Midge Gillies

@midgegillies.bsky.social reveals the remarkable stories of the early female pilots risking it all to cross the Atlantic.
Another top read for 2025. #histbookchat

Please find below a link to my book review.
historybookchat.blogspot.com/2025/11/atla...

What a lovely review (& with a pun at the very end!). Thank you!

Having dodged the worse of the weather warning for Wales today, it's even nicer to come home to some book post.
Delighted to have received a review copy of @midgegillies.bsky.social new book. #histbookchat

That’s wonderful, thanks for sharing @flyingarchivist.bsky.social

More signed copies of Atlantic Furies @heffers.bsky.social and Waterstones Cambridge @scribeuk.bsky.social

Lovely eve celebrating publication of my friend @midgegillies.bsky.social new bk #AtlanticFuries, abt the women who risked everything to be the 1st to fly. The Telegraph said Midge’s previous biog of #AmyJohnson had them ‘gripped, exhilarated and moved’ ✈️✈️

I really hope so too!

Have you enjoyed this week’s Patreon episode? 🎧✨ Support the author, and me 📚❤️ by buying a copy of "Atlantic Furies" by @midgegillies.bsky.social through the History Rage Bookshop!

📖 Buy the book: uk.bookshop.org/a/10...
🎧 Listen: www.patreon.com/post...

#History #podcast

🚨 THIS WEEK TO PATREON AND APPLE 🚨 🌏 No GPS. No radio. Just guts, maps & skill. 🗺️ @midgegillies.bsky.social reveals how Amy Johnson fought through sandstorms, monsoons & deserts to reach Australia solo in 1930 🚀💪.
🎧 Listen: www.patreon.com/post...
#HistoryRage #AmyJohnson #Podcast

🚨 THIS WEEK FOR SUBSCRIBERS 🚨 ✈️ Amelia Earhart was a legend — but she wasn’t alone! Historian @midgegillies.bsky.social tells the incredible stories of forgotten women aviators who risked everything to fly into history 🌍🔥

🎧 Listen now: www.patreon.com/post...

#WomenInHistory #Podcast

🚨 NEXT WEEK FOR SUBSCRIBERS 🚨

Ready for take-off? 🚀 @midgegillies.bsky.social shares stories about aviation’s fierce female pioneers who flew beyond Amelia Earhart’s shadow ✈️🔥

Early access: www.patreon.com/historyrage
Or join on Apple subscriptions

#HistoryRage #AviationHistory

I first read this book over a decade ago. I love it (as I do most of @midgegillies.bsky.social work. David had this one sitting in a book pile and I thought, I would like to revisit it. I can't find my copy (double stacked shelves) so I nicked it! #histbookchat I love it more: it's brilliant!

@kristenauthor.bsky.social oh my goodness, what a lovely comment to read on a Sunday morning - or any time! That’s so kind of you. Thanks a million!

✈️✨ Huge thanks to @midgegillies.bsky.social for raging that “IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT AMELIA EARHART!” 🙅‍♀️🛩️ We dived into early female aviators — danger ⚡, press treatment 📰 and exploding inner tubes 💥.

Landing on Patreon & Apple Subs in October! 🎙️🔥

#History #Aviation #WomenInHistory #Podcast

Great finally to meet Judith Grandi from the @grantamag.bsky.social @profwriting.bsky.social #memoir course in person. We agreed we were both taller in the flesh! Thanks to everyone who came to the launch of the new edition of The Barbed-Wire University #POWs #WW2 & to Toppings bookshop

Do you have a number for Ray?

Yellow fields below a blue sky with white clouds. Seen from the train window.

Off on a familiar journey to Cambridge. But not to work teaching English A Level as I'd have been doing 15 years ago. I'm off to Heffers @blackwells.bsky.social to talk about #LandBeneaththeWaves and there'll be some familiar faces in the audience! ☺️ #chronicillness #lifewriting #booksky

Hearing about the icy conditions mid Atlantic, as told in this wonderful book, is a great way to stay cool! Hope to see you there. 🧊🌎🐳

Dear all! I have a new intake starting on July 7th for my course on British children's literature in the 20th century and it would be lovely to have you there. www.ice.cam.ac.uk/course/briti.... More than happy to answer any questions on this - do feel free to message.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE BIG HOP by @rooneyvision.bsky.social & look forward to hearing more on Mon 30 June at Ely Toppings. See you there! www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/ely/r...

Midge Gillies at St Peter's Church

It feels appropriate to be back at St Peter’s Church in Ely 14 years after the original publication of The Barbed-Wire University. At the relaunch on Thurs 31 July I’ll be talking about the stories that emerged after the book was published & much more. www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/ely/g...

Scout has something meaty to sink her teeth into! Inspired by meeting the amazing #WillYoung & visiting #Stalag Luft III as part of @WDYTYA_UK The Barbed-Wire University is being re-issued with substantial afterword, new pics etc. Order from your local bookshop or shorturl.at/Vy3px #POWs

Three bucket list items crossed off: meeting Will Young, being on Who Do You Think You Are and visiting Stalag Luft III.
BBCiplayer: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Will Young is the tops. Read more about #POWs in the new edition of The Barbed-Wire University: www.amazon.co.uk/.../ref=mona...

Scout has taken the plunge(r)!

The Essay - Books for Brighter Blackouts - 4. Prisoners of war: escapism and escape - BBC Sounds Emma Smith uncovers five surprising stories about books and reading during World War Two.

Fab to talk about #reading & #Prisonersofwar (#POWs) in @theul.bsky.social for BBC Radio 3, "Books for Brighter Blackouts" www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Thanks to Prof Emma Smith & Beaty Rubens. Pre-order the new edition of The Barbed-Wire University here: www.safehavenbooks.co.uk/the-barbed-w...

Great evening @heffers with @bonnielj.bsky.social talking about her wonderful new book Vanishing Landscapes @hodderbooks.bsky.social

Vanishing Landscapes is a fascinating, gorgeous book & I can’t wait to discuss it with Bonnie Lander Johnson at Heffers in Cambridge Thursday 10 April, 6pm. Come & find out why Tudor men dyed their beards green - & much more

Online Writing Week: Historical Fiction | Scene, structure and voice | Arvon 'The past is a foreign country', as the novelist L.P. Hartley famously said. But how do writers recreate the past in ways that engage the modern reader? Award-winning historical fiction writers Rebecc...

Am teaching historical fiction online @arvonfoundation.bsky.social week commencing 5 May with Rebecca Abrams. Great opportunity to gain inspiration, confidence and skills. Suitable for those with a work in progress and beginners as well. #historicalfiction #writinglife

www.arvon.org/writing-cour...

Great to be back in the archives today & this one within walking distance of home! Humbling to read about the exploits of the Cambridgeshire Regiment in Singapore & Thailand for a new edition of my #POW book, "The Barbed-Wire University".

To do list:
1. Switch on computer
2. Register (see below)
3. Zoom, 13 March, 7-8pm, GMT.
4. Sit back
5. Listen to Lulah Ellender talking about writing & her books, including "Elisabeth's Lists".
6. Ask question . . . or not.
7. Feel inspired.
ice-cambridge.my.salesforce-sites.com/.../targetX...