Tom Isitt
@tomisitt.bsky.social
Author, historian, cyclist, hiker, occasional climber, idiot adventurer with unrealistic goals and expectations.
Am currently considering Thunder in The Mountains merch*…coasters with photos of guns, placemats featuring battlefield maps, decorative cushions, and an action figure. Ka-ching!
* not really
* not really
January 3, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Am currently considering Thunder in The Mountains merch*…coasters with photos of guns, placemats featuring battlefield maps, decorative cushions, and an action figure. Ka-ching!
* not really
* not really
My family mocked me for wearing Crocs around the house, so I had a pair of opanci made for me instead. Who’s laughing now, eh?
January 2, 2026 at 11:32 AM
My family mocked me for wearing Crocs around the house, so I had a pair of opanci made for me instead. Who’s laughing now, eh?
I have to admit I never expected to be reading learned academic papers in the Journal of Thermal Biology. But it’s an absolute gold mine for researchers of mountain warfare.
December 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I have to admit I never expected to be reading learned academic papers in the Journal of Thermal Biology. But it’s an absolute gold mine for researchers of mountain warfare.
This (The Sixth Day, by Rastko Petrović) may be a classic of Serbian WW1 literature, but OMG it’s hard work. His publisher refused to publish it because it’s too complicated and grim.
December 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
This (The Sixth Day, by Rastko Petrović) may be a classic of Serbian WW1 literature, but OMG it’s hard work. His publisher refused to publish it because it’s too complicated and grim.
London “street food”:
Faux Airstream caravan dispensing nuggets and chips for a tenner, chips for a fiver, and Gyros for £13 😂
Faux Airstream caravan dispensing nuggets and chips for a tenner, chips for a fiver, and Gyros for £13 😂
December 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
London “street food”:
Faux Airstream caravan dispensing nuggets and chips for a tenner, chips for a fiver, and Gyros for £13 😂
Faux Airstream caravan dispensing nuggets and chips for a tenner, chips for a fiver, and Gyros for £13 😂
Every time I see a call for papers on here, that bloke from The Shamen pops into my head saying “Anyone got any Veras?” Can’t believe that was 33 years ago.
December 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Every time I see a call for papers on here, that bloke from The Shamen pops into my head saying “Anyone got any Veras?” Can’t believe that was 33 years ago.
Potential new side-hustle:
Have you bought a book with terrible maps? Are you sick of the half-arsed cartography? Download my not-quite-as-shit maps, print and paste them into said book. Job’s a good ‘un 👌
Have you bought a book with terrible maps? Are you sick of the half-arsed cartography? Download my not-quite-as-shit maps, print and paste them into said book. Job’s a good ‘un 👌
December 16, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Potential new side-hustle:
Have you bought a book with terrible maps? Are you sick of the half-arsed cartography? Download my not-quite-as-shit maps, print and paste them into said book. Job’s a good ‘un 👌
Have you bought a book with terrible maps? Are you sick of the half-arsed cartography? Download my not-quite-as-shit maps, print and paste them into said book. Job’s a good ‘un 👌
That @matoxley.bsky.social bloke sure knows how to write a good book.
December 16, 2025 at 2:39 PM
That @matoxley.bsky.social bloke sure knows how to write a good book.
Regret to inform you that Thunder in The Mountains is not being published today. Publication date has been pushed back yet again, this time to January 15. Apologies to anyone hoping to get it in time for Christmas. Maybe next Christmas 🙄
December 15, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Regret to inform you that Thunder in The Mountains is not being published today. Publication date has been pushed back yet again, this time to January 15. Apologies to anyone hoping to get it in time for Christmas. Maybe next Christmas 🙄
Prepping to give a talk to the Royal Engineers Historical Society about sappers on the Italian Front of WW1. My imposter syndrome is strong 😬
December 14, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Prepping to give a talk to the Royal Engineers Historical Society about sappers on the Italian Front of WW1. My imposter syndrome is strong 😬
It’s interesting that it takes a motorcylist, and a motorcycle designer, to explain why pro cyclists are ruining the handling of their bicycles. Chapeau to Cycling Weekly for publishing something insightful.
December 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
It’s interesting that it takes a motorcylist, and a motorcycle designer, to explain why pro cyclists are ruining the handling of their bicycles. Chapeau to Cycling Weekly for publishing something insightful.
And the award for the worst use of typography on an underwhelming photo goes to…
December 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
And the award for the worst use of typography on an underwhelming photo goes to…
Soon my tranquil corner of north London will be inundated with paralytically drunk darts fans in outlandish fancy dress costumes. It’s all very good natured and rather fun. And you never know who, or what, you’ll find in your front garden in the morning. #darts #AllyPally
December 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Soon my tranquil corner of north London will be inundated with paralytically drunk darts fans in outlandish fancy dress costumes. It’s all very good natured and rather fun. And you never know who, or what, you’ll find in your front garden in the morning. #darts #AllyPally
As an experiential historian, I feel it’s my duty to strip naked, slather myself with goose fat, and attempt to build a pontoon bridge across the Piave river. Who’s with me?
