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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · 1d

"This is a must read for anyone interested in the birth of the modern economy."

Who am I to disagree with that!

Thank you @unseenhistories.com for the recommendation 👍

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 1d

From the Caspian Sea to Burma, the Regency to U Boats; our history book picks for the month ahead. With new books from
@theprofrog.bsky.social
@lmbd1418.bsky.social
@highamnews.bsky.social
@andrewrsorkin.bsky.social
@fourredshoes.bsky.social
@edmond-smith.bsky.social
@rory-stewart.bsky.social👇

New History Books for October 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the month ahead.

www.unseenhistories.com

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 21d

Day 1 of the visit (Weds 17th) concludes with a guest lecture, at 5.30pm, at the Linklater Rooms, University of Aberdeen, by Prof. Matthew J. Smith (UCL), Director of the Centre for the Legacies of British Slavery.

Places to attend in person are available and all welcome bit.ly/3IjbMVj 2/2

Slavery, Big Data, and the Cultures of Caribbean Ancestral Histories

Royal Historical Society public lecture at the University of Aberdeen

bit.ly

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Sep 4

Thrilled to share early endorsements for #Ruthless!

Huge thanks to @sathnam.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, @antonhowes.bsky.social, William Pettigrew, and Nicholas Radburn for their generous words.

yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Book cover of Ruthless by Edmond Smith, published by Yale University Press

Five endorsements for Ruthless praising its research, originality, and vivid writing, from Sathnam Sanghera, Emma Griffin, William Pettigrew, Anton Howes, and Nicholas Radburn (1/2)

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 21

Just a few days to go before the deadline - 25 August.

There's huge scope within the project to develop work related to trade, cross-cultural encounter and empire in the early modern world, in geographies stretching across Africa and Asia.

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Research Associate in Early Modern Global History:Oxford Road

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 19

Working in the John Rylands this week with a restored check-cotton sample book. These are two microscopic images of dyed and bleached cotton with origins in American plantations used in designs which were likely destined for African markets.

Photo of vibrant blue cotton fibres seen under a microscope.

Photo of bleached cotton fibres seen under a microscope.

Photo of cotton sample for sale by Samuel Oldknow c. 1790.

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thank you 😊

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thank you! 👍

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 18

With proofing and indexing now done (a fun week...), #Ruthless is starting to feel very real!

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 16

Fantastic to hear - congratulations 👍

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs) @memorients.bsky.social · Aug 13

Research Associate in Early Modern Global History, University of Manchester:

memorients.com/news/researc...

Research Associate in Early Modern Global History, University of Manchester | MEMOs

Uni of Manchester, Early Modern Global History

memorients.com

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 13

One of my RAs landed a permanent job in Madrid (which is awesome!) so I'm now advertising for a new one!

It's to work on my INTRECCI project on global histories of capitalism.

Please share with anyone interested and happy to answer questions.

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Research Associate in Early Modern Global History:Oxford Road

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 12

It's always a great feeling to unpack author copies, but bittersweet for this book I "co-authored" with Richard Smith at the request of his widow after he sadly passed. Hopefully it will serve as a worthy finale and inspire students today as much as his work inspired me during my UG studies.

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 10

Done my butterfly count for the year! Dunno if it's just weather or three years of building a pollinator paradise, but twice as many and four times as many varieties this year over 2024 🦋🐝

bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 7

Very happy to see Desiree Baptiste's important work picked up by Reuters today.

www.reuters.com/world/uk/new...

New research adds to pressure on British monarchy over historical ties to slavery

New research shows that Britain's King George IV, who ruled for a decade until 1830, personally profited from enslaved labour on Grenadian plantations, a finding that experts say heightens pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery.

www.reuters.com

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Aug 1

We've had great opportunities to visit some incredible collections during the first year of the INTRECCI project. Safya Morshed has written up some thoughts about linking economic systems through material objects made and consumed across early modern Eurasia.

intrecci-project.org/understandin...

