Mr Murphy
@murphyhistory
“Enthusiastic peddler of history.” Head of Year 10. DofE assessor. Sometime medievalist. Mountain Leader trainee. Scouter.
19- Another piece of ‘of its time’ alpinist/exploration literature, although the descent from the Matterhorn is harrowing if you know what is coming. I also wonder what Whymper would make of the state of Alpine glaciers in 2026, given his thoughts in 1869… #BookSky📚💙 #BooksOf2026
18- A whistlestop tour through the early-mid Seventies, which the author argues was the golden age of paranoia. Given he argues paranoia is a symptom of instability, heaven knows what we’ll make of the 2010s/20s in fifty years time… #BookSky📚💙 #BooksOf2026
Found at my in-laws and handed down to us: 1) Why did this fabric even exist in 1990?! 2) Wait, I *have* seen it before…
17- Very of its time (1850s) but doesn’t detract from their haunting search of King William Island, finding both physical remains and the only written records from Franklin’s vanished expedition in the Canadian Arctic. #BookSky💙📚 #BooksOf2026
16- Outdoors people nowadays like to say they are inspired by Ernest Shackleton, or Roald Amundsen. The person they wanted to be was Fridtjof Nansen. Unlike them, Nansen had incredible other lives: as a neurobiologist, oceanographer. humanitarian, Nobel Peace Laureate. #BookSky💙📚 #BooksOf2026
15- Saw a Goodreads review saying it was like a friend down the pub explaining some history to you; I couldn’t see why this was a bad thing tbh... Also, @jonnelledge.bsky.social, it is way better than that! #BooksOf2026 #BookSky
Got to feel for the Bayeux Tapestry, first time back here in almost a millennium and the first person to visit is George Osborne…
Today my classes tried to solve the mystery of the 1840s lost Franklin expedition and the pivot from ‘What do you mean we have to do work?’ to ‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ATE EACH OTHER?’ was truly something to behold. #HistoryTeacher #EndOfTerm #PolarHistory
Trump’s walk of presidents clearly doesn’t have much on William Henry Harrison.
Am reading a book about Fridtjof Nansen and his 1890s expedition across the Arctic Ocean and I think picturing all that ice is the only thing saving me right now.
Starmer: How can my week get any worse? Aide: Sir, have you seen this from the American President after you called him?
Spent a good few minutes wondering this advert was targeted at Assistant Heads of Year…
This is also another excellent example in the genre of ‘People inventing something we already do well and don’t need an invention for.’ À la Elon Musk inventing the train on Twitter 200 years after the train was invented.
“The students used two decades of GCSE and A-level exam papers to train the Al model” Yes, not only do I know we have also played the prediction game, but the GCSEs and A-Level formats were different across that time, so…
14- Occasionally, there were glimpses of a good story. But reader beware, they were scattered like a blown up window to another world. Even the voice of Michael Sheen couldn’t rescue it. #BookSky📚💙 #BooksOf2026 #AudioBook
13- Dan Jones’ writing always brings clarity to the Middle Ages, and the ‘deeds done beyond the seas’ by Western Europeans in the name of Christ from the C11th to C13th benefit from his take. #BookSky💙📚 #BooksOf2026 #MedievalSky
Back to the Trail 100s yesterday, up to 62 with Place Fell in the Lakes. Now with added small child.
Jesus the start of Adam Curtis’ most recent documentary needed a trigger warning
I have found it even harder to look at her in this brief since I found out she does not know what a starting gun is.
If this was Peter Boardman’s take in 1978, what would he make of Himalayan mountaineering now?!