Tim Leach
@timleachwriter.bsky.social
Writer of historical fiction, Associate Professor at University of Warwick.
Website: https://www.tim-leach.co.uk/
Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Tim-Leach/author/B07GRBS3VD.
Website: https://www.tim-leach.co.uk/
Books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Tim-Leach/author/B07GRBS3VD.
One of my very favourite TV show jokes.
January 7, 2026 at 8:27 AM
One of my very favourite TV show jokes.
Reposted by Tim Leach
THUCYDIDES: In my book I described the Sicilian Expedition where you invade a basically random and sort of distant country to try to loot it as a cautionary tale
DIPSHITS: At long last, we have done the Sicilian Expedition from the classic of military history Don't Do The Sicilian Expedition
DIPSHITS: At long last, we have done the Sicilian Expedition from the classic of military history Don't Do The Sicilian Expedition
THUCYDIDES: In my book I invented the Melian Dialogue as a cautionary tale
DIPSHITS TALKING ABOUT IR WHO WANT TO SOUND SMART: At long last, we have done the Melian Dialogue from the classic book Don't Do the Melian Dialogue
DIPSHITS TALKING ABOUT IR WHO WANT TO SOUND SMART: At long last, we have done the Melian Dialogue from the classic book Don't Do the Melian Dialogue
The Melian Dialogue has a similar role to the Clausewitz quote about “politics by other means” - it exists to give a bit of frisson and even sexual pleasure to morons who have never read those quotes in context but who are still desperate to sound smart.
January 7, 2026 at 5:05 AM
THUCYDIDES: In my book I described the Sicilian Expedition where you invade a basically random and sort of distant country to try to loot it as a cautionary tale
DIPSHITS: At long last, we have done the Sicilian Expedition from the classic of military history Don't Do The Sicilian Expedition
DIPSHITS: At long last, we have done the Sicilian Expedition from the classic of military history Don't Do The Sicilian Expedition
Reposted by Tim Leach
Flight Attendant: “IS THERE A DOCTOR ON BOARD?!"
Me: [raises hand] “I have a doctorate in Philosophy."
Flight Attendant: “THE PILOT IS GOING TO DIE!"
Me [soothingly]: “We're all going to die.”
Me: [raises hand] “I have a doctorate in Philosophy."
Flight Attendant: “THE PILOT IS GOING TO DIE!"
Me [soothingly]: “We're all going to die.”
January 7, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Flight Attendant: “IS THERE A DOCTOR ON BOARD?!"
Me: [raises hand] “I have a doctorate in Philosophy."
Flight Attendant: “THE PILOT IS GOING TO DIE!"
Me [soothingly]: “We're all going to die.”
Me: [raises hand] “I have a doctorate in Philosophy."
Flight Attendant: “THE PILOT IS GOING TO DIE!"
Me [soothingly]: “We're all going to die.”
And here's the thread for video games in 2025...
I really enjoyed tracking books last year, so here's the thread for TV shows...
A thread of books read in 2026...
January 6, 2026 at 5:57 PM
And here's the thread for video games in 2025...
Not convinced it's a government particularly lacking in emotion. It's just that the main emotion that they are manifesting is an unbridled terror of making a decision.
At political cabinet today, Morgan McSweeney gave a presentation on “three Es” on how the government can connect with voters - emotion, empathy and evidence.
Am told he said the government currently has a “deficit in emotion”
Am told he said the government currently has a “deficit in emotion”
January 6, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Not convinced it's a government particularly lacking in emotion. It's just that the main emotion that they are manifesting is an unbridled terror of making a decision.
Reposted by Tim Leach
I've been struck by that: for all Miller's stamping his foot and Dort doing tough guy posturing and various Sephiroth speeches they're giving - they're not actually explaining why this is a good thing to do even by their own cynical light. The mere exercise of dominion is taken to be self-ratifying.
January 6, 2026 at 10:37 AM
I've been struck by that: for all Miller's stamping his foot and Dort doing tough guy posturing and various Sephiroth speeches they're giving - they're not actually explaining why this is a good thing to do even by their own cynical light. The mere exercise of dominion is taken to be self-ratifying.
Microblogging sites like Bluesky are particularly vulnerable to this, due to character limits etc. So there's always space to furiously misinterpret things, if that's your intention.
January 6, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Microblogging sites like Bluesky are particularly vulnerable to this, due to character limits etc. So there's always space to furiously misinterpret things, if that's your intention.
Reposted by Tim Leach
Reposted by Tim Leach
Good luck to all those who are querying or trying to publish in 2026.
It's so important to write and read, especially in the wake of a lot of anti-intellectual movements.
PLEASE keep being creative
It's so important to write and read, especially in the wake of a lot of anti-intellectual movements.
PLEASE keep being creative
January 5, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Good luck to all those who are querying or trying to publish in 2026.
It's so important to write and read, especially in the wake of a lot of anti-intellectual movements.
PLEASE keep being creative
It's so important to write and read, especially in the wake of a lot of anti-intellectual movements.
PLEASE keep being creative
Reposted by Tim Leach
If this was a twist in a murder mystery you'd be like "oh fuck off that's not a thing"
January 5, 2026 at 11:07 AM
If this was a twist in a murder mystery you'd be like "oh fuck off that's not a thing"
I really enjoyed tracking books last year, so here's the thread for TV shows...
A thread of books read in 2026...
January 4, 2026 at 11:01 AM
I really enjoyed tracking books last year, so here's the thread for TV shows...
