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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox
@oispooky.bsky.social
5.4K followers 660 following 3.2K posts
👩🏻‍💻 PR @britsciassoc.bsky.social 🥊 1880s boxing + wrestling historian 📕 THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR (Duckworth, 2026/27) ✍🏻 Moscow, Munroe, Goodson, Wannop, Smith, Ball &c. 🤜🏻 Advisor #AThousandBlows 🏖️ Clacton-on-Sea 🖤 www.grapplingwithhistory.com
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · Feb 26
I'm sitting in a cafe at Goldsmiths having a bit of a cry. Not for the first time 😂

Thank you @davidolusoga.bsky.social, thank you @jaseokundaye.bsky.social. Thank you for this acknowledgement, but mostly thank you for sharing Hezekiah's story as it should be 🙏🏻

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/fe...
Screenshot of Guardian article headline by Jason Okundaye. it has a photo of Hezekiah Moscow and title How A Thousand Blows recovers the lost history of a lion taming West Indian boxer Clip from article. It reads: As David Olusoga – who also sits on the board for the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian – tells me, the boxing and wrestling historian Sarah Elizabeth Cox is the authority on constructing the real Hezekiah Moscow’s life. Research published on her blog, Grappling With History, inspired his depiction in A Thousand Blows and provided insight on his life. Moscow, born around 1862, was a “traveller” from the West Indies who became a lion tamer and performer at an east London aquarium – he was later accused by the RSPCA of “cruelly ill-treating” four bears. As Cox writes, these allegations were likely to have been false and malicious as the accuser had been subjected to a “summons for perjury for fabricating evidence against Moscow and the aquarium”.
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 5h
This is such a perfect description haha, thank you 🥊
Reposted by Sarah Elizabeth Cox
allisonhantschel.com
Allison Hantschel @allisonhantschel.com · 1d
If you're into fight scenes and also escapism and hot people, A Thousand Blows on Hulu is excellent.
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 5h
*The Definitely Not An Official Tie-In Book
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 5h
Yes it will 🥊🤜🏻🤛🏾

I'll be sitting in my attic finishing off the book. If you cancelled your Disney subscription, maybe you could buy that instead, ta 😜
empiremagazine.bsky.social
Empire Magazine @empiremagazine.bsky.social · 6h
Steven Knight's Victorian boxing drama A Thousand Blows will return for Season 2 on Disney+ in January 2026.

Read more: www.empireonline.com/tv/news/a-th...
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Reposted by Sarah Elizabeth Cox
oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
1898 - The Greatest Showman Alf Ball's boxing booth at St Giles Fair, Oxford. Alf, a top 1880s middleweight, on the right. This was around the time he stopped fighting a Mexican Puma - you can see them depicted in the middle banner - and started getting a bit more into being a Bioscope presenter:
Image from Historic England archives dated 1898. It is a black and white photo of six men in front of ornate banners and frontage, advertising boxing in front of a crowd. There is a tall black man on the left in a fur trimmed robe, he is either a boxer or perhaps an animal tamer, four shorter men in white undershirts and hats in the centre and Alf in waistcoat, tie, shirt and hat on right. Women, men and young boys and girls look on.
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Reposted by Sarah Elizabeth Cox
piegoblin.bsky.social
Pro Bollard Account @piegoblin.bsky.social · 14h
I found a piece of my 9yos homework where she says she plans to "lavish herself with knowledge"
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
The ONLY GOOD INTERNET. It should have started and ended with Hampsterdance.
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Reposted by Sarah Elizabeth Cox
oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Seconds out! Round one!

THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR

This isn't an official announcement from Duckworth. It's a page from my agent's newsletter and book fair rights catalogue, which is public. So, a tiny-text soft launch? Details subject to change.

A lot of thank yous and less Disney, to come.