Understanding Global Exchange: A Route through Artefacts | INTRECCI

Linking economic systems through museum exhibitions at the V&A, Burrell Collection, Gulbenkian Collection and British Museum

intrecci-project.org

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Dr Victoria Bateman @vnbateman.bsky.social · Jul 31

Want to read an “erudite, ambitious & richly global” book that “sets a new standard in economic history”? Then my forthcoming book #Economica is for you. If you’re in the UK, for tonight only you can get 25% off if you preorder @waterstones.bsky.social: www.waterstones.com/book/economi... #SUMMER25

Economica by Victoria Bateman | Waterstones

Buy Economica by Victoria Bateman from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

www.waterstones.com

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jul 31

A small number, but certainly nothing on the scale of your new tome! I'm looking forward to reading, btw 👍

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Camilla de Koning @camilladekoning.bsky.social · Jul 8

CfP is out! Sign up, share, come visit, very excited about this. Let's get some great female case-studies!

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jul 22

Great to see coverage of work by some of Manchester's most engaged students in the Guardian today: www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...

For the full essays by Destinie Reynolds, Beth Carson, Moleka Newman, Aimee Eggington and Aashe Singh: www.royalexchange.co.uk/visit-eat-dr...

Manchester’s Royal Exchange rooted in slavery and colonialism, research reveals

Links to enslavement, exploitation and opium make it ‘one of most important locations in history of global capitalism’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Tim Waterman @tim-waterman.co.uk · Jul 17

That the incredible cognitive power of the human brain and body takes only 2000 calories a day to fuel, and occupies quite considerably less than the space of Manhattan, suggests there is something catastrophically wrong with the design of AI.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Jul 17

'Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that Meta would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on developing artificial intelligence products in the near future and, to that end, construct a data center planned to be nearly the size of Manhattan.' 1/3

Zuckerberg says Meta will build data center the size of Manhattan in latest AI push

CEO says company plans to spend hundreds of billions on developing artificial intelligence products

www.theguardian.com

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jul 1

It's been a while since I've been in the EIC's earliest letters.

A good start with Nicholas Downton's miserable account and 'swarms of perplexed thoughts' about the shocking failure of his first voyage to the Red Sea and India.

Mainly the 'Turks', Portuguese and Mughal officials to blame, obv.

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jun 30

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to run a workshop with some brilliant colleagues at CHAM in Lisbon on "Cross Cultural Exchanges in the EM IOW".

Mariana has written up a very nice review of the event: intrecci-project.org/cross-cultur...

Cross Cultural Exchanges in the Early Modern Indian Ocean World | INTRECCI

A workshop hosted in collaboration with CHAM as part of the INTRECCI project.

intrecci-project.org

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Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jun 19

Be the beaver! Save the world! 🦫🌎

I've been doing a little volunteering with Slow the Flow over the past couple of months (my wife is a trustee) and they've produced this excellent little video about the 5 top reasons for supporting nature-based solutions to flooding.

youtu.be/TRYb2HqlnTc?...

What are the five key messages? Slow The Flow 2025

YouTube video by Slow The Flow

youtu.be

Edmond Smith @edmond-smith.bsky.social · Jun 16

Last year I had a great experience contributing my research (and voiceover skills, such as they are) to a film by artist and director Jenn Nkiru called "The Great North".

The final release is still a little while away, but I'm excited to share the trailer. More soon!

vimeo.com/1028107702

THE GREAT NORTH by Jenn Nkiru, teaser

A vibrant reflection on Black history and architecture in Manchester by the British-Nigerian director Jenn Nkiru. Black history and modern-day architecture intertwine…

vimeo.com

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Reposted by Edmond Smith

Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · Jun 4

Love’s Labour Launches with a roar! Thanks to many roarsome people I’ve gone from peasant to PhD, to Professor, and Penguin author with Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction out today. 🐅

Pls share, read, and help create a worthwhile world.
#WorldEnvironmentDay
#BookSky #HPS #Skystorians 🗃️

Book cover for Vanished. Features a nineteenth-century print with a fossilised mastodon skeleton, Asian elephant being ridden by a turbaned man, Native and colonial figures looking on. In the background is a mountainous landscape and there is also a single passenger pigeon in the sky. The whole scene is framed by an ornate frame and foliage.

Below the book is the following text: A love letter to the astonishing ways of being that have survived past extinctions, and an exhortation to create a worthwhile world.

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