Nicholas Guyatt
@nicholasguyatt.bsky.social
I teach American history at Cambridge. Views/opinions strictly personal. Content 40% political, 30% historical, 30% cat photos but ratio under constant review
Pinned
I know I have been promising this forever but the Oxford Illustrated History of the United States will finally be out in June of next year, just in time to help unite the nation around the 250th
Friends, can I ask you to spread the word that we have a THREE-YEAR postdoc in American history at Cambridge up for grabs - ANY field, but applications are due March 1 so don't delay - apply, apply, apply! networks.h-net.org/jobs/69790/u...
February 10, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Friends, can I ask you to spread the word that we have a THREE-YEAR postdoc in American history at Cambridge up for grabs - ANY field, but applications are due March 1 so don't delay - apply, apply, apply! networks.h-net.org/jobs/69790/u...
For Americans struggling to understand how Keir Starmer is on the brink of resigning, this piece by @owenjones.bsky.social offers a concise and bleak summary of how we got here www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The left warned that Starmerism would end like this. Now all of Britain faces the fallout | Owen Jones
Peter Mandelson helped Morgan McSweeney privilege Labour’s reactionary forces to sustain the PM, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:38 PM
For Americans struggling to understand how Keir Starmer is on the brink of resigning, this piece by @owenjones.bsky.social offers a concise and bleak summary of how we got here www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Times belatedly covers the huge Mandelson-Starmer scandal in the UK, but omits the crucial fact that 18 months before Starmer made Mandelson US ambassador the FT reported that he'd stayed in Epstein's NYC mansion *while Epstein was in prison for child sex abuse* www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/w...
Starmer Faces Storm of Criticism Over Ties Between Ex-Ambassador and Epstein
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:31 PM
The Times belatedly covers the huge Mandelson-Starmer scandal in the UK, but omits the crucial fact that 18 months before Starmer made Mandelson US ambassador the FT reported that he'd stayed in Epstein's NYC mansion *while Epstein was in prison for child sex abuse* www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/w...
Reposted by Nicholas Guyatt
Frost making the point that the entire cabinet backed Mandelsons appointment as ambassador
Starmer is going to be the fall guy for this (& lots more), but everyone at the top of Labour is implicated, including people who might have resigned in the meantime!
Starmer is going to be the fall guy for this (& lots more), but everyone at the top of Labour is implicated, including people who might have resigned in the meantime!
February 5, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Frost making the point that the entire cabinet backed Mandelsons appointment as ambassador
Starmer is going to be the fall guy for this (& lots more), but everyone at the top of Labour is implicated, including people who might have resigned in the meantime!
Starmer is going to be the fall guy for this (& lots more), but everyone at the top of Labour is implicated, including people who might have resigned in the meantime!
Probably no bandwidth in the US media right now for international news, even before we factor in the mass firing of journalists, but the latest Epstein document dump really might bring down the UK prime minister before the week is out
February 5, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Probably no bandwidth in the US media right now for international news, even before we factor in the mass firing of journalists, but the latest Epstein document dump really might bring down the UK prime minister before the week is out
"Keir Starmer's government will last for six more weeks!"
February 4, 2026 at 10:50 PM
"Keir Starmer's government will last for six more weeks!"
Given Epstein's sordid relationship with Trump, it seems incredible to think that this scandal may bring down the UK government before the US government www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Dark mood among Labour MPs as Keir Starmer tries to contain Mandelson scandal
The chaos of the parliamentary debate about the former Labour minister is just one sign of how quickly the mood in the party has soured this week.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Given Epstein's sordid relationship with Trump, it seems incredible to think that this scandal may bring down the UK government before the US government www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Even in the 'unipolar' years of the 1990s, US presidents were exasperated by their inability to control the United Nations; the idea of replacing the unruly Security Council with a pliant 'Board of Peace' is really a sign of US decline in the world, not of Trump's strength
January 18, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Even in the 'unipolar' years of the 1990s, US presidents were exasperated by their inability to control the United Nations; the idea of replacing the unruly Security Council with a pliant 'Board of Peace' is really a sign of US decline in the world, not of Trump's strength
A really excellent analysis of imperialism, gangsterism and regionalism under Trump 47 - and some sobering thoughts about the connections between violence abroad and the white nationalist agenda at home thedigradio.com/podcast/maga...
MAGA Empire w/ Aslı Bâli and Greg Grandin
Featuring Aslı Bâli and Greg Grandin on the MAGA model of US imperialism.
thedigradio.com
January 17, 2026 at 8:20 PM
A really excellent analysis of imperialism, gangsterism and regionalism under Trump 47 - and some sobering thoughts about the connections between violence abroad and the white nationalist agenda at home thedigradio.com/podcast/maga...
