Dr Priya Atwal

British crown was world’s largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807, book reveals Exclusive: Author of The Crown’s Silence tells how navy and monarchy protected slave trade for hundreds of years

Definitely ordering a copy of this revelatory new book!

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

‘A medical miracle’: is period blood ‘the most overlooked opportunity’ in women’s health? Period blood has long been thought of as ‘stinky and useless’, but startups are exploring using the fluid to test for a wide range of health conditions – including difficult-to-diagnose endometriosis

This sounds like important research, and long, long overdue www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

After a sold-out 1st event, I’m excited for our next session this Fri on #Oxford histories of #health & #policy making. Speakers inc. historians Erica Charters & Sally Frampton, plus colleagues from @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social. Hope to see you there! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...

Happy #Diwali & #BandiChhorDiwas to all celebrating this week. Sending lots of love and light to everyone - it feels as though the world could really do with more of both right now!

Cecil Rhodes and the Election That Caused the Boer War

#CecilRhodes was once described as the single biggest threat to peace in southern #Africa. In 1898 a bitter election campaign did little to suggest otherwise.

⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free

www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...

We're excited to announce the call for papers for #MBS26, the next Modern British Studies conference, at Birmingham in June 2026. We'll be launching the #MBS Association at this event, to support further regular conferences in Modern British Studies.

www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

The first event in my Community History Hub series is this Fri! Come along to hear and share stories of protest over land/nature/#environment, and shape a new community-engaged project for Oxon & Bucks! #climate

Book a place or see our full programme: www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...

BBC Radio 4 - Britain's Fascist Thread Camilla Schofield explores the unbroken thread of fascism in Britain.

Now would be a great time to check out this BBC radio 4 series on the far right and racism in Britain by the amazing Camilla Schofield.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Wow, what an exciting job! Can we have more like this in the UK, please?

Excited to share the details of a new event series that I’ll be hosting in #Oxford this term for our Community History Hub! Exploring everything from oral history methods to the legacy of the local car plant. Book your tickets here, all are welcome! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...

Email Olivia.Wyatt@ed.ac.uk or Meleisa.Ono-George@history.ox.ac.uk to present online or in-person

Kicking off our fantastic line up with a showcase of new research! Get in touch if you are a postgraduate or early career researcher who would like to introduce their work to the field.

📍 Hybrid: N304, IHR, Senate House, WC1E 7HU and Online
📅 Thursday 16th October, 2025
⏰ 17:30
🔗 bit.ly/3INwCfO

Excited to share the details of a new event series that I’ll be hosting in #Oxford this term for our Community History Hub! Exploring everything from oral history methods to the legacy of the local car plant. Book your tickets here, all are welcome! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...

£77,816 er annum. What an exciting post.

Academia.edu is changing its Terms and Conditions, and they're so outrageous (AI training; signing over ownership to them etc) I closed my account today.

A thread with some practical tips if you want to delete your account (5 steps):

📣Calling all new research students in history & historical subjects. Do you want to learn how the IHR can help you during your studies?

Join us on the 8 October to find out more.

@royalhistsoc.org @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social @historyandpolicy.bsky.social @chppc.bsky.social

bit.ly/41UPOyG

Obviously we all know Bluesky is a retirement home for elder millennials but, if you happen to know any 18-30 people who might like to take a shot at this, do pass it on!

This really shouldn't even need saying, let alone agitating for. It is a truism more than a proposition.

Home

Our fab Community History Hub website has just had a refresh, thanks to the lovely Laura Spence @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social!

There's lots of #localhistory talks, plays & celebrations happening in #Oxford this Sept & Oct - don't miss out on the knowledge or the fun!

www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk

Labour wants to speak for "ordinary working people". It wants to be the party of patriotism & "national renewal". It badly needs a purpose & a moral mission.

Well here it is.

It is way past time to "speak for Britain" against billionaire-backed movements that want to terrorise ordinary Britons.

Greenwich and Kent announce merger to form 'super-university' Universities are facing ongoing financial worries, with the regulator saying other mergers could follow.

And so it begins… is this the start of a new era for British universities, with their increasingly broken financial models? In any case, good luck to the new ’London & South East’ university!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Briefing launch - Town and Gown: the role of universities in city economies - Centre for Cities Join Centre for Cities for an introduction to new analysis on the role of universities in their city's economy.

Centre for Cities will present findings from its recent analysis of universities' local economic impacts and answering your questions online tomorrow 📆
www.centreforcities.org/event/briefi...

With that, best of luck to teachers and university staff handling clearing and the start of term.

Nan’s Not Bankrupting Britain (But Politicians Might Be) Pensions, productivity, and the myth of the migrant “drain.”

The UK is a country with a rapidly ageing population that needs vast numbers of jobs filling. For it to crash all migration downwards because the public are enraged about small boats is the definition of national madness. www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/nans-not-b...

How do Britons see Reform UK, ahead of their 2025 conference? | YouGov While Britons tend to feel Reform UK are dominating the political agenda, just 24% believe they’d do a good job of running the country

This 'Reform are inevitable' narrative is rubbish. Fewer than a quarter of voters think they'd do a good job. Almost all their policies are hated. Their leader isn't liked. Even when the focus is on migration most reputable polls give them only a small overall majority.
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...

Teenage period pain linked to higher risk of chronic pain in Teenagers who experience moderate or severe period pain are significantly more likely to develop chronic pain in adulthood, including pain beyond the pelvis, according to a major new study from the

Pleased to see this compelling research study coming out of Oxford on teenage period pain & its potential long-term impacts. As someone who has long suffered with painful periods, I welcome such research & hope to see medical interventions coming out of it too!

www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Just a shout out to #skystorians #academicsky #historians #historyteacher #18c #c18 #georgians #history of #Caribbean #slavery people that my new book #Heiresses is out now. You can read more about it here: www.heiresses.co.uk/about-heires...

A grim week of migrant-bashing, and for what? People will suffer – and Labour will gain absolutely nothing | Diane Taylor British politicians’ rhetoric has become increasingly shouty and hateful. And now the home secretary has joined the chorus, says writer Diane Taylor

Such important truth written in this article, but will Keir Starmer and the govt listen and take a more constructive course on the immigration debate? Or will we continue to see more division and hate-mongering in our communities?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A couple of weeks after posting this, I’ve just seen via the @royalhistsoc.org newsletter that the BL are running a training session for students on the East India Company & India Office archives! Really great idea for students planning their theses this term:

royalhistsoc.org/calendar/int...

3/3 It’s terrible that there has been so little discussion about the impact on students/research to date, & that recovery for the BL has been so slow. Govt needs to prioritise better cyber security for such key research repositiories & factor this into assessment for #REF2029.

2/3 It was hard enough for me, as an unfunded PhD student, to juggle my studies & paid work to support myself, with the aim of completing my thesis within 3.5 yrs (to avoid extra fees!). I don’t know what I would have done faced with such delays/obstacles at the BL, which was a key site for my work

I was at the British Library on Fri & missed their online Archives & Manuscript catalogue so much. It was so handy for searching collections & planning research trips - full of useful info & saving research time. I feel bad for PhD students navigating huge collections without such tools! 1/3