December 9, 2025 at 4:35 PM
As an experiential historian, I feel it’s my duty to strip naked, slather myself with goose fat, and attempt to build a pontoon bridge across the Piave river. Who’s with me?
That weird thing of getting an expensive electronic gadget and hoping you’ll never have to use it. See also: avalanche probe, snow shovel, and EPIRB.
December 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
That weird thing of getting an expensive electronic gadget and hoping you’ll never have to use it. See also: avalanche probe, snow shovel, and EPIRB.
I owe my kids an apology. Instead of encouraging them to be doctors and teachers, I should have steered them towards sports governance, where they could accept high-value gifts, go on expenses-paid junkets, take bribes, stay in 5 star hotels, and do around 15 hours actual work per week.
December 5, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I owe my kids an apology. Instead of encouraging them to be doctors and teachers, I should have steered them towards sports governance, where they could accept high-value gifts, go on expenses-paid junkets, take bribes, stay in 5 star hotels, and do around 15 hours actual work per week.
Reposted by Tom Isitt
Not the Western Front Conference 2026 Following last years great conference will take place on Saturday 31st October in Wakefield West Yorkshire just of the M1. Tickets cost £29 including lunch.with 4 great speakers. www.trybooking.com/uk/FPHV
December 5, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Not the Western Front Conference 2026 Following last years great conference will take place on Saturday 31st October in Wakefield West Yorkshire just of the M1. Tickets cost £29 including lunch.with 4 great speakers. www.trybooking.com/uk/FPHV
#TBT That time I wrote an article about the anthropomorphic menhirs on Corsica. I do love standing stones, particularly “family groups”.
December 4, 2025 at 10:48 AM
#TBT That time I wrote an article about the anthropomorphic menhirs on Corsica. I do love standing stones, particularly “family groups”.
After reading a passage from my forthcoming book, my wife turned to me and said:
“You really are the Frankie Boyle of military history, aren’t you.”
Should I…
a) be mortified
b) be embarrassed
c) be secretly pleased
d) use it as a quote on the cover
“You really are the Frankie Boyle of military history, aren’t you.”
Should I…
a) be mortified
b) be embarrassed
c) be secretly pleased
d) use it as a quote on the cover
December 3, 2025 at 10:36 AM
After reading a passage from my forthcoming book, my wife turned to me and said:
“You really are the Frankie Boyle of military history, aren’t you.”
Should I…
a) be mortified
b) be embarrassed
c) be secretly pleased
d) use it as a quote on the cover
“You really are the Frankie Boyle of military history, aren’t you.”
Should I…
a) be mortified
b) be embarrassed
c) be secretly pleased
d) use it as a quote on the cover
Walking the ground, Presena sector, WW1 (it’s what Richard Holmes would have wanted). There’s a lot of barbed wire still up there.
November 30, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Walking the ground, Presena sector, WW1 (it’s what Richard Holmes would have wanted). There’s a lot of barbed wire still up there.
Every author’s worst nightmare…a book withdrawn from a library without anyone having read it. Not one of mine, I hasten to add.
November 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Every author’s worst nightmare…a book withdrawn from a library without anyone having read it. Not one of mine, I hasten to add.
Emma, after watching yet another programme about railways: “They really changed the world, didn’t they.”
Me: “Absolutely, they enabled the spread of epidemics, made the Holocaust possible, and facilitated the exploitation of the Third World.”
Emma: “WTF is wrong with you??”
😶
Me: “Absolutely, they enabled the spread of epidemics, made the Holocaust possible, and facilitated the exploitation of the Third World.”
Emma: “WTF is wrong with you??”
😶
November 25, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Emma, after watching yet another programme about railways: “They really changed the world, didn’t they.”
Me: “Absolutely, they enabled the spread of epidemics, made the Holocaust possible, and facilitated the exploitation of the Third World.”
Emma: “WTF is wrong with you??”
😶
Me: “Absolutely, they enabled the spread of epidemics, made the Holocaust possible, and facilitated the exploitation of the Third World.”
Emma: “WTF is wrong with you??”
😶
History says the Austro-Hungarian army was starving in 1918, but what does that actually mean? What was the effect of starvation on frontline soldiers? The Minnesota Experiment gives some answers, but few historians have attempted to analyse the effects of starvation. So I’m doing some science…
November 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
History says the Austro-Hungarian army was starving in 1918, but what does that actually mean? What was the effect of starvation on frontline soldiers? The Minnesota Experiment gives some answers, but few historians have attempted to analyse the effects of starvation. So I’m doing some science…
We have WW1 memorials for war horses, dogs, mules, even pigeons. But where are the ones for the oxen, eh? They are the perfect draught animal — strong, hardy, and when you’re done with them, they’re much more tasty than your average mule.
November 17, 2025 at 11:33 AM
We have WW1 memorials for war horses, dogs, mules, even pigeons. But where are the ones for the oxen, eh? They are the perfect draught animal — strong, hardy, and when you’re done with them, they’re much more tasty than your average mule.