Kit Kowol
@kitkowol.bsky.social
Recovering academic turned parliamentary clerk.
Author of Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill and the Second World War.
Brisbane, Australia.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blue-jerusalem-9780198868491?cc=us&lang=en&
Author of Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill and the Second World War.
Brisbane, Australia.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/blue-jerusalem-9780198868491?cc=us&lang=en&
NAAFI apparently ran holiday camps for servicemen and their families between 1950 and 1980 - like an (even) more militarised version of bulletins I guess. Anyone here ever heard of stayed in one?
November 4, 2025 at 10:14 PM
NAAFI apparently ran holiday camps for servicemen and their families between 1950 and 1980 - like an (even) more militarised version of bulletins I guess. Anyone here ever heard of stayed in one?
Had great fun writing this. How a spiritualist vegetarian who believed he had found the Holy Grail convinced Churchill and 5 million Brits to pray for peace and freedom during WWII.
gethistory.co.uk/articles/20t...
gethistory.co.uk/articles/20t...
The Silent Minute
What do you do when your army has retreated, your ally has capitulated, and you face invasion? You pray.
gethistory.co.uk
October 7, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Had great fun writing this. How a spiritualist vegetarian who believed he had found the Holy Grail convinced Churchill and 5 million Brits to pray for peace and freedom during WWII.
gethistory.co.uk/articles/20t...
gethistory.co.uk/articles/20t...
I see that my book made it into
@adamtooze.bsky.social “Chartbook”.
If you like long discussions of the political ramifications of British wartime food policy it’s the book for you!
@adamtooze.bsky.social “Chartbook”.
If you like long discussions of the political ramifications of British wartime food policy it’s the book for you!
June 12, 2025 at 10:12 AM
I see that my book made it into
@adamtooze.bsky.social “Chartbook”.
If you like long discussions of the political ramifications of British wartime food policy it’s the book for you!
@adamtooze.bsky.social “Chartbook”.
If you like long discussions of the political ramifications of British wartime food policy it’s the book for you!
Reposted by Kit Kowol
The speaker line-up is out! Come see @kitkowol.bsky.social speak about his @oxfordacademic.bsky.social book “Blue Jerusalem” at We Have Ways Fest this September. wehavewaysfest.co.uk/line-up/
SPEAKERS
We Have Ways Fest is the UK’s number one, Second World War festival. Tanks, talks and tankards … experts, enthusiasts, authors, historians. Blackpit Farm, 8th – 10th September. WN…
wehavewaysfest.co.uk
June 2, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The speaker line-up is out! Come see @kitkowol.bsky.social speak about his @oxfordacademic.bsky.social book “Blue Jerusalem” at We Have Ways Fest this September. wehavewaysfest.co.uk/line-up/
Reposted by Kit Kowol
Brexit ideology was shaped in the 1990s, when great power conflict was largely over, European security was no longer at issue & the US underpinned a global free-trading system.
It was applied in a world more like the '70s, defined by great power conflict, resurgent protectionism & an unreliable US.
It was applied in a world more like the '70s, defined by great power conflict, resurgent protectionism & an unreliable US.
@anandmenon.bsky.social has a point here. I used to think that Covid actually helped the Brexiteers as Brexit consequences got hidden in pandemic consequences. But in hindsight, Brexit really was terribly timed.
Article: on.ft.com/4mvoRtW
Article: on.ft.com/4mvoRtW
May 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Brexit ideology was shaped in the 1990s, when great power conflict was largely over, European security was no longer at issue & the US underpinned a global free-trading system.
It was applied in a world more like the '70s, defined by great power conflict, resurgent protectionism & an unreliable US.
It was applied in a world more like the '70s, defined by great power conflict, resurgent protectionism & an unreliable US.
Reposted by Kit Kowol
“Absorbing and original”
Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews @kitkowol.bsky.social’s “Blue Jerusalem” for @lrb.co.uk @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews @kitkowol.bsky.social’s “Blue Jerusalem” for @lrb.co.uk @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Geoffrey Wheatcroft · New Deal at Dunkirk: Wartime Tories
Even if they had been appeasers, most Conservatives accepted the patriotic necessity of the war, but had many different...
www.lrb.co.uk
May 19, 2025 at 9:21 AM
“Absorbing and original”
Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews @kitkowol.bsky.social’s “Blue Jerusalem” for @lrb.co.uk @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Geoffrey Wheatcroft reviews @kitkowol.bsky.social’s “Blue Jerusalem” for @lrb.co.uk @oxfordacademic.bsky.social
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Knowing I was being reviewed in the @lrb.co.uk may have given me a few sleepless nights…
So chuffed to see the book described as“absorbing and original”!
