Nicholas Scott Baker

Cover of book with text in yellow reading: The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires, overlaid on an image of an angel in seventeenth-century dress with wings and a long gun.

Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:

Russian embassy, Washington DC.

To mark the fourth anniversary of the full scale invasion

Ian McKwan's latest novel What We Can Know (about historians/historically minded scholars in the 22nd century) describes this scenario occurring in our near future.
It's a great read in any case!

Certainly, at some stage, I have found each book a little boring. It is just the effect of working intensely for a long period of time on the same thing. It all starts to seem obvious and dull. Just remember, that this only from your point of view because you are so familiar with it.

I met Jesse Jackson once, at Philadelphia airport. We were on the same flight to Boston. I went over and introduced myself and thanked him.

Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics to join our dynamic team within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Autumn 2026. As Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, you will contribute to the teaching of ancient Greco-Roman history and Classics in the School of Historical Studies - this includes our BA Ancient History and Archaeology, BA Classics, BA Classical Studies, as well as MA Classical Civilisation and MA Classics. This post is offered on a permanent contract at Birkbeck, full time, 35 hours per week, with a salary of £44,247 rising to £60,858 per year. Teaching hours will vary from 6-9pm Monday to Friday. To be successful, you will bring research expertise in ancient Greek history, broadly understood (this could include the history of Greek-speaking lands under the Roman empire), as well as ancient Greek literature, and demonstrate a capacity to contribute to interdisciplinary research and teaching, participate actively in curriculum development, supervise doctoral students, and help shape the intellectual life of our vibrant academic community. We would also welcome applicants who could contribute to collaborative teaching programmes or research in the Faculty, in areas such as identity, race/ethnicity, or gender - experience of collaboration with cultural institutions, whether through research or teaching, is also welcome. The postholder could potentially take advantage of Birkbeck’s new Immersive Learning Centre for teaching or research. As Lecturer, your core responsibilities will initially include programme/module administration, teaching, supervision, assessment, student support and pastoral care. You will also be equipped to supervise doctoral students. With a PhD in any area of Ancient History/Classics relating to the ancient Greek world,...

We're hiring at Birkbeck!

Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th.

Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...

Conquest’s Mouth: Bartolomé de Olmedo, the Mercedarian Order, and the Spanish Invasion of Mexico Lauren MacDonald The Sixteenth Century Journal 2026 57:1, 99-119

Behold: an article!

Lauren MacDonald, "Conquest’s Mouth: Bartolomé de Olmedo, the Mercedarian Order, and the Spanish Invasion of Mexico," The Sixteenth Century Journal 57:1 (2026): 99-119.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/eprint/EYUZQ...

Blue book cover with a king riding a horse covered in a fleurs-de-ly caparison and yellow lettering reading: Justine Firnhaber-Baker/House of Lilies/They Dynasty that Made Medieval France/"A splendid, enthralling book" - Wall Street Journal

I love the deep blue cover for the US paperback of my book House of Lilies: The Dynasty that Made Medieval France. It's now available for pre-order. ⚜️Shipping 13 October 2026 💙 📚#booksky
www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/justi...

Dogs are the best.

Post (another) banger not in English.

youtu.be/Fpu5a0Bl8eY?...

'Working with Early Modern Letters' has arrived! ✉️✒️

An introduction to early modern letters and a guide to their use as historical sources, designed to be taken at your own pace.

📲Join us and book your place for just £100: imemsdurhamlearn.com/working-with...

Small teaching wins: Had a student uncertain about the use of canonical/canon when discussing art and literature. But they understood its uses when talking about Star Wars, so it was short step to join the dots!

Hahaha

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

Lecturer in Early Medieval History | King's College London

Very exciting job announcement! Permanent early medieval (Britain and/or Europe) teaching post at KCL. I know first-hand that this is a great opportunity to work with amazing colleagues and students. www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/136727-...

I learned last year, that you can put ready-to-eat bananas in the fridge. They start to look unattractive but taste as good as always.

Now Hiring: Acquisitions Editor, History Acquisitions Editor, History UNC Press is seeking a creative, intellectually curious, and mission-driven publishing professional who will acquire general

Are you a creative and intellectually curious editor ready to grow lists in environmental history, history of medicine, urban history, and labor history?

We’re hiring an Acquisitions Editor to help shape our history lists 🙌 Interested? You can learn more here👇


uncpress.org/now-hiring-a...