So much for the Trinity Hall reboot! www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Cambridge college to target elite private schools for student recruitment
Exclusive: Trinity Hall’s new policy described as a ‘slap in the face’ for state-educated students
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:31 PM
So much for the Trinity Hall reboot! www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Madness for the UK government to get involved in the increasingly unhinged and dangerous foreign policy of the Trump administration, but Keir Starmer seems determined to outdo Tony Blair in becoming lickspittle-in-chief to a rogue U.S. president
January 7, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Madness for the UK government to get involved in the increasingly unhinged and dangerous foreign policy of the Trump administration, but Keir Starmer seems determined to outdo Tony Blair in becoming lickspittle-in-chief to a rogue U.S. president
You probably don't have a lot of bandwidth for recreational reading about a divided America, but just on the off chance I have a piece on the Mason-Dixon Line in the latest edition of the New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Most Rancorous Line | Nicholas Guyatt
How did the Mason–Dixon Line—meant to resolve a longstanding colonial border dispute—come to represent the US’s foundational divide between slavery and freedom?
www.nybooks.com
January 6, 2026 at 7:38 PM
You probably don't have a lot of bandwidth for recreational reading about a divided America, but just on the off chance I have a piece on the Mason-Dixon Line in the latest edition of the New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Pure cowardice on the part of every European leader who refuses to call out the Trump administration for what it is: a criminal and utterly lawless extortion racket which poses a grave danger to the security of the entire world
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Pure cowardice on the part of every European leader who refuses to call out the Trump administration for what it is: a criminal and utterly lawless extortion racket which poses a grave danger to the security of the entire world
In the upside down world of the Daily Mail, If you're opposed to the US invading another country, kidnapping its president and then telling the world of its plan to "run" that country indefinitely, you're a "Maduro apologist"
January 5, 2026 at 6:49 PM
In the upside down world of the Daily Mail, If you're opposed to the US invading another country, kidnapping its president and then telling the world of its plan to "run" that country indefinitely, you're a "Maduro apologist"
Reposted by Nicholas Guyatt
that is what Bush said about Iraq - $7 trillion mistake
DID HE JUST SAY THE OIL WILL PAY FOR THE OCCUPATION
January 3, 2026 at 5:36 PM
that is what Bush said about Iraq - $7 trillion mistake
A gangster regime, with cheap dialogue to match
January 3, 2026 at 5:33 PM
A gangster regime, with cheap dialogue to match
So many lies in Trump's rambling speech, but his easy segue from the illegal use of the military overseas to the illegal use of the military in US cities is really chilling
January 3, 2026 at 5:02 PM
So many lies in Trump's rambling speech, but his easy segue from the illegal use of the military overseas to the illegal use of the military in US cities is really chilling
Hard not to wonder whether Trump has been using his recent hours-long phone calls with Putin to barter over Venezuela and eastern Ukraine; would be entirely on-brand for Trump to tell the Russian president about his invasion plan long before anyone in Congress gets the memo
January 3, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Hard not to wonder whether Trump has been using his recent hours-long phone calls with Putin to barter over Venezuela and eastern Ukraine; would be entirely on-brand for Trump to tell the Russian president about his invasion plan long before anyone in Congress gets the memo
Feels as if there's a real gap in the market right now for a peace prize for people who actually promote peace
January 3, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Feels as if there's a real gap in the market right now for a peace prize for people who actually promote peace
The media reaction to Trump's plainly illegal invasion/abduction this morning has been mostly shock, but Venezuelan opposition figures with "close ties to the US security establishment" have been boasting about this outcome for months (this from the FT in October)
January 3, 2026 at 1:20 PM
The media reaction to Trump's plainly illegal invasion/abduction this morning has been mostly shock, but Venezuelan opposition figures with "close ties to the US security establishment" have been boasting about this outcome for months (this from the FT in October)
Happy new year, everyone! Seeing in the new year by burying our 2025 lemon pig with full honours, helluva year to be a lemon pig
January 1, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Happy new year, everyone! Seeing in the new year by burying our 2025 lemon pig with full honours, helluva year to be a lemon pig
Since the "tech prosperity deal" was engineered to give Sam Altman, Satya Nadella and Jensen Huang even more encouragement to build AI data centres and produce yet more AI slop, the UK may have dodged a bullet here
The US has suspended implementation of a technology deal it struck with the UK during Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain, amid growing frustrations in Washington over the progress of trade talks with London ft.trib.al/lOOAInf
December 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Since the "tech prosperity deal" was engineered to give Sam Altman, Satya Nadella and Jensen Huang even more encouragement to build AI data centres and produce yet more AI slop, the UK may have dodged a bullet here
The madness of our civilisation, in which the super-rich are throwing money at AI which the rest of us don't want, and are meeting the ridiculous power demands of data centres mostly by burning gas and cooking our planet
December 16, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The madness of our civilisation, in which the super-rich are throwing money at AI which the rest of us don't want, and are meeting the ridiculous power demands of data centres mostly by burning gas and cooking our planet
I have a perverse admiration for the way in which Gianni Infantino has made FIFA an even more despicable organisation than it was during Sepp Blatter's constantly-disgraced tenure www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
World Cup ticket prices: Fifa's prices a 'monumental betrayal' says Football Supporters Europe
Fans' group Football Supporters Europe says it is
www.bbc.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I have a perverse admiration for the way in which Gianni Infantino has made FIFA an even more despicable organisation than it was during Sepp Blatter's constantly-disgraced tenure www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
I know I have been promising this forever but the Oxford Illustrated History of the United States will finally be out in June of next year, just in time to help unite the nation around the 250th
December 10, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I know I have been promising this forever but the Oxford Illustrated History of the United States will finally be out in June of next year, just in time to help unite the nation around the 250th