One of my favourite low-key satirical moments in One Battle After Another - during an ICE style raid, a bearded special forces operator (confronted by a metal security gate in front of a bodega blocking his path) mutters to himself "We need to go kinetic..."
Not the main point, but: these guys are all about direct, ‘masculine’ speech and then suddenly it’s all ‘kinetic action’
How does launching air strikes and a commando raid fall under the remit of self defense for an arrest operation
January 3, 2026 at 2:17 PM
One of my favourite low-key satirical moments in One Battle After Another - during an ICE style raid, a bearded special forces operator (confronted by a metal security gate in front of a bodega blocking his path) mutters to himself "We need to go kinetic..."
Watership Down, of course, and specifically this edition:
January 2, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Watership Down, of course, and specifically this edition:
A thread of books read in 2026...
January 1, 2026 at 4:01 PM
A thread of books read in 2026...
Reposted by Tim Leach
Here’s to 2026
December 27, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Here’s to 2026
Reposted by Tim Leach
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
December 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
2025 - what a shitter of a year it has been, one of the more gruesome, personally, professionally, and globally that I can remember. Let us bury it and piss on its grave, and do better next year.
December 31, 2025 at 2:35 PM
2025 - what a shitter of a year it has been, one of the more gruesome, personally, professionally, and globally that I can remember. Let us bury it and piss on its grave, and do better next year.
Reposted by Tim Leach
![Ariadne
@ariadnecrete
how to save your boyfriend from getting lost in your Dad's maze. [a thread] 🧵
3:01 AM • May 17, 2021](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vzh3zzjcbamllzjadsmfooxq/bafkreigrhrceanl6wmi2mfkqfdmf3kosnzrybtyoh7knpjxxwlplrxgqgy@jpeg)
I am Chief Rabbit of the warren - I don't think I'd be terrible at it, but not a patch on Hazel.
Well, now I'm an English professor...
December 30, 2025 at 9:29 AM
I am Chief Rabbit of the warren - I don't think I'd be terrible at it, but not a patch on Hazel.
Reposted by Tim Leach
Do I have any followers who cover the Comic-Con world for the UK media? (Fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels.) My friend Zdenek Strnad is organizing the 2026 Prague Comic-Con in March and would be keen to bring in a UK based journalist.
December 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Do I have any followers who cover the Comic-Con world for the UK media? (Fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels.) My friend Zdenek Strnad is organizing the 2026 Prague Comic-Con in March and would be keen to bring in a UK based journalist.
What actor's facial expression in a movie/TV show will stay with you for the rest of your life?
December 29, 2025 at 8:19 AM
What actor's facial expression in a movie/TV show will stay with you for the rest of your life?
Reposted by Tim Leach
Just gonna say this again for games sphere cus we get the same question:
Networking doesn't mean schmoozing up to famous people, it means making friends with your peers. Then in 10 years, 20, one of you might be famous? And sure you're still helping each other cus well yeah friends.
Make. Friends.
Networking doesn't mean schmoozing up to famous people, it means making friends with your peers. Then in 10 years, 20, one of you might be famous? And sure you're still helping each other cus well yeah friends.
Make. Friends.
Talking to one of these types at a con who asked how I 'got in' with so many 'famous writers' who I'd been talking to and I said "we made friends before anyone knew who we were decades ago by striking up interesting conversations and enjoying each other's company" and he kept re-asking the question.
They have come to the convention hoping to "break in" and then find themselves -- shocker! -- a "nobody in the book world." Yeah no shit! We all are! I have gently told guys like this a million times that it takes most of us *years* of hard work but they do not believe that could be true for them. +
December 27, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Just gonna say this again for games sphere cus we get the same question:
Networking doesn't mean schmoozing up to famous people, it means making friends with your peers. Then in 10 years, 20, one of you might be famous? And sure you're still helping each other cus well yeah friends.
Make. Friends.
Networking doesn't mean schmoozing up to famous people, it means making friends with your peers. Then in 10 years, 20, one of you might be famous? And sure you're still helping each other cus well yeah friends.
Make. Friends.
Merry Christmas all, hope you got magic swords and mithril under the Christmas tree...
Today the Company will depart. Bilbo gives Frodo his sword Sting and—secretly—his magnificent Dwarvish mail-coat of pure mithril. The old hobbit sings softly.
‘I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see…’
‘I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see…’
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Merry Christmas all, hope you got magic swords and mithril under the Christmas tree...
Reposted by Tim Leach
READ THIS: Still probably the best #ChristmasEve tradition I’ve heard. Iceland definitely does Christmas well — my Reykjavik clients had funny comments about this! Are you planning to curl up with a great new book on cities this #Christmas? Share your pick with us using hashtag #UrbanismBookClub!
December 24, 2025 at 5:25 AM
READ THIS: Still probably the best #ChristmasEve tradition I’ve heard. Iceland definitely does Christmas well — my Reykjavik clients had funny comments about this! Are you planning to curl up with a great new book on cities this #Christmas? Share your pick with us using hashtag #UrbanismBookClub!
Reposted by Tim Leach
up there with this classic:
![blank @mister_blank
odysseus: we now set out on our odyssey.
sailor: [raising hand] what's an odyssey?
odysseus: a long journey named after the only survivor.
sailor: oh ok wait what.
1:44 PM • 4/13/20 • Twitter for iPhone](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f46ykt5mi5mjo76c6r2sirmz/bafkreibrijrima62netigsqal2p2c2k34stbeutgymdqfclethl3zmnoky@jpeg)
December 24, 2025 at 1:34 AM
up there with this classic: