Alex
@stfconly.bsky.social
Ex-hack. Reads a lot. Most of it never seems to go in. Or stay in. Dull.
Feels like it is about time Americans learned who Clinton Baptiste is.
November 12, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Feels like it is about time Americans learned who Clinton Baptiste is.
Just finished the 1,000 page Judgment At Tokyo by Gary Bass. Not entirely sure what to make of it. Bass handles the detail well and fashions a compelling narrative from clearly extensive research, but the constant attempt to be even-handed is slightly wearing. #Histbookchat
November 12, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Just finished the 1,000 page Judgment At Tokyo by Gary Bass. Not entirely sure what to make of it. Bass handles the detail well and fashions a compelling narrative from clearly extensive research, but the constant attempt to be even-handed is slightly wearing. #Histbookchat
Post a fictional comedian who definitely would accept an invitation to the Riyadh Comedy Festival.
September 30, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Post a fictional comedian who definitely would accept an invitation to the Riyadh Comedy Festival.
My autocorrect clearly has very strong opinions about our breakfast choices.
September 17, 2025 at 7:22 PM
My autocorrect clearly has very strong opinions about our breakfast choices.
Kash Patel wearing a Liverpool tie is bad. But could history show us an example of something worse?
September 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Kash Patel wearing a Liverpool tie is bad. But could history show us an example of something worse?
It is great to read a history book that feels pleasing blunt in answering its central question but also opens other avenues through excellent counter factuals and comparisons, particularly around Britain’s own position in the 30s. #Histbookchat
August 6, 2025 at 8:49 PM
It is great to read a history book that feels pleasing blunt in answering its central question but also opens other avenues through excellent counter factuals and comparisons, particularly around Britain’s own position in the 30s. #Histbookchat
Despite saying to myself I was going to cut down on narrative history, I’ve just finished Stephen Fisher’s propulsive Sword Beach. It is meticulous, without being fussy, dramatic without overt sentiment and focussed while still comprehensive. #histbookchat
June 21, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Despite saying to myself I was going to cut down on narrative history, I’ve just finished Stephen Fisher’s propulsive Sword Beach. It is meticulous, without being fussy, dramatic without overt sentiment and focussed while still comprehensive. #histbookchat
Looks like they’ve gone for a new dark look for Pat Mustard.
May 30, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Looks like they’ve gone for a new dark look for Pat Mustard.
Finally finished. Clearly an excellent biography with a superb final chapter inspecting the man’s place in German history and legacy. However, for me, it wandered frequently into general WW2 history for a close study. #histbookchat
May 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Finally finished. Clearly an excellent biography with a superb final chapter inspecting the man’s place in German history and legacy. However, for me, it wandered frequently into general WW2 history for a close study. #histbookchat
‘Like new’. So much so that even the Middlesex University stamp is still extremely legible.
May 2, 2025 at 7:07 AM
‘Like new’. So much so that even the Middlesex University stamp is still extremely legible.
Umm. I’d quite like a footnote to follow up here. Please.
February 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Umm. I’d quite like a footnote to follow up here. Please.
You know when you read something in a book which you know isn’t right and suddenly you feel like you have to question all the information you’ve been given.
February 2, 2025 at 9:21 PM
You know when you read something in a book which you know isn’t right and suddenly you feel like you have to question all the information you’ve been given.
Haven’t started it today but it will take me a good way into 2025. Not sure how but Todman seems to make such a broad sweep of domestic, military and social look easy.
January 1, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Haven’t started it today but it will take me a good way into 2025. Not sure how but Todman seems to make such a broad sweep of domestic, military and social look easy.
Okay, it is bit retro (well, 2010s) but given - Basque cheesecake a go for NYE. Looks promising so far.
December 31, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Okay, it is bit retro (well, 2010s) but given - Basque cheesecake a go for NYE. Looks promising so far.
Hope everything is running like clockwork in your kitchen too.
December 25, 2024 at 1:02 PM
Hope everything is running like clockwork in your kitchen too.
Trying to judge the new intake on here: has it gone too highbrow for this sweet packet?
October 18, 2024 at 6:43 PM
Trying to judge the new intake on here: has it gone too highbrow for this sweet packet?
Will add to the list but saw this second hand and couldn’t resist. Haven’t read the first but for a fiver in hardback, I can fill in the rest later.
October 13, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Will add to the list but saw this second hand and couldn’t resist. Haven’t read the first but for a fiver in hardback, I can fill in the rest later.
Here is mine. But it is so very good, that I’m forever leafing through it.
September 6, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Here is mine. But it is so very good, that I’m forever leafing through it.
Picked up as a second-hand punt but proved to be on of the best things I’ve read in a while. Excellent use of diary sources to illuminate popular support and how the control of language is a significant tool in control of thought.
February 15, 2024 at 8:40 PM
Picked up as a second-hand punt but proved to be on of the best things I’ve read in a while. Excellent use of diary sources to illuminate popular support and how the control of language is a significant tool in control of thought.
About as Italian as it gets.
December 20, 2023 at 12:40 PM
About as Italian as it gets.
Finished Dimblebum’s Atlantic epic partly as it was a knowledge gap and partly as it was 99p. The Churchill apologist element I was expecting, the refusal to use centigrade at any point I was not.
November 10, 2023 at 10:10 PM
Finished Dimblebum’s Atlantic epic partly as it was a knowledge gap and partly as it was 99p. The Churchill apologist element I was expecting, the refusal to use centigrade at any point I was not.