Robert Bickers

We're hosting the CHA this year at UPEI in June. It's going to be a blast. It overlaps with the ACSC and the CCHA. Our wee campus is about the become the historical profession's version of a clown car.

I canvased hard locally to have this postcard from a family trip c.2001 on the programme cover.

Three-year Lectureship in the History of Modern China - please share widely!

jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...

#China #Skystorians #History

York History Department - Academic Jobs Uncover the past to define the future. We are seeking research-led historians to join our world-class, collaborative community. Discover career-defining opportunities within one of the UK’s most disti...

Good news for the weekend! Four posts in History at York:

Lecturer (Modern Middle East after 1800)

Lecturer (Medieval History c.1100-1450)

Lecturer (Modern China)

Associate Lecturer (Modern British History and Public History)

Find out all about them here:
features.york.ac.uk/history-jobs/

YouTube video by Hong Kong History Centre Patrick Hase x John Carroll: History and Hong Kong’s New Territories | 夏思義與高馬可對談——殖民地歷史與香港新界

We can now revisit all four panel discussions of Hong Kong Day 2025 (6 September 2025)

Here is the first panel:
Patrick Hase x John Carroll
Colonial Hong Kong and New Territories
youtu.be/3vtk9SnXig8

Map of the British empire in the 20th century, prior to decolonisation. Canada, significant portions of Africa, India, Australia, NZ etc in red, with areas not then (20th c.) colonised by British depicted in white, with blue oceanic background.

The 20th-century globe, as 'colonised by immigrants'.

YouTube video by John Finnemore The 5th of February

It’s the 5th of February. Time for a song. youtu.be/WJBrAIVrK-4?...

Book stall, pedlar, and shoppers, Hong Kong, c.1938 (Photo courtesy of Historical Photographs of China Project, Hutchinson Family Collection, reference Hn-d044)

'We understand Hong Kong as a subject providing a wide range of opportunities, as a city and a territory with a distinctive past that has never been more alive.'

Excellent write up on the @hongkonghistory.bsky.social in the latest @iias.bsky.social newsletter

For more pp.38-40 👉 brnw.ch/21wZEyV

Our latest quarterly round up: a busy three months in the life of the Hong Kong History Centre here at the University of Bristol @hongkonghistory.bsky.social @uobrishistory.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social

with a song about extraterritoriality, and the wonderful 'Someone in a Tree' about witnessing history in the making; www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpoK...

Speaking of thrillers, I heartily recommend this trilogy by @eadbrookes.bsky.social

Continue introducing our network of ECS, we have Dexter Tse sharing with us his reflections on his academic journey and current doctoral project on “Piracy and British Shipping in Hong Kong, 1900-1945”.

Read:
tinyurl.com/5n78d9ea

Great to see about 60 people showing up in History Salon last Saturday. A stimulating presentation on the Anglo-Chinese negotiation and experience in archival research by Gary Cheung, a veteran journalist and independent researcher, followed by bites of home-made egg rolls😋. What a wonderful day!

Accusation in the Mirror? Distinguishing Scholarship From Propaganda Alan Lester The Truth About Empire, a collection of essays for a public readership by fourteen leading historians of British colonialism that I edited and introduced, was the subject of Alexander M…

And here’s my response to an attempt to infiltrate this historical propaganda into a serious scholarly journal (albeit a Russian Empire - focused one): alanlester.co.uk/blog/accusat...

‘Since January 2025, I have collaborated with Imagined Malaysia, a Malaysia-based NGO, and started a public history campaign titled ‘Malaysia Unbound: Transregional Histories through Documents’…

Continue introducing our network of ECS, we have Yuan JIN sharing with us on her academic journey and current project on the Kowloon Waterworks system in Hong Kong.

Full text see:
tinyurl.com/4pwk72vf

And .. the Hong Kong History Centre here is also accepting applications for our Visiting Scholar Scheme
Come visit us here @uobrishistory.bsky.social
www.hkhistory.net/2025/11/24/v...

PhD Studentship: Hong Kong History Centre Studentship at University of Bristol Find a PhD Studentship: Hong Kong History Centre Studentship on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board in higher education. Click to view more!

Come join us, or please share the opportunities to: this 4-year Hong Kong History Centre PhD studentship is for projects focusing on any historical period
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPQ731/p...

PhD Studentship: Hong Kong History Centre Studentship (pre-1950 history) at University of Bristol Discover a PhD Studentship: Hong Kong History Centre Studentship (pre-1950 history) on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other PhD opportunities.

Come join us, or please share the opportunities to: our great 4-year PhD studentships are now advertised. This one is for pre-1950 history
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPQ727/p...

The articles for "Who Belongs in the Empire" have now been published together as a special issue in Itinerario alongside the highly relevant special issue "Hidden Economies of Slavery." Check out both open-access collections now!

Please share: 2 fully funded 4 year PhD studentships for autumn 2026 entry at the Hong Kong History Centre @hongkonghistory.bsky.social here at @uobartsmatter.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social

1/2 Two new posts, one on visualisingchina.net/blog, on Shanghai's former First World War Memorial (shown below as it never was): visualisingchina.net/blog/2025/10...

Objectively the best Medieval Summer School out there 😉 Please consider sharing and, even better, applying! 🙂

On our blog, a new post Dr Yorgos Moraitis introduces his new book on Robert Hart: visualisingchina.net/blog/2025/10...

Andy West (1960-2025) I have written briefly in the Guardian recently about the life and work of my former classmate Andy West who died in the summer, or at least some of it. Andy has left a large archive of his work, a…

I've added some links in this brief blog-post to other appreciations of Andy's work and interests.
robertbickers.net/2025/10/13/a...

The student union at SSEES in London held an Andropov Pop Off Party to mark his passing.

Andy West obituary Other lives: Expert in encoding scripts for languages

I've written about the life and just some of the achievements of my former classmate Andy West aka 魏安, Ando, and BabelStone @babelstone.co.uk
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Dr Sijie Ren, who was supervised by @robertbickers and Adrian Howkins, was awarded the British Association for Chinese Studies 'Best Doctoral Thesis Prize' for their PhD “Science and Politics in Maoist China: The Synthetic Insulin Project and its Legacy."

Out now with @oxunipress.bsky.social @uobartsmatter.bsky.social with thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk .... Joseph Stalin banned it, but was it too sexy or just too noisy?

A day in the life of Tom Baker, the fourth Doctor

And then there was this

A woman holds a book with the title ‘Electric Wind:An Energy History of Modern Britain’. She is smiling.

A small ginger, white and tabby cat curls up in a box of books with the title ‘Electric Wind’. She looks happy.

Electric Wind is here! Thank you for the surprise post @manchesterup.bsky.social ! Available for pre-order and in all good bookshops from 14 October 🙂