Tim O'Neill - History for Atheists
@timoneill
History writer, medievalist, blogger, atheist, sceptic and expatriate Tasmanian.
... enitrely white line-up", Serkis answered as per the quotes below. And so began a firestorm of outrage from some:
"Concering Hobbits" - So last week actor/director Andy Serkis kicked off yet another tedious culture war via an interview with the BBC. He's filming an unasked-for bit of IP squeezing by Warner Brothers, who need to get cash from their purchase of rights to *The Lord of the
Coming soon to the History for Atheists channel …
New on History for Atheists: my long awaited and rather long critical review of Alice Roberts' new book *Domination*: historyforatheists.com/2025/10/revi...
Just uploaded to the History for Atheists channel, my conversation with Dr Dan McClellan @maklelan.bsky.social on the Hebrew Bible, its texts, contexts and misconceptions. www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7kS...
Who is going to give me “both barrels” over what exactly? The person above has me blocked, so if they want to engage with me they’re going about it rather strangely. 🤔
Help make it happen - help raise the speaker's fee so Bart Ehrman can appear on History for Atheists on @indiegogo Help make it happen - help raise the speaker's fee so Bart Ehrman can appear on History for Atheists on @indiegogo
New on History for Atheists: The Great Myths 16 - The Conflict Between Science and Religion. If there is a foundational myth that underpins a great deal of anti-theist bad history, it's the notorious Conflict Thesis. historyforatheists.com/2025/08/the-...
My next interview on the History for Atheists channel will be with Dr Dan McClellan @maklelan.bsky.social on things atheists get wrong about the Hebrew Bible/OT, early Jewish beliefs, the history of ancient Israel etc. What would you like me to ask Dan about?
Just uploaded to the History for Atheists channel, my interview with @ProfTCSchmidt on his new book *Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ* (Oxford, 2025) www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L2b...
New on History for Atheists - Stephen Woodford aka "Rationality Rules" (@RationalityRule) takes aim at Tom Holland's *Dominion* and ... shoots himself in the foot. historyforatheists.com/2025/05/rati...
Just uploaded to the History for Atheists video channel, my interview with Dr Ada Palmer on her very entertaining book *Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age*. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1k...
Just posted to HIstory for Atheists: "Did the Pope Apologise to Galileo?" historyforatheists.com/2025/03/gali...
... innocuous if Roberts wasn't also vice-president of Humanists UK and someone who has repeated utter nonsense about Christians destroying Classical learning in via "book burnings". I asked her to elaborate on the tweet below and she dodged several times and then bravely blocked me on Twitter.
Oh dear. Well, I suppose it's been eight years since Catherine Nixey's *The Darkening Age* peddled a highly selective Gibbonian narrative about Christianity causing "the Dark Ages, so it was inevitable we get another such book. @profaliceroberts.bsky.social is well qualified in medicine, ...
Just uploaded to the History for Atheists video channel, my interview with Dr Nathan Johnstone on his book *The New Atheism, Myth and History* and bad anti-theistic historiography. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X5b...
What is "medieval" about a "plague doctor" in a SEVENTEENTH century mask? Try to be less sloppy.
... aid the Allies and assist the German Resistance in several attempts to overthrow and even assassinate Hitler. Mark Riebling's *Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler* (2016) documents this in detail and is a good antidote to the "Hitler's Pope" myth.
... Ben Macintyre on which the series is (loosely) based, gives a brief account of the capture of Augusta by the SAS/SRS raiders, with some amusing anecdotes about their celebrations, but nothing at all about this church incident. So it appears to be a pure fiction of Knight's.
No sensible person would get their history from the BBC drama *Rogue Heroes*, which tells a slightly fanciful, "boys own adventure" version of the beginnings of the SAS in WWII. The show itself warns in its credits that it isn't really history. But its depiction of a Nazi flag...
I've included a clickable index for easy reference and to allow peole to link directly to particular sections:
It is accomplished! I have finally completed my long, detailed and fully referenced article on the various claims about "pagan origins" Christmas. It's a long one - nearly 12,000 words. historyforatheists.com/2024/12/paga...
... played by this guy, because it's the BBC so of course he is. 🙄
Ugh. Judging from the first photos of the upcoming BBC "historical [sic!] drama, *King and Conquerer*":, the budget didn't extend to a historical consultant who could tell them what 11th century clothing and armour looked like. It seems old *Game of Thrones* gear was used instead. So, as usual,...
Okay, let's see if we can have a calm, reasonable conversation about anachronistic "diverse casting" in historical dramas, using the new season of *Wolf Hall* as an exemplar. In the interest of everyone staying calm and reasonable, please note the key word above is "anachronistic". I am very ...