Stone marking SW bastion of Fort Amsterdam/George
2. Iron fence that guarded George III statue on Bowling Green
3. Alexander Hamilton Customs House, where Ft. Amsterdam/George stood
4. Pearl Street, where Catalina Trico & husband Joris once lived
February 17, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Stole an hour today to visit colonial NYC:
1. Stone marking SW bastion of Fort Amsterdam/George
2. Iron fence that guarded George III statue on Bowling Green
3. Alexander Hamilton Customs House, where Ft. Amsterdam/George stood
4. Pearl Street, where Catalina Trico & husband Joris once lived
1. Stone marking SW bastion of Fort Amsterdam/George
2. Iron fence that guarded George III statue on Bowling Green
3. Alexander Hamilton Customs House, where Ft. Amsterdam/George stood
4. Pearl Street, where Catalina Trico & husband Joris once lived
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Happy #pubday to "The Global Age of Revolutions: A History from 1650 to Today," edited @bryanbanksphd.bsky.social and @cindyermus.bsky.social!
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
February 17, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Happy #pubday to "The Global Age of Revolutions: A History from 1650 to Today," edited @bryanbanksphd.bsky.social and @cindyermus.bsky.social!
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
Redrawing the map and resetting the clock of the Age of Revolutions
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10176/
@ageofrevolutions.bsky.social #skystorians
Congratuations to the @incitecolumbia.bsky.social and my buddy Evan McCormick on the launch of the Obama Presidency Oral History project.
Hell of a great new collection for historians, teachers, students, and beyond!
Hell of a great new collection for historians, teachers, students, and beyond!
Today, we're launching the Obama Presidency Oral History—a comprehensive record of the Obama presidency through the voices of officials, artists, organizers and people from all walks of life. 462 Interviews, 1100 hours of audio and video, 6 years in the making.
obamaoralhistory.columbia.edu
obamaoralhistory.columbia.edu
Obama Presidency Oral History
The Obama Presidency as told by 450+ officials, activists, organizers, and extraordinary people from all walks of life.
obamaoralhistory.columbia.edu
February 17, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Congratuations to the @incitecolumbia.bsky.social and my buddy Evan McCormick on the launch of the Obama Presidency Oral History project.
Hell of a great new collection for historians, teachers, students, and beyond!
Hell of a great new collection for historians, teachers, students, and beyond!
It's hard to imagine a world in which Jane Austen didn't survive childhood. Or a world without her novels.
But that very nearly happened.
Learn about Jane's early brush with death & the women who shaped her literary tastes in the latest Finding Jane Austen.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
But that very nearly happened.
Learn about Jane's early brush with death & the women who shaped her literary tastes in the latest Finding Jane Austen.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
Episode Three: All the Masters Necessary
Podcast Episode · Finding Jane Austen · S1 E3 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:41 PM
It's hard to imagine a world in which Jane Austen didn't survive childhood. Or a world without her novels.
But that very nearly happened.
Learn about Jane's early brush with death & the women who shaped her literary tastes in the latest Finding Jane Austen.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
But that very nearly happened.
Learn about Jane's early brush with death & the women who shaped her literary tastes in the latest Finding Jane Austen.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
New byline in @latimes.com on what a late medieval/Renaissance map has to do with politics today.
🗃 #maps #cartography #histsci #medieval #renaissance #earlymodern
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
🗃 #maps #cartography #histsci #medieval #renaissance #earlymodern
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Contributor: What 'America' meant before 1776, and who 'Americans' are today
The label is often wielded now to exclude brown people, but these two continents have been a melting pot since long before the U.S. was founded.
www.latimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:08 AM
New byline in @latimes.com on what a late medieval/Renaissance map has to do with politics today.
🗃 #maps #cartography #histsci #medieval #renaissance #earlymodern
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
🗃 #maps #cartography #histsci #medieval #renaissance #earlymodern
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Spent part of @inpursuitusa.bsky.social launch @nyhistory.bsky.social with teachers looking at Rev-era documents, including this early 19th c. facsimile copy of the Declaration, set against the 1773 freedom petition by Peter Bestes, Sambo Freeman, Felix Holbrook,& Chester Joie from Massachusetts.
