Peter Stanley
@stanleyhistorian.bsky.social
Canberra-based historian; author of 50 books, mostly on Australian and British Indian military history. Joint winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History 2011. Author of historical fiction, notably the Mansergh novels and The Sherrin (2025)
I’ve just finished reading Catherine Merridale’s Ivan’s War (2005) - about the Red Army in the ‘Great Patriotic War. She uses veterans’ testimony more sparingly than I expected. But her insights into veterans’ memories are excellent. It’s been useful for my present book, on the AIF in the Great War.
November 13, 2025 at 11:21 PM
I’ve just finished reading Catherine Merridale’s Ivan’s War (2005) - about the Red Army in the ‘Great Patriotic War. She uses veterans’ testimony more sparingly than I expected. But her insights into veterans’ memories are excellent. It’s been useful for my present book, on the AIF in the Great War.
Reposted by Peter Stanley
in 2016 a woman sued him for raping her when she was 13. The day after he was elected President of the U.S. she dropped her case.
D’ye believe her now?
Still think she made it up for attention and money?
You know exactly who he is. You’ve always known.
D’ye believe her now?
Still think she made it up for attention and money?
You know exactly who he is. You’ve always known.
November 12, 2025 at 6:42 PM
in 2016 a woman sued him for raping her when she was 13. The day after he was elected President of the U.S. she dropped her case.
D’ye believe her now?
Still think she made it up for attention and money?
You know exactly who he is. You’ve always known.
D’ye believe her now?
Still think she made it up for attention and money?
You know exactly who he is. You’ve always known.
The new version of The Forsyte Saga - The Forsytes - is absolute cobblers. Not a patch on the two earlier outings. Pretend Victorian - too many errors to count. It’s a melodrama - we won’t be watching episode 2. Hair, clothes, language - and a black stockbroker! Absolute rubbish.
November 13, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The new version of The Forsyte Saga - The Forsytes - is absolute cobblers. Not a patch on the two earlier outings. Pretend Victorian - too many errors to count. It’s a melodrama - we won’t be watching episode 2. Hair, clothes, language - and a black stockbroker! Absolute rubbish.
Just visiting the excellent “1975” exhibition at the National Library of Australia. But look what you see on the very first panel - a warning that it deals with “some sensitive and distressing material “! Er, like every year in human history!
November 2, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Just visiting the excellent “1975” exhibition at the National Library of Australia. But look what you see on the very first panel - a warning that it deals with “some sensitive and distressing material “! Er, like every year in human history!
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs seems to be dragging his heels over new appointments to the Council of the Australian War Memorial. I've had a say about it at the invitation of the Canberra Times: www.defendingcountry.au/news/how-abo...
Defending Country | How about it Minister? Let's fill those Memorial Council vacancies
Analysis of current state of play on Memorial vacancies
www.defendingcountry.au
October 26, 2025 at 10:13 PM
The Minister for Veterans' Affairs seems to be dragging his heels over new appointments to the Council of the Australian War Memorial. I've had a say about it at the invitation of the Canberra Times: www.defendingcountry.au/news/how-abo...
Very sad news from Canada. Respected Canadian military historian Tim Cook is dead. www.newswire.ca/news-release...
I only met him once, but I admired and respected his work. As I've just said to a friend, 'he was the Canadian Jeff Grey' - a power in the field.
I only met him once, but I admired and respected his work. As I've just said to a friend, 'he was the Canadian Jeff Grey' - a power in the field.
War Museum announces passing of Chief Historian, Dr. Tim Cook
/CNW/ - The following is a statement issued today by Canadian War Museum and Canadian Museum of History President and CEO Caroline Dromaguet: "The Canadian War...
www.newswire.ca
October 26, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Very sad news from Canada. Respected Canadian military historian Tim Cook is dead. www.newswire.ca/news-release...
I only met him once, but I admired and respected his work. As I've just said to a friend, 'he was the Canadian Jeff Grey' - a power in the field.
I only met him once, but I admired and respected his work. As I've just said to a friend, 'he was the Canadian Jeff Grey' - a power in the field.
This is a common problem in Australia - apparently, 'we' fought for freedom on Gallipoli - although everyone alive in 1915 is now dead.
The 'We' is really doing a lot of work here...
We fought for our independence.
We fought to end slavery.
We fought against the rise of fascism in Europe.
We fought for civil rights.
I refuse to believe we have lost the will to fight for what is right and just.
We fought to end slavery.
We fought against the rise of fascism in Europe.
We fought for civil rights.
I refuse to believe we have lost the will to fight for what is right and just.