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click After turning off ChatGPT’s ‘data consent’ option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. Here’s what happened next.

So, he outsourced a large part of his job to a machine and only worried about accountability when it deleted the work it did (at his request). Or am I missing something?

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This is the problem with a lot of vocational training: you are preparing yourself for what the job market wanted at the time you started not when you finish.

Study Philosophy to avoid this problem.

Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Lecturer in Medieval Studies to join our dynamic team within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Autumn 2026. As Lecturer in Medieval Studies you will contribute to the teaching of Medieval English literature and Medieval history across the Faculty, within our School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, and School of Historical Studies - this includes our BA English and BA History programmes, as well as postgraduate taught programmes in the two subject areas. This post is offered on a permanent contract at Birkbeck, full time 35 hours per week, with a salary of £44,247 rising to £60,858 per year. Teaching hours will vary from 6pm - 9pm, Monday to Friday. To be successful, you will bring research expertise in the literature, history and culture of the Late Medieval period (c.1300-1500), and demonstrate a capacity to contribute to interdisciplinary research and teaching, participate actively in curriculum development, supervise doctoral students, and help shape the intellectual life of our vibrant academic community. We would also welcome applicants who would be able to contribute to collaborative teaching programmes or research in the Faculty, in areas such as identity, race/ethnicity, or gender - experience of collaboration with cultural institutions, whether through research or teaching, is also welcome. Core responsibilities will initially include programme/module administration, teaching, supervision, assessment, student support and pastoral care. You will also be equipped to supervise doctoral students. With a PhD in any area of Medieval Studies, you will contribute the Faculty’s and Schools’ research impact and culture, and to the intellectual and cultural life of the institution and the various communities and partners with whom we work and serve.

Birkbeck is hiring a Lecturer in Medieval Studies (c.1300-1500), full-time and open-ended.

They will be formally based in English but expected to be able to contribute about 0.5FTE to History, including teaching and supervision.

Closing date Feb 23rd: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...

My latest article came out today in Issue 4 of the New American Antiquarian.
naajournal.org/issues/

My mum used to buy books to give me as birthday or Xmas presents and read them first. I know this because she took delight in telling me -- very proud of her ability to read a book without leaving a trace!

It blew up because of the acuity of your take and your usual take-no-bs delivery of it!

Thread: after all the infantile trash talk yesterday, read this considered and articulate take on the state of Renaissance studies and how it contextualizes this particular retirement.

Thanks for this thoughtful and considered thread, Karl (and for the kind shout-out). I really appreciate your articulation of the state of our field and your interpretation of this situation.

Ah yes, Sauron, whose defenses proved quite permeable and who was fooled by his own blind spots.

Someone didn't do the reading…

The myth of traditional Italian cuisine has seduced the world. The truth is very different | Alberto Grandi The comforting tourist-brochure idea of what Italian food looks like obscures a story shaped by hunger, migration and innovation, says Alberto Grandi, author and professor of food history

If I'm honest, I became a historian of Italy because of the food.

"In short: Italian cuisine did not migrate. It was invented abroad by people who had finally found something to eat – a truth that fits awkwardly with Unesco’s love of millennium-old continuity."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Front page of 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' Comment article, title 'The Historian in the Age of AI', by Chris Campbell. Full abstract: "This comment interrogates the methods and conclusions of Working with AI, a recent report conducted under the auspices of Microsoft, which identified historians as the profession with the second-highest ‘AI applicability’. It finds that the authors’ conclusions are based on an erroneous simplification and misrepresentation of a historian’s typical professional tasks, which have been publicly amplified by extensive media coverage. This comment then offers a wider provocation about the report’s conception of a professional historian, and whether it is related to the public application of ‘historian’ to a number of different practitioners with varied training and qualifications. In particular, it seeks to highlight a paradox which the report exposes: that we cannot defend the specialist training and expertise of professional historians against the encroachment of AI without also separating the academic skills and qualifications of historians from those engaged in more popular forms of historical writing and communication. The comment questions how we might grapple with this paradox without reverting to academic elitism."

What does Gen AI mean for the work of the historian and the value of historical experience, skills and craft?

'The Historian in the Age of AI' by @chriscampbell1.bsky.social.

New Comment article now available in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' bit.ly/4atErTB #Skystorians 1/2

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?
The books are filled with names of kings.
Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?
And Babylon, so many times destroyed.
Who built the city up each time?
Oh so it actually was the kings? Cool, question answered, thanks.