Philip Ruff
@ruffphilip.bsky.social
Anarchist historian with a weakness for Latvia, good music and things that go bump in the night. Anarhistu vēsturnieks.
"The Queens", Crouch End Broadway, London N8 - I often used to have a liquid lunch there during the 1970s (I worked around the corner); also a popular watering hole of Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer (photo, 1968).
February 6, 2026 at 6:29 PM
"The Queens", Crouch End Broadway, London N8 - I often used to have a liquid lunch there during the 1970s (I worked around the corner); also a popular watering hole of Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer (photo, 1968).
Hitler's pet Otto Skorzeny always kept an ace up his sleeve - The Strange Case of a Nazi Who Became an Israeli Hitman www.motl.org/the-strange-...
February 4, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Hitler's pet Otto Skorzeny always kept an ace up his sleeve - The Strange Case of a Nazi Who Became an Israeli Hitman www.motl.org/the-strange-...
So, Fiadh - what is it like to be three years old today?
Fiadh: Well, as Dolly Parton teaches us, "It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” But I'm doing my best! 🥳
Fiadh: Well, as Dolly Parton teaches us, "It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” But I'm doing my best! 🥳
January 29, 2026 at 5:55 PM
So, Fiadh - what is it like to be three years old today?
Fiadh: Well, as Dolly Parton teaches us, "It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” But I'm doing my best! 🥳
Fiadh: Well, as Dolly Parton teaches us, "It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” But I'm doing my best! 🥳
Sometimes even the weather has a sense of humour.
The 1953 North Sea flood. 🌧️
The 1953 North Sea flood. 🌧️
January 28, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Sometimes even the weather has a sense of humour.
The 1953 North Sea flood. 🌧️
The 1953 North Sea flood. 🌧️
January 28, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Still searching for the lost chord.
January 22, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Still searching for the lost chord.
Ferdinand Porsche presents Adolf Hitler with a Volkswagen convertible for his 50th birthday.
All Adolf really wanted was the Nobel Peace Prize. 🧐
All Adolf really wanted was the Nobel Peace Prize. 🧐
January 22, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Ferdinand Porsche presents Adolf Hitler with a Volkswagen convertible for his 50th birthday.
All Adolf really wanted was the Nobel Peace Prize. 🧐
All Adolf really wanted was the Nobel Peace Prize. 🧐
Who set fire to the Cat House?
And how was the murder of a Latvian anarchist connected to a dark secret that stretches back to the Kremlin?
Fact and fiction collide in my next book, The Cat House - nothing is real and everything is possible.
eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...
And how was the murder of a Latvian anarchist connected to a dark secret that stretches back to the Kremlin?
Fact and fiction collide in my next book, The Cat House - nothing is real and everything is possible.
eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...
January 19, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Who set fire to the Cat House?
And how was the murder of a Latvian anarchist connected to a dark secret that stretches back to the Kremlin?
Fact and fiction collide in my next book, The Cat House - nothing is real and everything is possible.
eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...
And how was the murder of a Latvian anarchist connected to a dark secret that stretches back to the Kremlin?
Fact and fiction collide in my next book, The Cat House - nothing is real and everything is possible.
eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...
So, pitched the idea of Fish n' Chip flavoured chocolates to business adviser Fiadh, but she reckoned it was too much of a niche market. Ah well, back to the drawing board! 🧐
January 18, 2026 at 3:50 PM
So, pitched the idea of Fish n' Chip flavoured chocolates to business adviser Fiadh, but she reckoned it was too much of a niche market. Ah well, back to the drawing board! 🧐
Laying flowers at the Lenin monument, Riga, 1960. (Lenin was taken away in 1991).
January 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Laying flowers at the Lenin monument, Riga, 1960. (Lenin was taken away in 1991).
January 11, 2026 at 5:18 PM
John, I'm only dancing". Elizabeth Taylor and David Bowie (Terry O’Neill, 1974).
