#sinewsofhistory

Tagged by my lolitics mutual @georgeosbornescokedealer !!

Last Book: I've been on and off Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands, the Baldwin Papers, and David Marquand's Ramsay MacDonald finding excerpts as needed. Not a book but I've also been perusing the Punch almanacs as of late (I should probably finish Bloodlands).

Last Song: “Emblem” by Utsu-P (embarrassing, I know; I swear I told myself I'd get off Vocaloid years ago, but the producers and the technology keep getting better and this song has Gumi's low tuning and... [embarrassed])

Last Film: Last week I watched Die Blechtrommel (1979) for a German department film screening, and will never watch it again. It was probably the freakiest (derogatory) movie I've ever seen and I went in blind knowing nothing other than it was about World War II.

Last Series: Number 10 (1983), I still have Pitt the Younger and Wellington to watch... but the MacDonald episode was PEAK and I only wish there was a sequel!! A whole series really. MacDonald biopic when?? 👀

Last Video Game: I haven't played video games in years, but if I had to guess... Minecraft?

Sweet or Salty: Typically salty!

Coffee or Tea: Preferably tea but coffee as needed (both unsweet).

Working On: A lot of things, but I'm always looking for more blog content — more texts to read, more cartoons to caption, more unwatermarked photos to track down — or consolidating the sources already in my blog arsenal. As of writing this post, I've recently opened channels with the V&A to correct one of their interwar records after spotting a few errors, as well as adding more information to MacDonald's Wikipedia dropdown in the “Cultural Depictions” section. More on both to come!

This was so much fun — thanks for tagging me! 😁

Note: this is from a primarily 1930s and 40s blog. Feel free to adapt the questions for earlier or later eras.

🏛️ — your most treasured museum, archival, restoration, or commemorative historical find

🫖 — favorite scandal, crisis, or major political fallout

🌫️ — a mystery or unsolved moment you wish you could witness firsthand

🎩 — figure(s) with the best — or worst — aura

📜 — favorite obscure bureaucratic catastrophe

🥀 — a historical inaccuracy in media that aggravates you the most

🔍 — topics, eras, or themes you think deserve far more attention

🗃️ — favorite piece(s) of niche media

🕯️ — a figure who is unduly hated or unduly beloved by popular history

📚 — something new you learned from my blog that you want to know more about

🌴 — a figure you’d trust to survive a desert island with

🧭 — a turning point in a figure’s life you think is criminally misunderstood or misinterpreted

🎞️ — a film, newsreel, or propaganda piece you’d love to see (or have seen) in its original form

💣 — a near-disaster, coup, or crisis that could have gone very differently

❤️ — favorite history or history-themed blogs other than your own

🎻 — a personal, human detail from a leader or figure that history often overlooks

🚪 — a small, seemingly minor event that ended up having huge historical consequences

🎩 — a prime minister who never was, but should have been

🗞️ — a political friendship or rivalry that deserves more attention

💭 — a counterfactual that's been weighing on your mind

🖼️ — a favourite political cartoon or caricature

📜 — an anecdote that has stuck in your head

💍 — a small but significant detail of a figure's personal life

🗳️ — a turning point that doesn't get the attention it deserves

📁 — an archival or historical gap you wish someone would fill

✂️ — a favourite fashion moment from a political figure

🎤 — a speech you wish you could have heard live

⚔️ — a political rivalry you think history got wrong

🏛️ — a figure you'd place in a different party if they were active today

📖 — a book about your era that everyone should read

🕰️ — a decade in British political history you'd want to live through (for better or worse)

Image Source: LiveAuctioneers

Artist: Leon Gordon

Title: “Elegant Man in a Mirror”

Image Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

𝒥𝑜𝒽𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝒿𝑜𝓇 / 𝒯𝑜𝓃𝓎 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓇