Shocking scenes at the Sorayama exhibition in Tokyo. I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

I know the whole Ghiblification thing got old but this tiny jazz bar in Tokyo seemed to call out for it.

‘No freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or banished or in any way molested, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and the law of the land’. Happy Magna Carta Day edwest.co.uk/p/the-glory-of-…

Bonapartism positioned itself as on the side of the people - a French dream where one could rise from obscurity. This was certainly the case with Napoleon III's mistresses. Marguerite Bellanger went from circus performer to imperial lover in the 1860s, much to the horror of the empress Eugénie, who called her the "scum of the earth”.

Johann Fabricius published the first book on the telescopic observation of sun spots on 13 June 1611 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2011/01…

What better time to brush up on the history of Mexico than during the World Cup? Here's when Mexico played France. toppingbooks.co.uk/books/edw…

If you enjoyed reading "Mongol Storm" (a multi-perspective history of the 13th century Middle East) you might like to try my new book "The Crusader Storm" (a multi-perspective history of the 12th century Middle East)

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Latest post: why can't American politicians keep their noses out of our business?

After ditching the Countess of Castiglione, Napoleon III's next mistress was Marie-Anne Walewska. This gave gave an extra frisson to the discussion of foreign affairs - she was the wife of Alexandre Colonna-Walewski, the emperor's foreign minister. Not only that, but Walewski was an illegitimate son of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon III was not brilliant at hiding his affairs. On a train, his wife was in a different carriage talking to another passenger. The jolting train caused the door to the adjoining carriage to swing open and the empress saw, Napoleon III "straddling” another woman, “kissing her on the mouth and plunging a hand onto her breast.”

Renaissance mathematics, Johannes Regiomontanus, who founded the worlds first scientific printing press, was born June 6 1436 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2011/06…

A new blog post series two thousand years of Calculus #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/06…

I wonder if the unaltered Dambusters will ever return to the big screen given that George robbed half the story, including the dog.

For some reason this Ron Mueck piece put me in mind of poor Carlotta as explained in Edward Shawcross’s brilliant The Last Emperor of Mexico! @edwardshawcross

Thank you! It's quite a story!!!

Dining alone, I still like to have clever and entertaining guests at my table. As a fine example of how to manage that, here are @hogster & historian Prof Donald Rayfield with a good humoured chat about prisoners of war - up to the Crimean War (1853-1856). youtube.com/watch?v=xq1yyD2C…

Another delightful episode from @hogster (and the promise of two more!) Especially interesting after hearing a paper about Genovese treatment of Pisan prisoners in the 13-14th centuries. youtu.be/xq1yyD2Cirs?si=gTdh…

Cuando tienes que conquistar Mongolia pero no tienes con quién dejar al gato