As an aside, I felt REALLY seen by these couple of posts, @bordenstan.bsky.social and @faineg.bsky.social

Two widely acclaimed absolute all-time bangers, and two niche artisanal tweets.

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, I’m about halfway through Jeremy Armstrong’s “Early Roman Warfare”, which so far has covered very early Roman history (which I’m not very familiar with at all). It manages to be informative while still open about the unreliability of sources.

As important as the contribution of the Kiwis of 161 Field Battery was, I do have to point out that artillery support was also provided by the rest of 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (including 105 Fd Bty, which I commanded nearly 40 years later).

Mildly curious as to which particular category got me on this list.

It seemed to work for a recent Australian Prime Minister (no need to look too closely into his record as PM, trust me on this)

Hans Gruber would probably have some witty conversation over dinner or a couple of drinks

Another two entries for #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky tonight. Early in the week I finished “The Black Jacobins” by CLR James (an outstanding work of literature), and I am about to make a start on Paul Kennedy’s “The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery”

Ha, suck it, FIFA (and Trump).

Heading home to Brisbane today after a couple of days visiting 24YO daughter up in Mount Isa

“Italy Reborn” is an excellent account of Italy’s Fascist years and the immediate post-Fascist period of the late 1940s and 1950s. Recently I’ve become very interested in how post-fascist and post-authoritarian states rebuild democratic institutions. 2/2 #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky

Two entries for #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky tonight. “Inside the Regiment” looks at the recruitment and personnel of a British Army regiment during the Napoleonic wars (fun fact - my grandfather served with the 30th Foot’s successor unit, the East Lancashire Regiment, in WW1) 1/2

Up in Mount Isa visiting the 24YO daughter.

This was expensive and hard to get hold of, but seeing as I have a personal connection to 3 RHA (I served as an Australian exchange officer with the regiment in Germany and Kosovo in 2000-2001) I was glad to get my hands on it. 3/3

3 RHA started the war as an Anti-Tank Regiment and fought with the 8th Army in North Africa (usually as part of 7th Armoured Division, and converting to a Field Regiment in 1942) until the fall of Tunisia. It then fought in Sicily, southern Italy, Normandy and finally Germany. 2/3

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, “Cairo To Berlin” is the WW2 history of the British Army’s 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery. Written many years after the war, it has similar strengths and weaknesses as other unit histories based on war diaries and individual memories. 1/3

The Macchi MC72 was pretty easy on the eye

Not just Kokoda, but a couple of options for Australia’s war in New Guinea in general (albeit with a land-centric bias). The Australian Army Campaigns Series one is a bit like an Osprey Campaign series book - lots of wire diagrams, maps and photos.

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, I’ve just finished “London Falling” by Patrick Radden Keefe, and am just starting Eckart Frahm’s “Assyria”. “London Falling” is a very readable and moving bit of investigative journalism, a contender for best book I’ve read so far in 2026.

Pick a Bond from photos you already have on your phone

Results of this are a combination of predictable and confounding. If I was completing this from the perspective of someone in, say, the US or UK rather than Australia, my trust in institutions might be somewhat lower. findmypolitics.com?e=-9&so=-22&...

Only just discovered Babitz, by way of @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social introducing me to Didion (also great) about two years ago, then reading Lili Anolik’s Didion & Babitz last year.

Best: It’s a toss-up between Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz and The First Man by Albert Camus Worst: The Lonesome Commander, ostensibly about the Commander of the British 5th Bde in the Falklands War. This had the potential to be revealing but instead was almost entirely unfounded speculation.

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, I’m looking at a bit of sports history with “How Football Began: A global history of how the world’s football codes were born”, by Tony Collins.

Post a random cool car photo you took on another year, with no explanation.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, I’m about to make a start on something topical. “Iran: What everyone needs to know” by Michael Axworthy

For this weeks #histbookchat, #photofriday and #booksky, I’m about halfway through Ben Barry’s “The Rise and Fall of the British Army 1975-2025”. Its covered late Cold War BAOR, Northern Ireland, Falklands, Gulf War and Bosnia so far. What I expect to be some Iraq/Afghan axe-grinding awaits me. 1/2