So chuffed to see the book described as“absorbing and original”!
Very good to see @kitkowol.bsky.social brilliant book reviewed in the LRB! New Deal at Dunkirk www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Geoffrey Wheatcroft · New Deal at Dunkirk: Wartime Tories
Even if they had been appeasers, most Conservatives accepted the patriotic necessity of the war, but had many different...
www.lrb.co.uk
May 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Knowing I was being reviewed in the @lrb.co.uk may have given me a few sleepless nights…
So chuffed to see the book described as“absorbing and original”!
So chuffed to see the book described as“absorbing and original”!
80 years ago a bus strike meant many people had to walk to central London for #VEDay. A potent marker of how Churchill had fought a Tory War but the peace would belong to Labour.
Read more in my book:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Read more in my book:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM
80 years ago a bus strike meant many people had to walk to central London for #VEDay. A potent marker of how Churchill had fought a Tory War but the peace would belong to Labour.
Read more in my book:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Read more in my book:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Reposted by Kit Kowol
Maybe we're asking the wrong questions about gender part #3578
I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy telling him it’s not true he has become more right-wing… it is me who has become more left-wing 🫠
March 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Maybe we're asking the wrong questions about gender part #3578
Reposted by Kit Kowol
The indefatigable Patrick Porter and I have a piece in The Critic on flaws in the Chagos deal, progressive realism, and how a superior version of the latter - that could yet dodge the pitfalls of the former - is still there for the taking. thecritic.co.uk/has-the-chag...
Has the Chagos Islands deal killed progressive realism? | David Blagden and Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine
Whatever happened to progressive realism? As you may recall, that was the foreign policy doctrine declared by the incoming Labour government’s foreign secretary, David Lammy. The short answer is that…
thecritic.co.uk
February 17, 2025 at 11:56 AM
The indefatigable Patrick Porter and I have a piece in The Critic on flaws in the Chagos deal, progressive realism, and how a superior version of the latter - that could yet dodge the pitfalls of the former - is still there for the taking. thecritic.co.uk/has-the-chag...
Does anyone know if it is possible to look at back issues of the now defunct “Right Now!” magazine - @evansmithhist.bsky.social I wonder?
February 15, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Does anyone know if it is possible to look at back issues of the now defunct “Right Now!” magazine - @evansmithhist.bsky.social I wonder?
Reposted by Kit Kowol
Probably not the most popular first foray on here, but - under the urgings of people I respect - here's something done elsewhere...
The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal
🧵
The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal
🧵
February 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Probably not the most popular first foray on here, but - under the urgings of people I respect - here's something done elsewhere...
The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal
🧵
The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal
🧵
100% the content / shade I am here for.
During WW2 the US army needed over 750,000 typewriters to keep things functioning across all theatres.
The need was so great they requisitioned civilian typewriters and created a national shortage. Typewriter repair units were seen as critical army personel.
I'll do a thread on it at some point.
The need was so great they requisitioned civilian typewriters and created a national shortage. Typewriter repair units were seen as critical army personel.
I'll do a thread on it at some point.
Bureaucracy, famously not important in war
February 12, 2025 at 4:54 AM
100% the content / shade I am here for.
For all the talk of a deal with the UK, Tories need to recover their skepticism about America.
As imperialists in WW2 like Beaverbrook and Amery knew America seeks its own “economic lebensraum” at the expense of others they are not “friends”.
As imperialists in WW2 like Beaverbrook and Amery knew America seeks its own “economic lebensraum” at the expense of others they are not “friends”.
February 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
For all the talk of a deal with the UK, Tories need to recover their skepticism about America.
As imperialists in WW2 like Beaverbrook and Amery knew America seeks its own “economic lebensraum” at the expense of others they are not “friends”.
As imperialists in WW2 like Beaverbrook and Amery knew America seeks its own “economic lebensraum” at the expense of others they are not “friends”.
Reposted by Kit Kowol
And the book exists online! Available in July this year manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526140128/
Manchester University Press - Unhappy mothers
Unhappy mothers - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of Unhappy mothers by Sarah Crook
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
January 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
And the book exists online! Available in July this year manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526140128/
Now all Boston needs is a giant milk explosion and they will be halfway to making a decent cup of tea.
Today in 1919 a 90-foot wide cast iron tank with 2.5 million gallons of crude molasses exploded in Boston.
A 15 ft wall of viscous molasses roared through the streets at 35mph killing 21 and injuring 150.
A 15 ft wall of viscous molasses roared through the streets at 35mph killing 21 and injuring 150.