🐻🥊👊🏾👊🏻🦁🍺
Page from literary agency Curious Minds rights guide for Frankfurt Book Fair etc. Alongside a photo of me looking slightly drunk and a lot hostile, it says, in tiny font: NEW DEALS AGENT - Eli Keren PUBLISHER - Duckworth PUBLICATION - Spring 2027 STATUS - Manuscript due April 2026 LENGTH - 80,000 words RIGHTS SOLD World English (Duckworth) The Devil’s Dance Floor Late-Victorian London and the Last Bareknuckle Boys SARAH ELIZABETH COX An 1880s’ group biography of the last of Britain’s bareknuckle boxers from the historical consultant behind A Thousand Blows (Disney+/Hulu) THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is the first popular book from Sarah Elizabeth Cox, the historical consultant behind Steven Knight’s television series A Thousand Blows and author of the historical blog ‘Grappling with History’. A group biography of Victorian boxers, THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is a cultural history that does far more than recount the true story behind the fictionalized version now streaming. Taking a narrative approach, Cox charts the decline of bareknuckle boxing over the 1880s, and, in doing so, explores subjects ranging from policing and healthcare to the press and entertainment – all while offering a personal-scale view of the melting point of Victorian London (think Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper but with a lot more getting punched in the face). The subjects themselves hail from as far afield as London’s East End and the North to the United States and the Caribbean. Each has a unique story to tell and reveals something not only about our shared history but also about the world we live in today. Sarah Elizabeth Cox was a historical consultant on season one and two of Steven Knight's 1880s’ boxing and crime TV drama A Thousand Blows. She researches biographies of Victorian and Edwardian boxers and wrestlers for her website ‘Grappling with History’ and works as the British Science Association’… 1888 portrait of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, a slim Black or Black/East Asian mixed heritage man, taken by Harry Carpenter. He is shirtless, fists raised, wearing white tights and a chequered sash at the waist. There are painted palms on the studio backdrop.
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Isn't it! Not labelled as Alf Ball on the Historic England site but I recognised him immediately. Such a shame I can't identify the other boxers, but still working on it. He toured with several Black boxers earlier, like Felix Scott & Jack Watson but Scott had his own touring booth by '98. Hmm!
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you! He runs the Pier a five minutes walk from my flat, which is an extremely weird but very useful coincidence 😂
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Last week I sat down with one of Alf's great great grandsons, exchanged pictures and information, and got his support for my book. So excited. Lots more to come. Alf is an absolute boss.
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
1898 - The Greatest Showman Alf Ball's boxing booth at St Giles Fair, Oxford. Alf, a top 1880s middleweight, on the right. This was around the time he stopped fighting a Mexican Puma - you can see them depicted in the middle banner - and started getting a bit more into being a Bioscope presenter:
Image from Historic England archives dated 1898. It is a black and white photo of six men in front of ornate banners and frontage, advertising boxing in front of a crowd. There is a tall black man on the left in a fur trimmed robe, he is either a boxer or perhaps an animal tamer, four shorter men in white undershirts and hats in the centre and Alf in waistcoat, tie, shirt and hat on right. Women, men and young boys and girls look on.
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Reposted by Sarah Elizabeth Cox
mainemillennial.bsky.social
The Maine Millennial @mainemillennial.bsky.social · 1d
A mixed race Victorian era boxer who was ALSO a LION TAMER and his name was HEZEKIAH MOSCOW??? pack it up everyone we found the coolest person ever to exist
oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Seconds out! Round one!

THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR

This isn't an official announcement from Duckworth. It's a page from my agent's newsletter and book fair rights catalogue, which is public. So, a tiny-text soft launch? Details subject to change.

A lot of thank yous and less Disney, to come.

🐻🥊👊🏾👊🏻🦁🍺
Page from literary agency Curious Minds rights guide for Frankfurt Book Fair etc. Alongside a photo of me looking slightly drunk and a lot hostile, it says, in tiny font: NEW DEALS AGENT - Eli Keren PUBLISHER - Duckworth PUBLICATION - Spring 2027 STATUS - Manuscript due April 2026 LENGTH - 80,000 words RIGHTS SOLD World English (Duckworth) The Devil’s Dance Floor Late-Victorian London and the Last Bareknuckle Boys SARAH ELIZABETH COX An 1880s’ group biography of the last of Britain’s bareknuckle boxers from the historical consultant behind A Thousand Blows (Disney+/Hulu) THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is the first popular book from Sarah Elizabeth Cox, the historical consultant behind Steven Knight’s television series A Thousand Blows and author of the historical blog ‘Grappling with History’. A group biography of Victorian boxers, THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is a cultural history that does far more than recount the true story behind the fictionalized version now streaming. Taking a narrative approach, Cox charts the decline of bareknuckle boxing over the 1880s, and, in doing so, explores subjects ranging from policing and healthcare to the press and entertainment – all while offering a personal-scale view of the melting point of Victorian London (think Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper but with a lot more getting punched in the face). The subjects themselves hail from as far afield as London’s East End and the North to the United States and the Caribbean. Each has a unique story to tell and reveals something not only about our shared history but also about the world we live in today. Sarah Elizabeth Cox was a historical consultant on season one and two of Steven Knight's 1880s’ boxing and crime TV drama A Thousand Blows. She researches biographies of Victorian and Edwardian boxers and wrestlers for her website ‘Grappling with History’ and works as the British Science Association’… 1888 portrait of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, a slim Black or Black/East Asian mixed heritage man, taken by Harry Carpenter. He is shirtless, fists raised, wearing white tights and a chequered sash at the waist. There are painted palms on the studio backdrop.
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you! 🤘🏻
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Much nicer! I have many concerns and questions over AI and avoid it, by and large. I hate that it puts proper artists out of business, for example. But, not gonna lie, I do enjoy a little colourisation and old photo touch up from time to time. Just for fun.
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
He definitely would have been wearing shoes 😏
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Lions, wolves, bears, AND a hyena... 😂
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Hah, thank you so much! The first of my blogs below is from 2019, there's a creative fictional version of Mr Moscow's story in A Thousand Blows, and LOTS more to come in my book! Two Black Americans, two Caribbean boxers, a Showman, Cockneys, a Cumbrian! 👊🏻👊🏾

