Rory Muir

Sad news…

That is very sad - such a good historian. Thanks for letting us know.

WWI soldier's message in a bottle found on WA beach A century-old message in a bottle from a World War I soldier to his mother has been found on a beach in Western Australia's south.

Story of two First World War letters home from Australian soldiers on board ship headed to Europe found in a bottle on a West Australian beach. #FirstWorldWar #WW1 #Anzac

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Hi Sam, glad you’ve been enjoying it and hope that Yale will sort it out for you.

😂

Yes, I understand the staff just opened the door and gently ushered it out and it climbed a nearby tree.

Two pictures of a koala in a library

Unexpected visitor to a suburban library in Adelaide last night

In this sample article from our Journal, Pete Starling looks at a scheme from the 1850s to train young African men as medical officers for Sierra Leone: www.sahr.org.uk/docs/shar-boys-of-colour-draft-sahrs1120.pdf

Join us to get access to over 400 Journal issues: www.sahr.org.uk/membership.php

Thanks - I’ve read Robin’s (he was my tutor at Uni of Adelaide eons ago), but will look out the Peden and anticipate David French’s volume … and yours too

Is there a good single volume book on British grand strategy in the Second World War? The weight of the official history is more than a little daunting …

Yes, references to cats as pets seem very rare, though I did find one to an eccentric bachelor - a Scottish lawyer - who kept lots, that I included in Love and Marriage

I wish that there was more about Wellington and his dogs, but it wasn’t a subject that got recorded much at the time

Memoirs of George Elers (New York, 1903) p 274

In 1836 George Elers, who had known Wellington in India forty years before, tried to palm off an unwanted St Bernard dog onto the Duke. (Elers had inherited the dog from a friend and had already tried unsuccessfully to give it to a lady who had jilted the friend). Wellington’s reply was concise.

Thanks Rob, very encouraging to see it out in the wild especially here in the remote antipodes!

Our friends at the Army Records Society have launched another round of their fellowship programme, which offers funding over three years to create a volume in their long-running primary source series. Details at www.smh-hq.org/opps/jobs.html.

King George’s Army, British Regiments and the Men who led them 1793-1815: Volume 2 | The Napoleon Series King George’s Army, British Regiments and the Men who led them 1793-1815: Volume 2: Foot Guards and 1st to 30th Regiments of Foot. Steve Brown Helion & Company Limited (2024) ISBN: 9781804514382 Pages...

Thanks to Owen Davis for a lovely review of King George’s Army Vol 2 (Foot Guards and 1-30 Foot). Vol 3 is out now, and Vol 4 not too far away.
#napoleonic #history #helion

www.napoleon-series.org/book-reviews...

A compilation of 20 covers of books about the 18th century. You find the whole list by following the link in the skeet

Look forward to June!

Here is a list of new #nonfiction #books about the #18thcentury scheduled for next month:
regency-explorer.net/new-releases/

#Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read

Waterloo: the Great Charge of the British Cavalry This event will be taking place in person and online

Join us at York St John University (and online) for a fascinating FREE talk by Dr James Hurst based on his new research into the British heavy cavalry at Waterloo.

Wed 28 May, 5:30pm, all are welcome!

More info and tickets (completely free!) here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/waterloo-t...

The Fact & Fiction of Captain Peter Blassiere, 5/60th Almost everybody interested in the Napoleonic Wars will be familiar with Bernard Cornwell’s fictional rifleman, Richard Sharpe. However, the first fictional rifleman was probably from the 5th Bat…

An updated blog post on 'The Fact & Fiction of Captain Peter Blassiere, 5/60th Rifles'. My thanks to Thomas Hemmann for sending me the Hannoversches militairisches Journal article. daringdutycunningplans.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/t...

LAST CHANCE TO TAKE OUR MONEY!
Are you a postgraduate student researching any aspect of the history of the British Army? If so, why not apply for our University Research Grants, open to scholars worldwide. Deadline now extended until 30 May. Details at: www.sahr.org.uk/university-r...

Our Annual Members' Meeting last month saw the announcement of 10 new SAHR Fellows. Pictured L-R, Major General Sir Evelyn Webb-Carter, Mick Crumplin, Carole Divall, Tim Cooke. For a full list and details of those honoured, see: www.sahr.org.uk/fellowships....

So happy to be able to announce that in a couple of weeks I'm going to be speaking on negotiated authority in the fencibles at @camhistory.bsky.social, hosted by @1812andallthat.bsky.social! Free attendance and all that, & would be lovely to see some friendly faces

www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/events/contr...

YouTube video by NationalArmyMuseumUK Learning to Adapt: The British Army in the American War of Independence

Live-streaming now: Dr Matthew Spring speaks about British tactics and adaptation during the American War of Independence. Part of the AWI 250 series at the National Army Museum.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lhs...

Image of an open book with the text: Funded Book Workshops. For historians writing a second or third monograph, 2025-26. Closing date 11 July

Support for historians at mid-career: the Society invites applications for its 'Funded Book Workshop' programme bit.ly/4fYQcRC

Workshops enable authors of a 2nd or 3rd monograph to hold a day-long discussion of a book MS with 6 readers of their choosing.

Closing date: Friday 11 July #Skystorians

B-Sides: John Galt’s “Annals of the Parish” - Public Books For 30 or 40 years a book has been lurking on my shelves, a beautiful little Everyman’s Library edition published by Dent and Dutton, undated, with red fake leather binding …

“I was in love with the book. In pure, ignorant defiance of the decree of the Iowa Writing School that controls almost all modern fiction, Galt tells without showing.”

—Ursula K. Le Guin discusses John Galt’s 1821 novel ANNALS OF THE PARISH
2/6
www.publicbooks.org/b-sides-john...

A compilation of 18 covers of books about the 18th century. You find the whole list by following the link in the skeet

Look forward to May!
Here is a list of new #nonfiction #books about the #18thcentury scheduled for next month: regency-explorer.net/new-releases/
#Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read

Sunday's books. Something really good and something really... weird. 😄

The reply is wonderfully in character

Do we know if the British army ever adopted this newly proposed scheme of attaching scythes to cavalry horses? buff.ly/ExWcYQP #Archive30 #SomethingNew @ARAScot