iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

With Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands back in the news, its a good time to reflect on a forgotten and arguably more contested British base in the Indian Ocean. RAF Gan.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

At the @britishlibrary.bsky.social for the first time in years. Can confirm little has changed - but the wifi does appear to be better!

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The Historical Journal @historicaljnl.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

📣Out now on #firstview! Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social and Richard Toye @richardtoye.bsky.social on 'The Management of British MPs’ Postbags and Politician-Voter Relations in the Democratic Age' #Politics #Letters #Communication 20thc 🗃️ 👉Read open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This article explores the management of correspondence between British MPs and the public, examining how citizens have used letter-writing as a tool to seek assistance, advocate for policies, and express support or dissent. It highlights how MPs and their staff triaged correspondence, distinguishing between ‘authentic’ expressions of public concern and orchestrated lobbying. It also considers the strategies employed by letter-writers to maximize their impact, from carefully crafted appeals to emotional rhetoric, frequently made in the knowledge that intermediaries would process their communications. The increasing volume of correspondence, facilitated partly by technological advances, reflects the enduring perception of letter-writing as an effective means of political engagement. While much scholarly work has focused either on a quantitative analysis of letter numbers and outcomes or a qualitative analysis of the substance of letters on controversial issues, this article shifts the focus to the broader processes of correspondence management and voter-politician interactions. By analysing how MPs and their assistants assessed, prioritized, and responded to communications, we provide new insights into the evolving relationship between representatives and the public. We suggest that correspondence was a means through which voters demonstrated their authenticity to politicians - and not just the other way round.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

I am over the moon to announce that I have just inked the deal with @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social Allen Lane for my next book, “Warrior Britain: A Nation in Arms, 1945-1960”. It will be a social, cultural, and environmental history of Cold War British militarism.

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David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I really enjoyed reviewing @kitkowol.bsky.social's "Blue Jerusalem" - an excellent new study of WW2-era British Conservatism, highlighting both its intellectual vitality and its practical political impact

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Rory Johnston @roryjohnston.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

when you realize that the American unipolar global order was suppressing long-forgotten levels of public Frenchness

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

That feeling when you have been reviewed in the @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social but don’t have access so can’t see what Ferdinand Mount wrote…

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

NAAFI apparently ran holiday camps for servicemen and their families between 1950 and 1980 - like an (even) more militarised version of bulletins I guess. Anyone here ever heard of stayed in one?

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Had great fun writing this. How a spiritualist vegetarian who believed he had found the Holy Grail convinced Churchill and 5 million Brits to pray for peace and freedom during WWII. gethistory.co.uk/articles/20t...

gethistory.co.uk

The Silent Minute

What do you do when your army has retreated, your ally has capitulated, and you face invasion? You pray.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

I see that my book made it into @adamtooze.bsky.social “Chartbook”. If you like long discussions of the political ramifications of British wartime food policy it’s the book for you!

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Brexit ideology was shaped in the 1990s, when great power conflict was largely over, European security was no longer at issue & the US underpinned a global free-trading system. It was applied in a world more like the '70s, defined by great power conflict, resurgent protectionism & an unreliable US.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Knowing I was being reviewed in the @lrb.co.uk may have given me a few sleepless nights… So chuffed to see the book described as“absorbing and original”!

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

80 years ago a bus strike meant many people had to walk to central London for #VEDay. A potent marker of how Churchill had fought a Tory War but the peace would belong to Labour. Read more in my book: global.oup.com/academic/pro...

global.oup.com

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I think I might have found the world’s best Wikipedia article. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_h...

en.m.wikipedia.org

Guide horse - Wikipedia

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Paula Surridge @psurridge.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Maybe we're asking the wrong questions about gender part #3578

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David Blagden @blagdendavid.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

The indefatigable Patrick Porter and I have a piece in The Critic on flaws in the Chagos deal, progressive realism, and how a superior version of the latter - that could yet dodge the pitfalls of the former - is still there for the taking. thecritic.co.uk/has-the-chag...

thecritic.co.uk

Has the Chagos Islands deal killed progressive realism? | David Blagden and Patrick Porter | The Critic Magazine

Whatever happened to progressive realism? As you may recall, that was the foreign policy doctrine declared by the incoming Labour government’s foreign secretary, David Lammy. The short answer is that…

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Does anyone know if it is possible to look at back issues of the now defunct “Right Now!” magazine - @evansmithhist.bsky.social I wonder?

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David Blagden @blagdendavid.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Probably not the most popular first foray on here, but - under the urgings of people I respect - here's something done elsewhere... The Left-Wing Case Against the Chagos Deal 🧵

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

100% the content / shade I am here for.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

For all the talk of a deal with the UK, Tories need to recover their skepticism about America. As imperialists in WW2 like Beaverbrook and Amery knew America seeks its own “economic lebensraum” at the expense of others they are not “friends”.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Now all Boston needs is a giant milk explosion and they will be halfway to making a decent cup of tea.

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Steven Fielding @polprofsteve2024.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Well worth a read - it's free and to-the-point - of you want to get an insight into the prosaic social democratic historical 'vision' (dread word) of Keir Starmer.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Honoured to be reviewed by Richard Evans (and to be called a young historian!). I’m glad he found it enjoyable and that it “provides a stimulating and thought-provoking reassessment of Tory thinking in the war years.” Some of the critiques are fair but I want to push back against the main one (1)

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Had a great chat on the New Books Network podcast about Blue Jerusalem talking everything 1945 General Election, appeasement, Lord Beaverbrook, conservative realism, liberal militarism and why WWII was as much the “Tories war” as a “People’s War” podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/n...

podcasts.apple.com

Kit Kowol,

Podcast Episode · New Books in Military History · 28/12/2024 · 40m

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Another session battling the hedge while listening to We Have Ways pod and another shoutout from @almurray.bsky.social for Blue Jerusalem. I should garden more often!

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Sam Wetherell @samwetherell.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Come to my book launch! Its on 28 February at the University of Liverpool with a fantastic all star line up featuring Patrick Joyce, Abi O'Connor (@abioconnor_ ), Janaya Pickett and Elsa Devienne. Free wine and discussion! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/liverpool-...

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

This is a smashing set of articles and it’s great to be among the writers. Many thanks to @pjsloman.bsky.social and @colmpm.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute.

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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

It's gratifying to see the first few articles of @politicalquarterly.bsky.social's forthcoming special collection on the 2024 general election trickle out online - and in open access form! Available to read right now are... 🧵

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

If you play your cards right you can watch 14 hours of uninterrupted test cricket today.

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Kit Kowol @kitkowol.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

So this is where you have all been…

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