Dr David Vessey
@davidcvessey.bsky.social
Historian of modern Britain and the media. University of Sheffield. Probably won’t rant about Sheffield Wednesday on here (I’ll save that for the hellsite formerly known as Twitter).
Pinned
Anti-Bolshevism and the periodical press in interwar Britain: the case of the Saturday Review, 1933–6
Abstract. Using the example of the Saturday Review under the ownership of Lady Houston, this article explores how anti-Bolshevism was constituted in interw
doi.org
Very grateful to see so many new followers. On the off chance that you’re kicking your heels on Saturday evening, here’s some links to my recent work. This first piece is on the frankly bonkers Saturday Review in the 1930s: doi.org/10.1093/hisr...
Does anyone know what the acronym VSO meant in government parlance from the 1930s? It’s a Home Office file on a foreign national’s scientific research, so the latter part is possibly Science Officer. The report makes VSO out to be an individual rather than an organisation.
March 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Does anyone know what the acronym VSO meant in government parlance from the 1930s? It’s a Home Office file on a foreign national’s scientific research, so the latter part is possibly Science Officer. The report makes VSO out to be an individual rather than an organisation.
Reposted by Dr David Vessey
This is a problem of how we conflate engineering and science. Students using LLMs to write is like building a robot to lift weights for you at the gym. The point of lifting the weights is for your training, not because weights need lifting
December 12, 2024 at 3:38 PM
This is a problem of how we conflate engineering and science. Students using LLMs to write is like building a robot to lift weights for you at the gym. The point of lifting the weights is for your training, not because weights need lifting
Very, very late to this particular party (it’s not my field in fairness), but McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom is every bit as great as everyone says it is. A masterpiece.
November 17, 2024 at 7:10 PM
Very, very late to this particular party (it’s not my field in fairness), but McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom is every bit as great as everyone says it is. A masterpiece.
The excitement when the metrics spot that someone has cited your article, only to find it was me in a subsequent piece indulging in flagrant self-promotion.
a cartoon of homer simpson standing in a grassy yard
ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson standing in a grassy yard
media.tenor.com
November 14, 2024 at 11:41 AM
The excitement when the metrics spot that someone has cited your article, only to find it was me in a subsequent piece indulging in flagrant self-promotion.
Very grateful to see so many new followers. On the off chance that you’re kicking your heels on Saturday evening, here’s some links to my recent work. This first piece is on the frankly bonkers Saturday Review in the 1930s: doi.org/10.1093/hisr...
Anti-Bolshevism and the periodical press in interwar Britain: the case of the Saturday Review, 1933–6
Abstract. Using the example of the Saturday Review under the ownership of Lady Houston, this article explores how anti-Bolshevism was constituted in interw
doi.org
November 9, 2024 at 7:15 PM
Very grateful to see so many new followers. On the off chance that you’re kicking your heels on Saturday evening, here’s some links to my recent work. This first piece is on the frankly bonkers Saturday Review in the 1930s: doi.org/10.1093/hisr...
Delighted to finally share this, and open-access too! Journal of Contemporary History, 'Speaking Truth to a Foreign Power: Anti-Bolshevism and Truth in the Early Cold War, 1945–53' - David Vessey, 2024 t.co/amDBE5Hv5f
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00220094241270988
t.co
August 23, 2024 at 10:28 AM
Delighted to finally share this, and open-access too! Journal of Contemporary History, 'Speaking Truth to a Foreign Power: Anti-Bolshevism and Truth in the Early Cold War, 1945–53' - David Vessey, 2024 t.co/amDBE5Hv5f
The proportion of National Archives users who hit the vino at lunch is hugely impressive.
April 4, 2024 at 1:09 PM
The proportion of National Archives users who hit the vino at lunch is hugely impressive.
I’m not saying that my writing is becoming too prolix, but the one chapter I intended to write on this particular theme is currently four.
March 8, 2024 at 8:01 PM
I’m not saying that my writing is becoming too prolix, but the one chapter I intended to write on this particular theme is currently four.
Bashed out over 2,500 words today. Some of it might even be printable. Taking the small wins where I can #booktravails
March 5, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Bashed out over 2,500 words today. Some of it might even be printable. Taking the small wins where I can #booktravails
Starting my day by describing George Bernard Shaw as puerile. How’s your day going? 😎
January 25, 2024 at 9:42 AM
Starting my day by describing George Bernard Shaw as puerile. How’s your day going? 😎
In the latest predictable peer review is broken update, an article I submitted in October is still sat on its virtual shelf awaiting the appointment of reviewers. Every single journal is like this at the moment.
January 5, 2024 at 1:09 PM
In the latest predictable peer review is broken update, an article I submitted in October is still sat on its virtual shelf awaiting the appointment of reviewers. Every single journal is like this at the moment.
ProQuest now periodically checks if I’m a robot while using their databases. Robots, of course, being famous for trawling through the Manchester Guardian from May 1927.
November 1, 2023 at 12:35 PM
ProQuest now periodically checks if I’m a robot while using their databases. Robots, of course, being famous for trawling through the Manchester Guardian from May 1927.
Update: that are now four paragraphs. They’re either quite good or totally pants. I can’t decide. Depends on my mood. More to come.
Wrote what I hope will be the first line of my book today. It’s about the weather in May 1927 (the first line not the book). On current pace the second line should be good to go in six months 👍
October 18, 2023 at 7:09 PM
Update: that are now four paragraphs. They’re either quite good or totally pants. I can’t decide. Depends on my mood. More to come.
Wrote what I hope will be the first line of my book today. It’s about the weather in May 1927 (the first line not the book). On current pace the second line should be good to go in six months 👍
October 6, 2023 at 6:16 PM
Wrote what I hope will be the first line of my book today. It’s about the weather in May 1927 (the first line not the book). On current pace the second line should be good to go in six months 👍
Writing about a periodical called ‘Truth’. I open the folder titled ‘Truth’ every morning. It’s always a disappointment.
October 2, 2023 at 6:23 AM
Writing about a periodical called ‘Truth’. I open the folder titled ‘Truth’ every morning. It’s always a disappointment.
Reading Orwell this morning. It’s times like this that I can’t quite believe someone pays me to do this for a living.
September 22, 2023 at 8:23 AM
Reading Orwell this morning. It’s times like this that I can’t quite believe someone pays me to do this for a living.
Long shot but I wonder if anyone has / can point me to biographical info on Major Lewis Hastings? He was a commentator on military affairs for the BBC during WW2. @alanallport.bsky.social maybe?
September 21, 2023 at 5:41 PM
Long shot but I wonder if anyone has / can point me to biographical info on Major Lewis Hastings? He was a commentator on military affairs for the BBC during WW2. @alanallport.bsky.social maybe?
I’m not saying it should be a decisive influence on library policy, but every time I spend a few hours reading an ebook it ends with me having a massive headache.
September 18, 2023 at 1:42 PM
I’m not saying it should be a decisive influence on library policy, but every time I spend a few hours reading an ebook it ends with me having a massive headache.
Reading something that cites Spartacus Educational in the footnotes rather than accessing the original. Why would you be that lazy?
August 31, 2023 at 10:36 AM
Reading something that cites Spartacus Educational in the footnotes rather than accessing the original. Why would you be that lazy?