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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 1d

Just hosted a table at a fundraising event for the new #LondonMuseum. I can tell you it’s going to be fab!

Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks you lovely people! Number One in espionage biogs and number 61 in the whole of kindle!! Thank you so much. An hour to go to buy at just 99p

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

hushupimreading.bsky.social @hushupimreading.bsky.social · 2d

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy by @soniapurnell.bsky.social is a bargain 99p on Kindle today #affiliatelink amzn.to/4pP5j5s

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre)

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre) eBook : Purnell, Sonia: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

amzn.to

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks so much for pointing this out! A Woman of No Importance is insanely cheap today on Kindle at just 99p!!

hushupimreading.bsky.social @hushupimreading.bsky.social · 2d

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy by @soniapurnell.bsky.social is a bargain 99p on Kindle today #affiliatelink amzn.to/4pP5j5s

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre)

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy - 'Reads like a thriller' (Ben Macintyre) eBook : Purnell, Sonia: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

amzn.to

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 4d

Extremely good as always. The battle for Britain’s soul begins. Or does it?

Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 5d

Has Labour woken up? Latest post on my Brexit & Brexitism Blog analysing how Starmer’s Labour seems to be taking a firmer line with Reform and Brexitism, rattling Farage, but many ambiguities and contradictions remain: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2025/10/has-...

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 5d

In her lunch with the FT the OnlyFans CEO says her company pays more tax than the entire British fishing industry. Quite a stat.

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 5d

Loved this movie

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 5d

Rye Lane is on BBC2 tonight 9pm. The lovely escape you need from real life
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Two - Rye Lane

Two youngsters, reeling from bad breakups, connect over an eventful day in south London.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 14d

Thanks so much. You’re absolutely right

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 15d

An insight into the greatest problem of the modern age. Where beliefs/feelings outrank facts even if based on nothing

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 16d

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.

Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 16d

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 16d

What on Earth is this? An "in depth" BBC article about free speech in the UK that only cites examples of right-wing/ 'anti-woke' speech being suppressed. How can you mention Lucy Connolly but completely ignore Palestine Action / Just Stop Oil? Gob-smacking. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How the simmering UK freedom of speech row reached boiling point

How did we reach a point where the UK is being compared to a 'tin pot Third World dictatorship'?

www.bbc.co.uk

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 16d

Yes, concept of being able to name the entire Cabinet went out with the Ark. With only 1 or 2 exceptions, they achieve little of substance before being moved on or out. No way to run a country

Tim Durrant @timdurrant.bsky.social · 16d

Also true of lots of the people *inside* government - many officials (and quite a few MPs!) have only seen/remember post-2016 chaos and think that's how government works

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 16d

Theory: much of this is explained by journalism being quite a young business (crap money at lower levels, lot of bottlenecks, people age out). A lot of political journalists barely remember Westminster before things went nuts c2014. Not enough of the lobby grew up in peacetime.

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 16d

Nooooo!! Holding out here

Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 16d

Ed Davey does something else the government should be doing …Davey urges US cancer scientists to come to UK www.bbc.com/news/article...

Ed Davey urges US cancer scientists to come to UK

The Lib Dem leader will use his party conference speech to attack Donald Trump's "anti-science agenda".

www.bbc.com

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 16d

This

Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 16d

I’m so sick of seeing Farage and co on TV all the bloody time. They now know that if thy hold a press conference on any day ending in a ‘y’, they will be given endless coverage and broadcasting hours. All this for a party that could fit all of its MPs into a hatchback car.

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 16d

It would be good if the only political pushback against Nigel Farage's plans to mass deport hundreds of thousands of our neighbours, friends, family and colleagues didn't just come from a handful of backbench MPs and one regional mayor

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 16d

Oh wow! Thanks @waterstones.bsky.social for selecting Kingmaker as one of their books of the year. I’m so so thrilled. This paperback version waiting for you right now in all their stores.

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 16d

There should be a high bar for politicians attacking the media, but maybe Ed Davey has half a point here?

For example, the first three paragraphs of this BBC story repeat Reform's £243bn figure without saying that the thinktank behind the estimate now disowns it. (This is mentioned in paragraph 35)

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

Mark Pack @markpackuk.bsky.social · 18d

The media - no, we're not going to report on serious Lib Dem policies

The media - yes, we will report on fun stunts

The media, also - the Lib Dems need to show they've got serious policies

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 17d

Well, thank you so much Shona. Delighted to hear this not least because it looks like I’m coming to Canada v soon!

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 21d

Yes. Please do read

Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 22d

The most heartbreakingly powerful piece I’ve ever read on Substack. Please, please read and share. And look after your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues for whom England is becoming frightening.

@sturdyalex.bsky.social 👇

open.substack.com/pub/bestforb...

My place or yours? - Flags and the far right from someone who looks different to you

By Alex Andreou

open.substack.com

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 22d

Thanks so much for coming along. Great to meet you!

Cailee Davis @caileedavis.bsky.social · 22d

Looking forward to @soniapurnell.bsky.social’s talk on her new book #Kingmaker at the IWM London

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Reposted by Sonia Purnell FRHistS

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 24d

Just reviewed my first paper that cites an entirely hallucinated paper I had apparently written 😬

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 24d

Me too

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 24d

LibDem leader @eddavey.libdems.org.uk has a focus on how significant Musk's call for violence was. I would like to see a strong cross-party response.

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 25d

Couple of leery blokes with flags at Marylebone station being deliberately ignored by everyone else.

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Sonia Purnell FRHistS @soniapurnell.bsky.social · 27d

To say that Mandelson had been good at his job is also nonsense. DC contacts tell me he had made many enemies (not great for an ambassador) and there was this 5 minutes into the job www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/03...

Mandelson rebuked after saying Zelenskyy must give ‘unequivocal backing’ to Trump peace plan - Politics.co.uk

Lord Mandelson has been rebuked after saying Ukraine should be the first side to “commit to a ceasefire” in its war with Russia, as he called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to back Donald Trump’s minerals dea...

www.politics.co.uk

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