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chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall
@chriskempshall.bsky.social
9.9K followers 3.7K following 2.1K posts
President @fwwsoc.bsky.social. Historian & Author on #FWW allied relations, historical games studies, & #StarWars. Rep'd Justin Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency. Consulting partner @historystudiola.bsky.social. He/him https://linktr.ee/chriskempshall
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chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Apr 17
An extra fun surprise for everyone - I’ll be on the Celebration Live Stage on Saturday 19th at 3:45pm discussing books alongside the esteemed @adamchristopher.me and @philszostak.bsky.social!
A graphic card showing the schedule for Chris Kempshall across the three days of Star Wars Celebration. The details are as follows: Friday 18 April: 10:00 am - 11:00 am Holonet News Stage Who's the Bossk? 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Galaxy Stage LUCASFILM PUBLISHING: Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... Saturday 19th April: 1pm - 2pm Lawson's Book Signing Sunday 20th April 9:45 am - 10:45 am University Stage History in a Galaxy Far, Far Away 12:45 pm - 1:45 pm University Stage Droids, Artificial Intelligence, and Sentience
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Reposted by Chris Kempshall
johnmunro.bsky.social
John Munro @johnmunro.bsky.social · 4h
That we share this planet with people brave enough to join an unarmed flotilla attempting to get aid into Gaza but also with cowards as craven as these guys is really something of a wonder to behold.
esqueer.net
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 6h
ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.
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edstern.bsky.social
Ed Stern @edstern.bsky.social · 4h
Your mileage may (and should) vary but this was pure catnip for me. Fussell knocked me back in my seat in a way I never really got over. This discussion great on what he’s great on, also what he doesn’t and won’t do.
chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Jul 4
New episode alert! This month we're joined by @iaisherwood.bsky.social & Steven Trout to discuss their analysis of Paul Fussell's book 'The Great War and Modern Memory' and discuss its legacy and ongoing impact! 🗃️
owalpodcast.bsky.social
Oh! What a Lovely Podcast @owalpodcast.bsky.social · Jul 4
What makes a 50-year-old #FWW book still essential reading?

We welcome @iaisherwood.bsky.social & Steven Trout authors of 'But It Still Goes On: Paul Fussell’s The Great War & Modern Memory at 50' to revisit Fussell’s classic & the debates it still sparks

ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk/podcast/50-t...
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chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 4h
Ah I’m delighted you enjoyed it so much!
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 4h
I’ve often heard it referred to (both for conferences and conventions) as con-flu.
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 5h
I was thinking of fleeing to an accommodating tax haven like all political exiles.
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 6h
Anybody fancy some London Comicon fun after dark with @dkbooks.bsky.social?

I’ll be at Draughts Waterloo to discuss ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ on Friday 24th October from 7pm onwards!

You can book a spot to attend in the link below:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/comicon-af...
A colourful graphic for DK Books ‘Comicon After Dark’ event on Friday 24th October, 7pm at Draughts Waterloo SE1 7NN
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chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 6h
Ah you’re both very kind! Though obviously now that I’m leaving office nobody fears me anymore…
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 7h
Ha!
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 7h
Ah thanks!
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 8h
The inevitable moment where, having recently gotten home from a conference that took a lot of energy, you develop a horrendous cold and dissolve into a human puddle.
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chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 8h
And I for one am incredibly proud of the academic and society member you’ve become. It was obvious from the beginning where you were likely heading.
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whitakeralmanac.bsky.social
Bob Whitaker @whitakeralmanac.bsky.social · 19d
I’m over here trying to enjoy PSLF and this comes across my screen. Sigh. IGN claims his classes are “a world first.” FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, EVERYONE!!!! NEVER BEEN DONE BY ANYONE EVER!!!!

Meanwhile, I and many others have been doing this for a decade or more.
ign.com
IGN @ign.com · 19d
University of Tennessee students will have the chance to study up on the Grand Theft Auto franchise in 2026. The class will be led by history professor Tore Olsson, the same educator that taught a Red Dead Redemption class in 2021. bit.ly/47StbPi
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Reposted by Chris Kempshall
rabeari.bsky.social
Rabea Rittgerodt-Burke @rabeari.bsky.social · 14h
Super excited and proud to announce the start of the De Gruyter Brill/GSA Dissertation Prize!!

thegsa.org/prizes/de-gr...