February 16, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Spent part of @inpursuitusa.bsky.social launch @nyhistory.bsky.social with teachers looking at Rev-era documents, including this early 19th c. facsimile copy of the Declaration, set against the 1773 freedom petition by Peter Bestes, Sambo Freeman, Felix Holbrook,& Chester Joie from Massachusetts.
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
The new @inpursuitusa.bsky.social project launches today for #PresidentsDay with articles on George & Martha Washington.
George W. Bush on George: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/for-...
@kawulf.bsky.social on Martha: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/befo...
🗃️
George W. Bush on George: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/for-...
@kawulf.bsky.social on Martha: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/befo...
🗃️
February 16, 2026 at 3:09 PM
The new @inpursuitusa.bsky.social project launches today for #PresidentsDay with articles on George & Martha Washington.
George W. Bush on George: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/for-...
@kawulf.bsky.social on Martha: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/befo...
🗃️
George W. Bush on George: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/for-...
@kawulf.bsky.social on Martha: www.inpursuit.org/lessons/befo...
🗃️
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Remembering Martha Washington
In a fitting piece for Presidents' Day, Brown University history professor Karin Wulf explores the life of Martha Washington. Here is a taste of her piece at In Pursuit: Did she encourage her husband’s better angels? In one respect we know she emphatically did not.…
In a fitting piece for Presidents' Day, Brown University history professor Karin Wulf explores the life of Martha Washington. Here is a taste of her piece at In Pursuit: Did she encourage her husband’s better angels? In one respect we know she emphatically did not.…
Remembering Martha Washington
In a fitting piece for Presidents' Day, Brown University history professor Karin Wulf explores the life of Martha Washington. Here is a taste of her piece at In Pursuit: Did she encourage her husband’s better angels? In one respect we know she emphatically did not. She was casually cruel about slavery and her expectations of enslaved people. Confounded when seventeen fled with the British, who were promising freedom during the revolution, she was infuriated when one of her maids fled from Philadelphia decades later and wanted her tracked down and then brought back (she never was).
thewayofimprovement.blog
February 16, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Remembering Martha Washington
In a fitting piece for Presidents' Day, Brown University history professor Karin Wulf explores the life of Martha Washington. Here is a taste of her piece at In Pursuit: Did she encourage her husband’s better angels? In one respect we know she emphatically did not.…
In a fitting piece for Presidents' Day, Brown University history professor Karin Wulf explores the life of Martha Washington. Here is a taste of her piece at In Pursuit: Did she encourage her husband’s better angels? In one respect we know she emphatically did not.…
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
A new project launched this morning -- on the history of presidents and the presidency. And First Ladies. With a pointed essay on George W(ashington) by George W (Bush) --about presidential humility. Oh, and me about Martha Washington! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/a...
From One President to Another, a Love Letter With an Edge
www.nytimes.com
February 16, 2026 at 11:19 AM
A new project launched this morning -- on the history of presidents and the presidency. And First Ladies. With a pointed essay on George W(ashington) by George W (Bush) --about presidential humility. Oh, and me about Martha Washington! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/a...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
CFP! Check it out! ageofrevolutions.com/2026/02/15/r...
Reinterpreting the Caribbean Age of Revolutions – Slave Revolts, their Non-Slave Participants and Proto-Citizenship CFP
Call for Papers: Two Parts Part One: Graduate Workshop on Early modern Caribbean and Atlantic Slavery and Emancipation We welcome graduate students working on topics related to early modern Caribbe…
ageofrevolutions.com
February 16, 2026 at 2:19 AM
CFP! Check it out! ageofrevolutions.com/2026/02/15/r...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
I’m honored that The New Yorker has published a feature on my book by @samknightwrites.bsky.social examining the monarchy’s historical entanglement with slavery — and how patterns of exploitation and institutional silence echo into the present.