January 10, 2026 at 9:19 PM
John, I'm only dancing". Elizabeth Taylor and David Bowie (Terry O’Neill, 1974).
Latvia's finest cartoonist @karikaturalv.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Latvia's finest cartoonist @karikaturalv.bsky.social
Ukrainian anarchist Lana "Sati" Chornogorska (25) died fighting against Russian occupiers on 1 January, 2026. A former journalist on "Luk" magazine, "Sati" volunteered for the army in 2004 and served in the "Udashniki" unit as a drone operator. #StandWithUkraine 🏴RIP
January 7, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Ukrainian anarchist Lana "Sati" Chornogorska (25) died fighting against Russian occupiers on 1 January, 2026. A former journalist on "Luk" magazine, "Sati" volunteered for the army in 2004 and served in the "Udashniki" unit as a drone operator. #StandWithUkraine 🏴RIP
Happy birthday to my dear amigo, Albert Meltzer.
Born on this day in 1920 - champion of class struggle anarchism, fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. 🏴
Born on this day in 1920 - champion of class struggle anarchism, fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. 🏴
January 7, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Happy birthday to my dear amigo, Albert Meltzer.
Born on this day in 1920 - champion of class struggle anarchism, fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. 🏴
Born on this day in 1920 - champion of class struggle anarchism, fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. 🏴
Ļoti interesanta grāmata (Riga, 2017) - iesaku.
January 6, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Ļoti interesanta grāmata (Riga, 2017) - iesaku.
Start the year as you mean to go on... 🥂
January 5, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Start the year as you mean to go on... 🥂
January 4, 2026 at 5:22 PM
3 January, 1911: wanted Latvian anarchist Fricis Svars and William Sokolov died resisting arrest in the Siege of Sidney Street, directed by Liberal Home Secretary Winston Churchill. He dismissed his critics as "Sour grapes - they only wish they had been there to see the fun!"
January 3, 2026 at 2:53 PM
3 January, 1911: wanted Latvian anarchist Fricis Svars and William Sokolov died resisting arrest in the Siege of Sidney Street, directed by Liberal Home Secretary Winston Churchill. He dismissed his critics as "Sour grapes - they only wish they had been there to see the fun!"
The Cat House (Kaķu nams).
"Harijs Klints was a Latvian fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe - but fact & fiction can be hard to untangle when the Stasi, West German anarchists & the KGB get involved in the story. And everything harks back to The Cat House."
"Harijs Klints was a Latvian fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe - but fact & fiction can be hard to untangle when the Stasi, West German anarchists & the KGB get involved in the story. And everything harks back to The Cat House."
January 2, 2026 at 5:45 PM
The Cat House (Kaķu nams).
"Harijs Klints was a Latvian fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe - but fact & fiction can be hard to untangle when the Stasi, West German anarchists & the KGB get involved in the story. And everything harks back to The Cat House."
"Harijs Klints was a Latvian fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe - but fact & fiction can be hard to untangle when the Stasi, West German anarchists & the KGB get involved in the story. And everything harks back to The Cat House."
Forced myself to get stuck into this by Charles Cumming - but two-thirds in, I'm finding it rather tedious. And it won't help me finish my own work of spy "faction" (The Cat House), which is a much better book! 😉
January 2, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Forced myself to get stuck into this by Charles Cumming - but two-thirds in, I'm finding it rather tedious. And it won't help me finish my own work of spy "faction" (The Cat House), which is a much better book! 😉
Daudz laimes jaunā gadā!
Wishing you all happiness in 2026!🍀
Wishing you all happiness in 2026!🍀
January 1, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Daudz laimes jaunā gadā!
Wishing you all happiness in 2026!🍀
Wishing you all happiness in 2026!🍀
Daudz laimes jaunā gadā!
Happy New Year! 🍀
Happy New Year! 🍀
December 31, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Daudz laimes jaunā gadā!
Happy New Year! 🍀
Happy New Year! 🍀