January 16, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Now all Boston needs is a giant milk explosion and they will be halfway to making a decent cup of tea.
Reposted by Kit Kowol
Well worth a read - it's free and to-the-point - of you want to get an insight into the prosaic social democratic historical 'vision' (dread word) of Keir Starmer.
My piece for the new @renewaljournal.bsky.social on how Labour talks about its history, how it's kind of remarkably unremarkable, and what that says about the party's ideological orientation. A qualified defence of Plain Old Labour.
journals.lwbooks.co.uk/renewal/vol-...
journals.lwbooks.co.uk/renewal/vol-...
Plain Old Labour - Lawrence Wishart
Keir Starmer�s Labour has a strikingly simple perspective on the party�s history: of a series of good Labour governments affecti
journals.lwbooks.co.uk
January 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Well worth a read - it's free and to-the-point - of you want to get an insight into the prosaic social democratic historical 'vision' (dread word) of Keir Starmer.
Honoured to be reviewed by Richard Evans (and to be called a young historian!). I’m glad he found it enjoyable and that it “provides a stimulating and thought-provoking reassessment of Tory thinking in the war years.”
Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)
Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)
Richard J Evans asks: Did the Tories create modern Britain?
A revisionist history claims the postwar consensus was shaped by Conservative visions.
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
A revisionist history claims the postwar consensus was shaped by Conservative visions.
www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
Did the Tories create modern Britain?
A revisionist history claims the postwar consensus was shaped by Conservative visions.
www.newstatesman.com
January 9, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Honoured to be reviewed by Richard Evans (and to be called a young historian!). I’m glad he found it enjoyable and that it “provides a stimulating and thought-provoking reassessment of Tory thinking in the war years.”
Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)
Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)
Had a great chat on the New Books Network podcast about Blue Jerusalem talking everything 1945 General Election, appeasement, Lord Beaverbrook, conservative realism, liberal militarism and why WWII was as much the “Tories war” as a “People’s War” podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/n...
Kit Kowol,
Podcast Episode · New Books in Military History · 28/12/2024 · 40m
podcasts.apple.com
December 29, 2024 at 2:04 AM
Had a great chat on the New Books Network podcast about Blue Jerusalem talking everything 1945 General Election, appeasement, Lord Beaverbrook, conservative realism, liberal militarism and why WWII was as much the “Tories war” as a “People’s War” podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/n...
Another session battling the hedge while listening to We Have Ways pod and another shoutout from @almurray.bsky.social for Blue Jerusalem. I should garden more often!
December 21, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Another session battling the hedge while listening to We Have Ways pod and another shoutout from @almurray.bsky.social for Blue Jerusalem. I should garden more often!
Reposted by Kit Kowol
Come to my book launch! Its on 28 February at the University of Liverpool with a fantastic all star line up featuring Patrick Joyce, Abi O'Connor (@abioconnor_ ), Janaya Pickett and Elsa Devienne. Free wine and discussion! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-...
December 9, 2024 at 11:15 AM
Come to my book launch! Its on 28 February at the University of Liverpool with a fantastic all star line up featuring Patrick Joyce, Abi O'Connor (@abioconnor_ ), Janaya Pickett and Elsa Devienne. Free wine and discussion! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-...
Reposted by Kit Kowol
I did not have the space to include it, but @kitkowol.bsky.social's Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War shows that British Conservatives had ideas about what post-Second World War Britain should look like, and they were spectacular. A call to action.
December 9, 2024 at 2:45 PM
I did not have the space to include it, but @kitkowol.bsky.social's Blue Jerusalem: British Conservatism, Winston Churchill, and the Second World War shows that British Conservatives had ideas about what post-Second World War Britain should look like, and they were spectacular. A call to action.
This is a smashing set of articles and it’s great to be among the writers. Many thanks to @pjsloman.bsky.social and @colmpm.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute.
It's gratifying to see the first few articles of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's forthcoming special collection on the 2024 general election trickle out online - and in open access form!
Available to read right now are... 🧵
Available to read right now are... 🧵
December 8, 2024 at 11:30 AM
This is a smashing set of articles and it’s great to be among the writers. Many thanks to @pjsloman.bsky.social and @colmpm.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute.
Reposted by Kit Kowol
It's gratifying to see the first few articles of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's forthcoming special collection on the 2024 general election trickle out online - and in open access form!
Available to read right now are... 🧵
Available to read right now are... 🧵
November 24, 2024 at 1:06 PM
It's gratifying to see the first few articles of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's forthcoming special collection on the 2024 general election trickle out online - and in open access form!
Available to read right now are... 🧵
Available to read right now are... 🧵