Catherine Fletcher
@catherinefletcher.info
Writing history, usually in Manchester, when possible in Italy. 'Renaissance skulduggery' - The Guardian. THE ROADS TO ROME out now. Coming April 26: THE FIREARM REVOLUTION.
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
if you really want to feel wonderful, spending a bit of time with the brain of Leonardo Da Vinci is the way
it is interesting. seeking out brand new people is *also* delightful but you'll get a long way in life by going: sad? listen to Bach, look at Leonardo's notebooks/sketches, read Jane Austen
it is interesting. seeking out brand new people is *also* delightful but you'll get a long way in life by going: sad? listen to Bach, look at Leonardo's notebooks/sketches, read Jane Austen
Today at 1345 on Radio 4 (or available now online), I'm talking to @naomialderman.bsky.social about Leonardo da Vinci.
BBC Radio 4 - Human Intelligence, Series 2, Perfectionists: Leonardo Da Vinci
The quintessential Renaissance man, artist Leonardo da Vinci was curious about everything.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 15, 2026 at 3:58 PM
if you really want to feel wonderful, spending a bit of time with the brain of Leonardo Da Vinci is the way
it is interesting. seeking out brand new people is *also* delightful but you'll get a long way in life by going: sad? listen to Bach, look at Leonardo's notebooks/sketches, read Jane Austen
it is interesting. seeking out brand new people is *also* delightful but you'll get a long way in life by going: sad? listen to Bach, look at Leonardo's notebooks/sketches, read Jane Austen
yeah, there's a real risk of a Marxist zombie uprising
January 15, 2026 at 12:33 PM
yeah, there's a real risk of a Marxist zombie uprising
gotta keep the proles out
January 15, 2026 at 12:29 PM
gotta keep the proles out
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
the vagina museum should open a branch in vienna and call it the kunthistorisches museum
January 15, 2026 at 8:36 AM
the vagina museum should open a branch in vienna and call it the kunthistorisches museum
Today at 1345 on Radio 4 (or available now online), I'm talking to @naomialderman.bsky.social about Leonardo da Vinci.
BBC Radio 4 - Human Intelligence, Series 2, Perfectionists: Leonardo Da Vinci
The quintessential Renaissance man, artist Leonardo da Vinci was curious about everything.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 15, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Today at 1345 on Radio 4 (or available now online), I'm talking to @naomialderman.bsky.social about Leonardo da Vinci.
Private James Widdle
January 14, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Private James Widdle
See also my in-flight map last week. I don't know what they call this projection but Greenland is almost the size of North America.
January 13, 2026 at 6:58 PM
See also my in-flight map last week. I don't know what they call this projection but Greenland is almost the size of North America.
Back in the day when they could afford to live nearby
January 10, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Back in the day when they could afford to live nearby
Unless you have a siesta first
January 10, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Unless you have a siesta first
I guess that was just before we Broke With Rome to Stand Alone as a Proud Island Nation etc etc
January 8, 2026 at 6:41 PM
I guess that was just before we Broke With Rome to Stand Alone as a Proud Island Nation etc etc
Yeah, I mean I think there is a case in the very first term for saying okay, you have four essays due in January and need five days approx. for each, work backwards in your diary and allocate those 20 days. But we shouldn't need to spell it out every time.
January 8, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Yeah, I mean I think there is a case in the very first term for saying okay, you have four essays due in January and need five days approx. for each, work backwards in your diary and allocate those 20 days. But we shouldn't need to spell it out every time.
Right - I think being able to research and write 400 words a day of in-depth prose is pretty reasonable for someone aiming at a graduate job.
January 8, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Right - I think being able to research and write 400 words a day of in-depth prose is pretty reasonable for someone aiming at a graduate job.
It's worth knowing that this is a right-wing talking point in the UK: if challenged they will say oh well, of course there were some immigrants but it was nothing like today etc. etc.
I just heard a law professor claim in a recording that in early modern England, there wasn’t any significant migration to the British Isles, which is just plainly wrong.
January 8, 2026 at 1:13 PM
It's worth knowing that this is a right-wing talking point in the UK: if challenged they will say oh well, of course there were some immigrants but it was nothing like today etc. etc.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clock, recently purchased from Heal's on Tottenham Court Road, was striking thirteen.
It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York. I made myself a delicious cocktail with Beefeater Gin.
The sky above the port was the color of Dulux Blueberry White
January 7, 2026 at 11:39 AM
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clock, recently purchased from Heal's on Tottenham Court Road, was striking thirteen.
if it's a thread against the murderous thieving horde of peasants then I need to see who exactly that is
January 6, 2026 at 9:05 PM
if it's a thread against the murderous thieving horde of peasants then I need to see who exactly that is
For background see this by Chris Corker (on an important patron of Sheffield University)
History Matters - The Armaments Past Of Mark Firth
Chris Corker | 12 December 2018
◇ Local History | British History | Modern History
historymatters.sites.sheffield.ac.uk
January 6, 2026 at 9:03 PM
For background see this by Chris Corker (on an important patron of Sheffield University)
This is an interesting piece but it kind of misses that Sheffield's steel industry was always closely tied to armaments.
From steel to guns: inside Britain’s newest arms factory
Sheffield was once the UK’s centre of steelmaking. Now a rising tide of defence spending promises revival
www.ft.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:02 PM
This is an interesting piece but it kind of misses that Sheffield's steel industry was always closely tied to armaments.
That's the one - he must have moved over to Birmingham with Karen Harvey.
January 5, 2026 at 1:07 PM
That's the one - he must have moved over to Birmingham with Karen Harvey.
There was a PhD at Sheffield working on early modern leather about a decade ago - forget his name but worth a look in their repository.
January 5, 2026 at 12:12 PM
There was a PhD at Sheffield working on early modern leather about a decade ago - forget his name but worth a look in their repository.
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
new series of Human Intelligence starts today at 1.45pm!
three weeks of an episode every day, to start your year off by learning about some stuff (if you like that sort of thing):
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
three weeks of an episode every day, to start your year off by learning about some stuff (if you like that sort of thing):
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Human Intelligence, Exiles: Karl Marx
Exploring the mind of Karl Marx, a revolutionary political thinker and philosopher.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 10:18 AM
new series of Human Intelligence starts today at 1.45pm!
three weeks of an episode every day, to start your year off by learning about some stuff (if you like that sort of thing):
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
three weeks of an episode every day, to start your year off by learning about some stuff (if you like that sort of thing):
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Catherine Fletcher
Applications are also invited for a new RHS programme for 2026, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and @chalkefestival.bsky.social.
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
Pitch my Project: an opportunity for early career historians to present their work at the Chalke History Festival 2026 - RHS
Have you ever wanted to share your research with a wide audience? Would you like to gain experience in public speaking, and be supported to develop imaginative ways to communicate your research to the...
bit.ly
January 5, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Applications are also invited for a new RHS programme for 2026, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and @chalkefestival.bsky.social.
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians
Lovely to get back from my holidays to three emails from readers telling me how much they enjoyed The Roads to Rome. That book was a bit of a departure from my usual work, so it's great to hear that people appreciate it.
January 5, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Lovely to get back from my holidays to three emails from readers telling me how much they enjoyed The Roads to Rome. That book was a bit of a departure from my usual work, so it's great to hear that people appreciate it.
I thought this was meant to be the point of History Compass, but some of the surveys there are maybe more advanced than what you're looking for.
January 5, 2026 at 9:05 AM
I thought this was meant to be the point of History Compass, but some of the surveys there are maybe more advanced than what you're looking for.