Cannot WAIT to check out everything people have worked on - please spread the word and/or submit, prize is a 1000EUR and a free OA publication :)

@thegsa.bsky.social
thegsa.org
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Reposted by Chris Kempshall
leaypi.bsky.social
Lea Ypi @leaypi.bsky.social · 14h
no words
Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead
Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive
www.theguardian.com
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 1d
Hmm this does mean I'm going to have to rely on someone else to livetweet/skeet it for me.
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 1d
I'll be at Brand Licensing Europe at the London Excel Centre tomorrow on behalf of the Imperial War Museum. If anyone working for a computer/video game developer wants to discuss what a link up with the IWM might provide, then let me know and we can discuss it in person!
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fwwsoc.bsky.social
International Society for First World War Studies @fwwsoc.bsky.social · 1d
This is taking place in just over a month and there are still a good number of tickets remaining!
fwwsoc.bsky.social
International Society for First World War Studies @fwwsoc.bsky.social · Sep 5
We are delighted to share the details for this year's Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture 'Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War' to be delivered by @juliarsct.bsky.social on 11th Nov 2025

You can book to attend in person or online:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remembranc... 🗃️
Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War 5.30pm, Tuesday 11 November 2025 Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University What did the First World War do to poetry? What did poetry do during the First World War? In this lecture, Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz will explore a brand new corpus of war poets to interrogate not what is a good or bad war poem nor what war poems say about the war, but rather the social and cultural functions accomplished by poetry in 1914-1918: inventing itself, creating social links, anchoring the war in relation to a poetic past and multiple imagined futures, mediating the experience of war, and producing knowledge about the conflict. She will explore how the expansion of our definition of war poetry allows us to ask new questions about the First World War, as well as future possibilities to continue broadening our understanding of what war poetry was and, above all, what it did and continues doing for those writing and reading it. Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a postdoctoral researcher at Université de Lille. She completed her doctorate, on French poetry of the First World War, at Université Paris Nanterre. Julia has already published widely in academic journals, and is a Fellow of the International Society for First World War Studies. This lecture continues the annual series of Remembrance lectures at Edinburgh Napier University, marking the historical significance of Craiglockhart as a War Hospital during the First World War, famously the meeting place of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. We also remember our late colleague Catherine Walker, who was for many years curator of the War Poets Collection. Funding comes from the Centre for Arts, Media and Culture and the Centre for Military Research, Education & Public Engagement. This year the event is also the Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture, selected by the International Society for First World War Studies. Named after Dennis Showalter, the leading historian of Germany during the war and a longtime friend and supporter of the Society it is delivered each year by a leading early career researcher in First World War Studies. The event is held in the Rivers Suite at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus (Google map | travel info). There will be a wine reception from 5.30pm; the lecture will start around 6pm. The event will also be streamed online via Zoom. If you have any queries about the event, please contact Dr Andrew Frayn (a.frayn@napier.ac.uk). This event is both in person and online. If you wish to attend online, please buy an 'online Ticket'. Zoom information will be found in the email confirmations.
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 1d
We watched a very odd BBC drama about the lead up to the FIrst World War, so that you didn't have to!
owalpodcast.bsky.social
Oh! What a Lovely Podcast @owalpodcast.bsky.social · 1d
How did the #FWW bring down Europe’s great dynasties, & how did the BBC retell it in 1974?

We watched Fall of Eagles, which charted the decline of the Romanovs, Hohenzollerns, & Habsburgs. We evaluate the strengths & weaknesses of this ambitious show. 🗃️

ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk/podcast/the-...
Fall of Eagles
How did the First World War bring down Europe’s great dynasties, and how did the BBC retell that story on screen? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we look at Fall of Eagles, ...
ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 1d
Hard not to take this snub personally…
A notification from BBC News reading: ‘Physics Nobel awarded to three scientists for work on quantum mechanics in computing’
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robertbohan.bsky.social
Dr Robert Bohan @robertbohan.bsky.social · 1d
🧵 Sinister stuff. Jenrick, a Tory leadership candidate, says he didn’t see a White face in an area, & that it looked like a slum. This is a v old racist dog-whistle. Then when challenged on it, he accuses journos of fomenting terrorism. He’s clearly in fascist double-speak mode [1]
bestforbritain.org
Best for Britain @bestforbritain.org · 1d
Wow. Robert Jenrick doubles down by branding a black journalist's questions "ridiculous" and saying that the problem is not his comments, but "journalists like you who pop up and try to knock me down", adding that "this is the reason why terrorist attacks happen". ~AA
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starwars5w.bsky.social
Shane • Star Wars 5W @starwars5w.bsky.social · 2d
The weapon wrap for this costume is the Imperious Rifle, which swaps Imara’s insignia out for the Imperial cog wheel in bright red, similar to the cover of @chriskempshall.bsky.social's excellent book, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire.
Imara Vex's Imperious Rifle weapon wrap. Cover of The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Dr. Chris Kempshall, showing a similar color scheme to Imara's rifle.
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 2d
Oh that is cool as hell
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 2d
Since 2009, I wanted to be President of the Society and I did it. I also know we achieved a great deal under my stewardship. I also always wanted to have a 'successful' academic career and I did not achieve that. I'm still separating those 2 things, but am eternally grateful I got to do the first.
A conference name badge for 'Chris Kempshall: President of the International Society for First World War Studies'
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 2d
For now, however, the Society continues to exist under my control for the last few months as I prepare the handover. Once that's done I will be hugely excited to see what the new Executive Committee do with it whilst also very relieved I don't have to do that organising myself!
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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 2d
I'm not always well-programmed to deal with that at the best of times. Which is almost precisely why I expect they took the opportunity to drive it home to me in a public setting that was also live on YouTube and I'm very grateful for their kind words & the knowledge that they really meant them 16/
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