Jonathan Boff

Framing the First World War: How Diverging Views Shaped a Global Conflict Published in First World War Studies (Ahead of Print, 2026)

My review of excellent new book ‘Framing the First World War’ edited by the dream team @draefox.bsky.social @dmorganowen.bsky.social and Michael Finch is now in @fwwsjournal.bsky.social
50 free eprints available here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/VRRIQ...

I'm really pleased to see 'Finding and leaving traces: Prehabitation and the presence of the past in the Victorian-era prison' - co-written with Dominique Moran and Jennifer Turner - is now out in @jofhistgeog.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1016/j.jh...

I have questions, no answers, I fear

Book Launch: Charity After Empire British Humanitarianism, Decolonisation and Development

Book launch 3. Matthew Hilton’s Charity After Empire, Tues 24 March 6pm, Arts 2, @qmul.bsky.social, with @rshc.bsky.social, @riakapoor.bsky.social, David Williams, Kavita Datta and Bill Schwarz: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launc...

They are obviously on US side in the conflict with Iran but will that make them more dependent on 🇺🇸 ? If so, will that translate into them sliding away from 🇷🇺? (Is DJT capable of pushing those buttons???)
Or will they feel they have greater leverage on West now because allies versus Iran?

I am struggling to get my mind around how the attack on Iran and its retaliation affects the Gulf States’ attitude to Russia. Some have been making hay by enabling Putin under the cover of neutrality (while playing a sometimes unhelpful role in places like Sudan and Yemen). Can this continue now?

More ‘Here’s what could happen next’ is definitely what will happen next

It’s still early

Agreed. I was mainly of thinking FRA and the E3 although I realise 🇬🇧 has been Little Satan ever since it was Great Satan

….while the Iranian government is so trapped within its own paranoia that it is unable to distinguish between its enemies and lashes out indiscriminately, even at the risk of building the coalition against itself.
2/2

The contrast between how the regimes in Tehran and Moscow weaponise paranoia is interesting.
Putin uses narratives of encirclement and victimisation to build popular support but in practice subordinates paranoia to realpolitik and fights only those he feels he really needs to… 1/2

It’s a unique gift.

. Underscores the brutal incompetence of the Iranian regime. It deserves everything that’s coming at it.
I just wish it wasn’t coming in such an irresponsible, verging on criminally negligent and illegitimate manner.

Don’t elect Presidents who can’t be bothered to read a book.

He is a very good example of how time lends enchantment. Now remembered with a chuckle as an old-style principled parliamentarian, but in reality an unscrupulous old Stalinist rogue who’d gladly hang his own grandma

Mehr dazu 👇🏼
www.zms.bundeswehr.de/de/mediathek...

For someone who thinks he’s good at cutting deals, DJT sure seems to spend a lot of time giving other people what they want for not much in return

Emergency Exits: Discussion Day The end of the Second World War did not mean peace for everyone; it accelerated the fight for independence across the British Empire. In a major day of discussion and debate from the IWM Institute, a ...

Privileged to speak with talented colleagues today about colonial violence at the Imperial War Museum. I’ve been researching this in the IWM’s archives since 2002 and finally, in 2026, we are discussing the conflicts of the 1940s and 1950s.
www.iwm.org.uk/events/emerg...

If you are going to change regime, it’s a good idea to know what you want the new one to be like and to be able to help it happen.

Oh I think we can all agree that Charlotte embodies the new Conservative Party.
In her inability to get anyone to vote for her, if nothing else.

I have written the book, anyway.
I _think_ it’s good, but that’s for others to judge, of course.

We need a good book on how economic statecraft developed in the modern world and how understanding that history might help us practise it today.
The good news is: I’ve written it.
The bad news is: it won’t be out until next year.

Opinion: The US and other governments are embracing ‘economic statecraft’ believing it can enhance national security in a dangerous world, placate some voters and boost development, writes Patrick Foulis, an FT contributing editor. ft.trib.al/xT2JkkI

Nihil de mortuis nisi bonum is keeping me quiet today

I hope it’s the last we have heard of him but I fear it won’t be

Was left.
Definitely not Left now.

Bogof on jokes last night

Damned autocorrect - pest, not priest

Let’s hope this is the last we hear of this turbulent priest

It’s 2 months since I relaunched my history blog & I’m loving writing history again.

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