May 2, 2025 at 3:49 AM
This is a common problem in Australia - apparently, 'we' fought for freedom on Gallipoli - although everyone alive in 1915 is now dead.
Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the Australian landing on Tarakan, the subject of my forthcoming book, Oboe One: Tarakan, 1945, to be published soon by #BigSky. This is the draft cover - the new one's even better. It's a revised version of my 1997 book Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy.
May 2, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the Australian landing on Tarakan, the subject of my forthcoming book, Oboe One: Tarakan, 1945, to be published soon by #BigSky. This is the draft cover - the new one's even better. It's a revised version of my 1997 book Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy.
Reposted by Peter Stanley
As we approach Anzac Day, Prof Peter Stanley FAHA, Principal Historian of the Australian War Memorial for 27 years, reminds us that the modern commemoration of Anzac Day is a recent construct — and one that seems to feel more brittle in a changing world. @stanleyhistorian.bsky.social bit.ly/4iyrzvH
Anzac in a time of uncertainty – Australian Academy of the Humanities
Tensions around Anzac Day are not a new event. Historian Peter Stanley examines the changing sentiments of commemoration across a century.
humanities.org.au
April 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM
As we approach Anzac Day, Prof Peter Stanley FAHA, Principal Historian of the Australian War Memorial for 27 years, reminds us that the modern commemoration of Anzac Day is a recent construct — and one that seems to feel more brittle in a changing world. @stanleyhistorian.bsky.social bit.ly/4iyrzvH
Anzac in a time of uncertainty – Australian Academy of the Humanities
Tensions around Anzac Day are not a new event. Historian Peter Stanley examines the changing sentiments of commemoration across a century.
humanities.org.au
April 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Dr David Stephens, key player in Defending Country (which tries to hold the Australian War Memorial accountable over its representation of the Australian Wars, aka Frontier Conflict) thinks that the AWM has produced an exhibition about Defending Country, 'Critical Witness'. Apt, but no such luck ...
April 20, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Dr David Stephens, key player in Defending Country (which tries to hold the Australian War Memorial accountable over its representation of the Australian Wars, aka Frontier Conflict) thinks that the AWM has produced an exhibition about Defending Country, 'Critical Witness'. Apt, but no such luck ...
Reposted by Peter Stanley
Reposted by Peter Stanley
ArtSound FM Canberra is broadcasting my radio play 'Wanterwrite, Wanterlove' ( dramatising the courtship of Charles and Effie in 1920) at 1pm on Anzac Day, 4pm on the 27th and 10pm on the 28th - and you can listen to it outside Canberra on DAB+ 90.3 or on artsound.fm - listen any time. Enjoy!
April 19, 2025 at 3:15 AM
ArtSound FM Canberra is broadcasting my radio play 'Wanterwrite, Wanterlove' ( dramatising the courtship of Charles and Effie in 1920) at 1pm on Anzac Day, 4pm on the 27th and 10pm on the 28th - and you can listen to it outside Canberra on DAB+ 90.3 or on artsound.fm - listen any time. Enjoy!
search.app/57LfHNfcCCiD...
I’m looking forward to speaking in the online talks program of the admirable Military History and Heritage Victoria, this evening 7pm.
I’m looking forward to speaking in the online talks program of the admirable Military History and Heritage Victoria, this evening 7pm.
The Allonville Disaster: notorious or forgotten? With Prof. Peter Stanley – MHHV
search.app
April 16, 2025 at 6:13 AM
search.app/57LfHNfcCCiD...
I’m looking forward to speaking in the online talks program of the admirable Military History and Heritage Victoria, this evening 7pm.
I’m looking forward to speaking in the online talks program of the admirable Military History and Heritage Victoria, this evening 7pm.
I visited the Australian War Memorial yesterday and was pleased to see that the 10-pounder mountain gun, used by the Indian mountain batteries at Anzac, is still on display in the Gallipoli gallery. Their service is documented in my Die in Battle - the first book on Indians on Gallipoli (2015). #AWM
April 15, 2025 at 5:53 AM
I visited the Australian War Memorial yesterday and was pleased to see that the 10-pounder mountain gun, used by the Indian mountain batteries at Anzac, is still on display in the Gallipoli gallery. Their service is documented in my Die in Battle - the first book on Indians on Gallipoli (2015). #AWM
Yes! Garry Hills’s Great at Heart is a really good book, one we’ve been waiting for since Gavin Long died in 1968!
It's going to be a busy day ... so a quiet coffee, chat and read is the best way to start it off. And what an excellent read it is! (Coffee, chat, and companion were top drawer as well.)