grapplingwithhistory.com/2019/05/07/w...
Where Did You Go, Hezekiah Moscow? The Life and Times of Ching Hook (Part I: 1882-87)
Search the internet for “Victorian boxers”, “British boxers 1800s”, or any of the related phrases comprising 90 per cent of my Googling history, and you will probably – hopefully – come…
grapplingwithhistory.com
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Thank you thank you 🙏🏻
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
Interesting, thank you! Gosh, a young death. I'll do a bit more reading. Got books two and three all planned out (in my head, anyway) and try to avoid the Georgians as I think so many boxing historians before me have been there and done that. Never say never though! Sure there's more to do..
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
It's also about how the Met Police are corrupt, mental health care is abysmal, and young men are young men and very very silly sometimes. It's set mostly in the 1880s and '90s but y'know, is it really, etc.
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 1d
I'm writing this book partly, mostly, for readers who aren't already into boxing 🥊

The Devil's Dance Floor is about pugilists, pressmen, policemen, and Alf Ball's pet puma. Murder, madness, Jem Smith's tight tights. We got wives. Bald bears. A Victorian epidemic of discarded orange peel! Smallpox!
oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Seconds out! Round one!

THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR

This isn't an official announcement from Duckworth. It's a page from my agent's newsletter and book fair rights catalogue, which is public. So, a tiny-text soft launch? Details subject to change.

A lot of thank yous and less Disney, to come.

🐻🥊👊🏾👊🏻🦁🍺
Page from literary agency Curious Minds rights guide for Frankfurt Book Fair etc. Alongside a photo of me looking slightly drunk and a lot hostile, it says, in tiny font: NEW DEALS AGENT - Eli Keren PUBLISHER - Duckworth PUBLICATION - Spring 2027 STATUS - Manuscript due April 2026 LENGTH - 80,000 words RIGHTS SOLD World English (Duckworth) The Devil’s Dance Floor Late-Victorian London and the Last Bareknuckle Boys SARAH ELIZABETH COX An 1880s’ group biography of the last of Britain’s bareknuckle boxers from the historical consultant behind A Thousand Blows (Disney+/Hulu) THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is the first popular book from Sarah Elizabeth Cox, the historical consultant behind Steven Knight’s television series A Thousand Blows and author of the historical blog ‘Grappling with History’. A group biography of Victorian boxers, THE DEVIL’S DANCE FLOOR is a cultural history that does far more than recount the true story behind the fictionalized version now streaming. Taking a narrative approach, Cox charts the decline of bareknuckle boxing over the 1880s, and, in doing so, explores subjects ranging from policing and healthcare to the press and entertainment – all while offering a personal-scale view of the melting point of Victorian London (think Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper but with a lot more getting punched in the face). The subjects themselves hail from as far afield as London’s East End and the North to the United States and the Caribbean. Each has a unique story to tell and reveals something not only about our shared history but also about the world we live in today. Sarah Elizabeth Cox was a historical consultant on season one and two of Steven Knight's 1880s’ boxing and crime TV drama A Thousand Blows. She researches biographies of Victorian and Edwardian boxers and wrestlers for her website ‘Grappling with History’ and works as the British Science Association’… 1888 portrait of boxer Hezekiah Moscow, a slim Black or Black/East Asian mixed heritage man, taken by Harry Carpenter. He is shirtless, fists raised, wearing white tights and a chequered sash at the waist. There are painted palms on the studio backdrop.
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Hasn't got a single parrot in it. Bears, lions, Mexican puma, donkeys, pig with a human foot, though...
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Thank you! Hoping Duckworth will want to say something this year, tbc...
oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 2d
Thanks so much! Subtitle still subject to change (felt okay with 'boys' as I'll be 40 when it comes out and in the main part of their stories they're in their 20s, my boys, but, hmm...). Hoping title-proper remains. Because it really IS good isn't it 😂 REAL controversy could be with 'Dancefloor'...
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