Mark Jones

You've got me thinking now...will need to check when I log on tomorrow.

I can sympathise with this - in the charity I work for, almost everyone seems to be called Emma, Louise, or Catherine (or variations thereof).

Great work, Matt!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels he has to prove he reads things other than military history!

Marines fight in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2004. BRENNAN LINSLEY, AP

3/...in Ramadi focuses on a series of extended vignettes, rather than a more traditional chronology. Even so, the book is engaging, well written, and offers a crucial perspective on this critical period of the #GWOT.

A quick review, but a book certainly worth your time 🙂

#HistBookChat #GWOT #USMC

2/...during 2004, a critical period that laid the foundations of the Civil War that would torment Iraq for the next decade.

Like his previous book on the 503rd Airborne in the Korengal Valley of Eastern Afghanistan, Zorroya's retelling of 2/4's experiences...

#HistBookChat #Skystorians #GWOT #USMC

Happy #HistBookChat day folks. A quick review of Gregg Zoroya's new(ish) book "Unremitting".

Covering an understudied aspect of the Iraq War's historiography, the book recounts the experience of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment ('The Magnificent Bastards') in Ramadi...

#Skystorians #GWOT #USMC

Another awesome looking regimental history Chez 👍👍👍

#histbookchat deep into this biography of the Australian General Thomas Blamey by my favourite author.

Awesome stuff Alex! Will be really keen to hear how you find it 👍

Some things just aren't appropriate to be committed to written memory 😅

A quick review for #HistBookChat

"Squaddies" has proven to be a really interesting sociological study of the British Army of the early 1980s. I'm certainly intrigued to compare its findings with those of Helen Parr's outstanding "Our Boys".

Certainly worth your time (and money!)

#Skystorians

Looks really interesting!

YouTube video by SAHR Lectures SAHR Online Talk September 2025: Simon Shephard and Vic Carr - Gentlemen and Ladies of Character

Bringing our bank of online talks right up to date on YouTube, we have this piece by Simon Shephard and Vic Carr looking at British Army officer selection: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jl-...

I mean I'm by no means an expert on small unit tactics, but I'm also not convinced 'moving out and drawing fire' is quite the military maxim he thinks it is.

a close up of a man 's face with a black hat on . ALT: a close up of a man 's face with a black hat on .

I have to say I'm intrigued by the number of 'pro-military coup' accounts that have come out of the woodwork on Bluesky today 👀

🚨 Fully Funded PhD at Swansea 🚨

Politics & IR | A variety of topics within the department | Includes 3-month placement.

🗓 Apply by 11 Dec 2025 | Start Oct 2026
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Thank you that's really helpful (and interesting!)

Only When I Laugh: Raising Patient Morale During the Italian Campaign

My latest post uses primary sources to examine how entertainment raised morale in hospitals during the Italian campaign and examines what Joyce Grenfell taught the British Army after her first tour in 1944. #skystorians #milwelfhist open.substack.com/pub/matteato...

It feels like an incident with the wider Iraq that's deserving of greater study/investigation (notwithstanding the excellent New Yorker article). I imagine it's a doubtful outcome under the current establishment.

That certainly feels in keeping with their respective characteristics

Whoa, hold on - I won't get any canapés when visiting Cardiff?

"Who reviews the reviewers?", or: the strange idea of peer-reviewing book reviews. Now in academic theaters near you

Amazing! Thank you!

I'd be very wary about sharing anything about the shooter, an X user has been identified as the shooter by the usual right wing idiots and he's replying to their posts, which is quite a thing considering the shooter is dead.

One for the Bluesky #submarine hive mind - any idea why the Italian Todaro submarines have a single star on their sails?

Is it an Italian submarine service tradition or representative of something else?

@covertshores.bsky.social @saturnax1.bsky.social @axe99.bsky.social

@yalebooks.bsky.social have outdone themselves with the cover of my new book. Out in January for anyone interested.

YouTube video by TheHorrorsVEVO The Horrors - More Than Life (Official)

"...More than life" in particular is 🔥🔥🔥

youtu.be/NEnosz-EWpA?...

Bit late to the party, but The Horrors new album - 'Night Life' - is an absolute Darkwave banger.

Highly recommended for doleful, shoe-gazy introverts out there (like me!)

I wonder how many people will be left on Academia after the change in T&Cs...quite a masterclass in abolishing oneself!