April 14, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Yes! Garry Hills’s Great at Heart is a really good book, one we’ve been waiting for since Gavin Long died in 1968!
Whyalla needs all the help it can get. It’s not charity - Whyalla produces three-quarters of Australia’s steel. If it goes under we’d be even more vulnerable to the vagaries of the world economy - and Trump’s shenanigans has shown how dangerous that can be.
It’s good @albomp.bsky.social plans to visit #Whyalla again; but when he does he should come with a commitment of greater funding for the steelworks. What’s been promised simply isn’t enough. Nationalisation is the one path that gives an absolute guarantee for sovereign steelmaking. #auspol
April 14, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Whyalla needs all the help it can get. It’s not charity - Whyalla produces three-quarters of Australia’s steel. If it goes under we’d be even more vulnerable to the vagaries of the world economy - and Trump’s shenanigans has shown how dangerous that can be.
One of the pleasures of a public library in Anzac season is to surreptitiously ensure that the book display features you and your friends.Here in Dickson (ACT), books by (l to r) Mark Johnston, me, Douglas Newton and Ross McMullin - all worth reading this April!
April 14, 2025 at 6:49 AM
One of the pleasures of a public library in Anzac season is to surreptitiously ensure that the book display features you and your friends.Here in Dickson (ACT), books by (l to r) Mark Johnston, me, Douglas Newton and Ross McMullin - all worth reading this April!
I don’t know a lot about philosophy and what Kant, Spinoza and the Natural Philosophy gang thought about the nature of things, but I think that this is very funny. Perhaps graphics (aka comics) can illuminate the world?
From the incomparable @existentialcomics.com. Spinoza comes closest, obvs. static.existentialcomics.com/comics/Early...
April 13, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I don’t know a lot about philosophy and what Kant, Spinoza and the Natural Philosophy gang thought about the nature of things, but I think that this is very funny. Perhaps graphics (aka comics) can illuminate the world?
Joining AUKUS is one of the dumbest decisions any Australian government has ever taken. Why didn't Albanese say 'let's think about this ...' - and then decide, saying, 'this is a lot of money with no guarantee of any submarines being delivered - and it destroys Australia's national sovereignty'.
Why we need independents. Labor signed up to AUKUS after a half-hour briefing from Scott Morrison and it’s been bipartisan policy ever since. It’s never been a good policy, either strategically or practically, and now it saddles Australia’s defence policy to an authoritarian regime
AUKUS isn’t just about submarines — it’s about trust, leadership, and protecting Australia’s future. We’ve spent $800M with no plan, no guarantees, and no Plan B. I’m calling for a full, independent review. Good allies ask — and answer — hard questions. #AUKUS #GoldsteinVotes
April 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Joining AUKUS is one of the dumbest decisions any Australian government has ever taken. Why didn't Albanese say 'let's think about this ...' - and then decide, saying, 'this is a lot of money with no guarantee of any submarines being delivered - and it destroys Australia's national sovereignty'.
I'm delighted to tell you that at 1 pm on Anzac Day ArtSound FM Canberra will broadcast my radio play 'Wanterwrite, Wanterlove' - about the courtship of Charles and Effie Bean at Tuggeranong while Charles was writing Vol. I of his official history, in the aftermath of the Great War.
April 13, 2025 at 10:31 AM
I'm delighted to tell you that at 1 pm on Anzac Day ArtSound FM Canberra will broadcast my radio play 'Wanterwrite, Wanterlove' - about the courtship of Charles and Effie Bean at Tuggeranong while Charles was writing Vol. I of his official history, in the aftermath of the Great War.
Yes! I can’t believe how many people use ‘female’ or ‘male’ as a noun. It’s just wrong.
Personal red flag: when someone uses the words “male” and “female” unironically in casual conversation.
Like my mom told me “that’s for animals, not people.”
Like my mom told me “that’s for animals, not people.”
April 12, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Yes! I can’t believe how many people use ‘female’ or ‘male’ as a noun. It’s just wrong.
How ironic that The English Association abets the decay of the English language, by, for example, using unnecessary new terms like ‘access’ as a verb. There are perfectly good options already available to us - think about it!
The EA is seeking to grow its membership…membership fees contribute directly to our advocacy work, activities, events.There is much more work to do! We value the contribution our members make, our diverse communities across all sectors represent our subject, shaping its future together. Plse share ⬇️
April 12, 2025 at 11:05 AM
How ironic that The English Association abets the decay of the English language, by, for example, using unnecessary new terms like ‘access’ as a verb. There are perfectly good options already available to us - think about it!