James Vaughan
@equusonthebuses.bsky.social
Historian of UK-Israel relations, British decline, and propaganda. Hittites. Blues harmonica. Aberystwyth Cricket Club. Just posting stuff that interests me really.
Good company at the bar this evening
December 8, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Good company at the bar this evening
After Pearl Harbor. Zec cartoon in the Daily Mirror #OnThisDay 1941
December 8, 2025 at 11:59 AM
After Pearl Harbor. Zec cartoon in the Daily Mirror #OnThisDay 1941
Chaim Herzog, of course, picked up the nickname "Vivian" while serving with the British Army in WW2 (CO couldn't pronounce his first name). Before that, he developed an interesting connection with a small seaside town in west Wales...
December 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Chaim Herzog, of course, picked up the nickname "Vivian" while serving with the British Army in WW2 (CO couldn't pronounce his first name). Before that, he developed an interesting connection with a small seaside town in west Wales...
Burton also wrote the foreword. The author, Douglas V. Duff was what we call a "colourful" character. Served in the Royal Navy in WW1 before becoming a monk. Abandoned that to join the Black and Tans in Ireland, then the Palestine Police. Ended up as a regular on the TV panel show "What's My Line?"
December 7, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Burton also wrote the foreword. The author, Douglas V. Duff was what we call a "colourful" character. Served in the Royal Navy in WW1 before becoming a monk. Abandoned that to join the Black and Tans in Ireland, then the Palestine Police. Ended up as a regular on the TV panel show "What's My Line?"
New second hand bookshop acquisition. 1938 1st edition of 'Poor Knight's Saddle', Douglas V. Duff's account of the troubled situation in Mandatory Palestine. I appear to have acquired a copy previously belonging to Sir Montague Burton, founder of the famous menswear retail chain...
December 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
New second hand bookshop acquisition. 1938 1st edition of 'Poor Knight's Saddle', Douglas V. Duff's account of the troubled situation in Mandatory Palestine. I appear to have acquired a copy previously belonging to Sir Montague Burton, founder of the famous menswear retail chain...
I'M A SCIENTIST
December 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I'M A SCIENTIST
Dear god, give me patience. These people...
December 6, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Dear god, give me patience. These people...
Oh ffs. Enough already. Once you do your homework and give me an indication you have the faintest idea what you are talking about, I'll get back to you. Until then, keep strutting.
December 6, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Oh ffs. Enough already. Once you do your homework and give me an indication you have the faintest idea what you are talking about, I'll get back to you. Until then, keep strutting.
A nice #OnThisDay 1943 contribution 😁
December 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
A nice #OnThisDay 1943 contribution 😁
@alan160755.bsky.social Cheers pal. That’s a much appreciate laugh you’ve provided there.
December 6, 2025 at 4:40 PM
@alan160755.bsky.social Cheers pal. That’s a much appreciate laugh you’ve provided there.
I don’t know how much Zack Polanski knows about the history of allegations of divided loyalties against British Jews, but I’d suggest it’s probably something he doesn’t want to add a chapter to.
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
December 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I don’t know how much Zack Polanski knows about the history of allegations of divided loyalties against British Jews, but I’d suggest it’s probably something he doesn’t want to add a chapter to.
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
A brief history of an antisemitic trope… 🧵 /1
Good to see the Glamorgan lads doing so well in the Ashes. Shame they're Aussies, mind...
December 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Good to see the Glamorgan lads doing so well in the Ashes. Shame they're Aussies, mind...
Here's a fun interview from a different world #OnThisDay 1993.
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
December 6, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Here's a fun interview from a different world #OnThisDay 1993.
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
"Was it not a bit anti-climactic, I asked, to fight the Russians and end up road-building in Sudan?" Robert Fisk on the Saudi businessman "on the road to peace" - some lad called Osama Bin Laden...
Handsome Nuthatch in the back garden the other day…
December 5, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Handsome Nuthatch in the back garden the other day…
I see Donald Trump has finally recognised the reality of climate change and global warming
December 5, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I see Donald Trump has finally recognised the reality of climate change and global warming
Rainbow over Llyfrgell Hugh Owen, @aberuni.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Rainbow over Llyfrgell Hugh Owen, @aberuni.bsky.social
#OnThisDay 1947: letter to The Spectator on Mosley's attempts to relaunch British fascism in the post-WW2 era. Wise counsel that, in various different contexts, the British political class has been roundly ignoring ever since...
December 5, 2025 at 11:33 AM
#OnThisDay 1947: letter to The Spectator on Mosley's attempts to relaunch British fascism in the post-WW2 era. Wise counsel that, in various different contexts, the British political class has been roundly ignoring ever since...
Tonight’s Cold Moon, the last supermoon of 2025…
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Tonight’s Cold Moon, the last supermoon of 2025…
One of my favourite insights into Conservative Party approaches to foreign policy and international trade. John Nott reports on visiting Saddam Hussein's Iraq #OnThisDay 1979.
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
December 4, 2025 at 9:47 AM
One of my favourite insights into Conservative Party approaches to foreign policy and international trade. John Nott reports on visiting Saddam Hussein's Iraq #OnThisDay 1979.
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Observation #1: It's a bit like Nazi Germany.
Observation #2: Major opportunities to do business.
Extracts below...
Not always remembered these days, but there were still World War II refugees stuck in DP camps 15 years after the end of the war. Zec cartoon in the Daily Herald #OnThisDay 1959…
December 3, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Not always remembered these days, but there were still World War II refugees stuck in DP camps 15 years after the end of the war. Zec cartoon in the Daily Herald #OnThisDay 1959…
If your “masculinity reset” involves feeling threatened by Peppa Pig then I humbly suggest you’ve got an “I wouldn’t start from here if I were you” situation going on…
December 1, 2025 at 8:04 PM
If your “masculinity reset” involves feeling threatened by Peppa Pig then I humbly suggest you’ve got an “I wouldn’t start from here if I were you” situation going on…