Read here: www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
Read here: www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
What the Royal Family’s Links to Slavery Mean in the Age of Epstein
Just as the former Prince Andrew will always be royal, so will the trafficking of African people.
www.newyorker.com
February 16, 2026 at 11:51 AM
I’m honored that The New Yorker has published a feature on my book by @samknightwrites.bsky.social examining the monarchy’s historical entanglement with slavery — and how patterns of exploitation and institutional silence echo into the present.
Read here: www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
Read here: www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Interesting that the NYT story linked to my @smithsonianmag.bsky.social essay on Washington and the twinned legalities of genealogy -- land and wealth for GW and enslavement for people he "inherited." Shows the complexity of the project-- of this history. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what...
February 16, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Interesting that the NYT story linked to my @smithsonianmag.bsky.social essay on Washington and the twinned legalities of genealogy -- land and wealth for GW and enslavement for people he "inherited." Shows the complexity of the project-- of this history. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what...
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live!
Check out @kawulf.bsky.social's essay on Martha Washington, the first First Lady, and a plantation mistress shaped by lineages of power, revolutionary politics, and slavery.
inpursuit.substack.com/p/martha-was...
Hear Karin read her essay as well.
Check out @kawulf.bsky.social's essay on Martha Washington, the first First Lady, and a plantation mistress shaped by lineages of power, revolutionary politics, and slavery.
inpursuit.substack.com/p/martha-was...
Hear Karin read her essay as well.
February 16, 2026 at 11:31 AM
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live!
Check out @kawulf.bsky.social's essay on Martha Washington, the first First Lady, and a plantation mistress shaped by lineages of power, revolutionary politics, and slavery.
inpursuit.substack.com/p/martha-was...
Hear Karin read her essay as well.
Check out @kawulf.bsky.social's essay on Martha Washington, the first First Lady, and a plantation mistress shaped by lineages of power, revolutionary politics, and slavery.
inpursuit.substack.com/p/martha-was...
Hear Karin read her essay as well.
Today's the day!
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live. We kick off the series with former president George W. Bush on George Washington's willingness to surrender power:
inpursuit.substack.com/p/george-was...
We've also included an audio version of the essay read by Mr. Bush himself.
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live. We kick off the series with former president George W. Bush on George Washington's willingness to surrender power:
inpursuit.substack.com/p/george-was...
We've also included an audio version of the essay read by Mr. Bush himself.
February 16, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Today's the day!
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live. We kick off the series with former president George W. Bush on George Washington's willingness to surrender power:
inpursuit.substack.com/p/george-was...
We've also included an audio version of the essay read by Mr. Bush himself.
@inpursuitusa.bsky.social is now live. We kick off the series with former president George W. Bush on George Washington's willingness to surrender power:
inpursuit.substack.com/p/george-was...
We've also included an audio version of the essay read by Mr. Bush himself.
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
I’m excited to announce that I’ve started a position with @archivesfdn.bsky.social! I’m part of a new team working to bring civic education and programs to visitors to the National Archives Museum in DC and to people across the country.
February 11, 2026 at 10:07 PM
I’m excited to announce that I’ve started a position with @archivesfdn.bsky.social! I’m part of a new team working to bring civic education and programs to visitors to the National Archives Museum in DC and to people across the country.
I was delighted to join Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey
@jmmontpelier.bsky.social on Consider the Constitution to talk about Loyalists, Patriots, and the Reality of Revolution in James Madison's Virginia (and beyond).
Thanks to Katie for an excellent conversation!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
@jmmontpelier.bsky.social on Consider the Constitution to talk about Loyalists, Patriots, and the Reality of Revolution in James Madison's Virginia (and beyond).
Thanks to Katie for an excellent conversation!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Loyalists, Patriots, and the Reality of Revolution
Podcast Episode · Consider the Constitution · 02/11/2026 · 36m
podcasts.apple.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:14 PM
I was delighted to join Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey
@jmmontpelier.bsky.social on Consider the Constitution to talk about Loyalists, Patriots, and the Reality of Revolution in James Madison's Virginia (and beyond).
Thanks to Katie for an excellent conversation!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
@jmmontpelier.bsky.social on Consider the Constitution to talk about Loyalists, Patriots, and the Reality of Revolution in James Madison's Virginia (and beyond).
Thanks to Katie for an excellent conversation!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/39Kw...
YouTube: youtu.be/vCuxrBRkAn0?...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/39Kw...
YouTube: youtu.be/vCuxrBRkAn0?...
Avenging America with Julia Gaffield
Podcast Episode · Revolutions in Retrospect · 02/05/2026 · 42m
podcasts.apple.com
February 5, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/39Kw...
YouTube: youtu.be/vCuxrBRkAn0?...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/39Kw...
YouTube: youtu.be/vCuxrBRkAn0?...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Check out the latest episode of Revolutions in Retrospect featuring the excellent @juliagaffield.bsky.social and the remarkable story of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Haitian Revolutionary who swore to avenge America.
Now playing on your favorite podcast app.
Now playing on your favorite podcast app.
February 5, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Check out the latest episode of Revolutions in Retrospect featuring the excellent @juliagaffield.bsky.social and the remarkable story of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Haitian Revolutionary who swore to avenge America.
Now playing on your favorite podcast app.
Now playing on your favorite podcast app.
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Historian friends, I'm trying to organize an AHA panel that uses haunting as a way to think through issue of the dead's consent to have their memories repurposed. Do you have material that might work? If so or if you want more info, message me!
February 10, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Historian friends, I'm trying to organize an AHA panel that uses haunting as a way to think through issue of the dead's consent to have their memories repurposed. Do you have material that might work? If so or if you want more info, message me!
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
We are officially less than one week away from the launch of In Pursuit, a landmark initiative celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
Our Substack will serve as a digital home for a year-long exploration of leadership, character, and the American Experiment.
Our Substack will serve as a digital home for a year-long exploration of leadership, character, and the American Experiment.
February 10, 2026 at 2:24 PM
We are officially less than one week away from the launch of In Pursuit, a landmark initiative celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
Our Substack will serve as a digital home for a year-long exploration of leadership, character, and the American Experiment.
Our Substack will serve as a digital home for a year-long exploration of leadership, character, and the American Experiment.
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
King George, 1782:
Sorry, I'm not watching, but I just checked the score and need to ask if all of the Patriots died
February 9, 2026 at 3:10 AM
King George, 1782:
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Among many articles about corruption and graft up today at NYT and elsewhere, this on the distortion field of 2026.
The bicentennial wasn't a bastion of civic purity (the "buy-centennial") but nothing like this. The 250th is up to us to do our best with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...
The bicentennial wasn't a bastion of civic purity (the "buy-centennial") but nothing like this. The 250th is up to us to do our best with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...
For $1 Million, Donors to U.S.A. Birthday Group Offered Access to Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Among many articles about corruption and graft up today at NYT and elsewhere, this on the distortion field of 2026.
The bicentennial wasn't a bastion of civic purity (the "buy-centennial") but nothing like this. The 250th is up to us to do our best with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...
The bicentennial wasn't a bastion of civic purity (the "buy-centennial") but nothing like this. The 250th is up to us to do our best with. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
I vibe-coded a script to use the Claude API to transcribe historical documents. It seems to do a decently good job capturing what I want (the transcription, but also people, places, dates, and organizations).
GitHub - hepplerj/claude-transcribe: Transcribing historical documents with Claude
Transcribing historical documents with Claude . Contribute to hepplerj/claude-transcribe development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:51 PM
I vibe-coded a script to use the Claude API to transcribe historical documents. It seems to do a decently good job capturing what I want (the transcription, but also people, places, dates, and organizations).
Reposted by Jim Ambuske
Learned about the depressing trend of describing books as TL;DR (Too Long, Didn't Read) at a conference last weekend.
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
The Tame and the Wild — Harvard University Press
A dramatic new interpretation of the encounter between Europe and the Americas that reveals the crucial role of animals in the shaping of the modern world.When the men and women of the island of Guana...
www.hup.harvard.edu
February 6, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Learned about the depressing trend of describing books as TL;DR (Too Long, Didn't Read) at a conference last weekend.
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...
Instead, I propose LR;WI (Long Read and Worth It). What are some long books that you read recently and enjoyed? I'll start: 🗃️
www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...