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alanlester.bsky.social
British Empire Professor, University of Sussex. Co-editor, MUP Studies in Imperialism series. Views here own. Blogs on politics of colonial history here: https://alanlester.co.uk Editor https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-truth-about-empire/
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Posts 36 Comments 14

Well worth reading. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 5 hours ago • 1 comment

Staggering disregard of Israel’s genocide in Gaza from Kemi Badenoch. Her only comment on it? That condemnation of the killing and starvation of over 50,000 civilians is nothing more than moral grandstanding by the ‘Islington elites’ she hates so much. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

submitted 13 hours ago • 2 comments

One thing we don’t teach enough about the history of electoral democracy, right back into the 18th century, is how consistently it is a struggle to stop rich people buying votes. These days of course you don’t simply bribe voters, you just purchase their media environment.

submitted 14 hours ago • 2 comments

This could be the biggest threat to British democracy since all adults over 21 got the vote in 1928. The project to import an alien Trumpite fascism here is named after HMS Resolute, the British ship that got stuck in ice, to be rescued by Americans. How patriotic. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

submitted 14 hours ago • 4 comments

1/4 I think certain reviewers (not this one) are taking their postmodern relativism too far when they assess different versions of history. Credence in historical narrative must surely depend on familiarity with the evidence?

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Nice review of The Truth About Empire from @drrscully.bsky.social: ‘Use it to inform or to reinforce your knowledge … of the British Empire in all its complexity … a volume of such diversity & lucidity should certainly be hailed as the landmark it is’. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

This is shameful of the BBC leadership. Impartiality does not mean pandering to the insistent pressure of a clearly genocidal government. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

1/3 I think there’s much to applaud in this initiative, as described by Emma Duncan (and thanks @sathnam.bsky.social for drawing my attention to it). Historians should be trained to understand divergent positions on contested issues. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

submitted 2 days ago • 4 comments

How Britain brought about regime change in Iran in 1953: by overthrowing a democratically elected government in favour of an autocracy after it threatened to nationalise Anglo-Iranian Oil (later BP) & use the revenue to benefit Iranians. www.theguardian.com/world/2020/a...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Surely the Office for Students free speech absolutist Arif Ahmed should distinguish between what can be “discussed” and what should be “taught”? Otherwise what is the point of acquiring knowledge or expertise before teaching? Shouldn’t we try to teach the truth? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

1/3 Quick round up of blogs contesting nationalist right wing historical revisionism in last two years: 1. Slavery & colonialism were not irrelevant for Britain’s economic development: blogs.sussex.ac.uk/snapshotsofe...

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Great review of The Truth About Empire by @corinnefowler.bsky.social bellacaledonia.org.uk/2024/12/18/t...

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/arrangements...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

PhD Studentship at Legacies of British Slavery Centre: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

About time. What next to oppose a genocidal regime herding starving and medicine-deprived survivors of bombing into corridors in search of food, where they can be further terrorised. UK sanctions far-right Israeli ministers for 'inciting violence' against Palestinians www.bbc.com/news/article...

submitted 12 days ago • 2 comments

I'm glad that this seems to follow earlier suggestions from my colleague Gurminder Bhambra: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

This is very important

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

What a deeply concerning story. The BBC’s task is not to reinforce the prejudices of certain constituencies. bylinetimes.com/2025/06/09/b...

submitted 12 days ago • 2 comments

Isn’t this a little patronising? I forgave Yusuf, says Farage after burka row www.bbc.com/news/article...

submitted 12 days ago • 4 comments

Why is the UK bill for housing people seeking asylum so much higher per person than in other parts of the EU? 1. The backlog in processing claims built up by last govt after Brexit. 2. The fact the UK doesn’t allow people seeking asylum to work & rent privately.

submitted 13 days ago • 3 comments

The apparent popularity of Reform’s racist, Islamophobic agenda is deeply concerning (unless you are racist & Islamophobic). But there are reasons for hope that an ethno-nationalist historical discourse at least is being widely rejected.

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

Check out our recent Open Access discussion piece 'Reasons for Hope? The UK Social Attitudes Survey and Historical Literacy' by Alan Lester: doi.org/10.1080/0308... @alanlester.bsky.social

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Really enjoyed this last night. Funny, moving & acutely insightful about family & identity: lyric.co.uk/shows/marria...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Eh? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

submitted 14 days ago • 5 comments

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

1/2 Naive & lacking in self-reflection. Farage merely ‘flirting’ with race politics and the slight possibility that he ‘could’ slide into nativism? www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

submitted 15 days ago • 8 comments

What’s more worrying than these councillors’ youth is that the one in charge of adult services has posted racist messages & believes depression isn’t real, & the student in charge of children’s services thinks his experiences in life are representative of clients’. new.basw.co.uk/about-social...

submitted 15 days ago • 18 comments

Another mendacious and inflammatory Telegraph headline. Of course fear over migrants in itself, however irrational, is not defined by Prevent as a ‘form of terrorism’. However, this kind of conspiracy theory can act as a “gateway” to radicalism & violence, according to the guidance.

submitted 15 days ago • 4 comments

alanlester.co.uk/blog/how-top...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Reform UK’s genius deputy leader Richard Tice on a burqa ban. Presumably then if some women say they do genuinely want to wear a burqa, the discussion of a ban is off the table?

submitted 16 days ago • 2 comments

Another excellent analysis from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Thank you @alanlester.bsky.social. Bristol's Shed museum is screening a short documentary about the lead up and immediate aftermath of Colston's toppling. Context, and the cult of Colston. You can also see the toppled relic, graffiti and all, in a case at the end of our PROTEST Gallery too.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Tomorrow it will be five years since Black Lives Matter demonstrators dumped slave trader Edward Colston’s statue into Bristol’s harbour. The act reshaped our political history and helped us rewrite our colonial history. Colston 5 Years On blog: alanlester.co.uk/blog/how-top...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Seriously though, what did he expect? The Party’s USP is racism and Islamophobia. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

submitted 17 days ago • 3 comments

The BBC v The Ministry of Truth www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment