Reposted by Mike ChapmanPeter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 19/07/2026On the night of 5/6 November 1942, a vast Allied convoy passed undetected through the Strait of Gibraltar, carrying the assault forces for the Torch landings in N Africa. It was a major feat of military planning, but its success hinged on the diplomatic skills of our man in Madrid. 1/7 3419
Reposted by Mike ChapmanPeter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 23/04/2026Two weeks to publication of Peace Makers geni.us/PeaceMakers. This🧵is on the major achievement of the Foreign Office in finding the bandwidth in the middle of WWII to think strategically to shape the future peace. Credit to the Permanent Under Secretary Sir Alec Cadogan 1/6 3268
Reposted by Mike ChapmanPeter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Three weeks to publication of geni.us/PeaceMakers. This week’s🧵is on the women of the Foreign Office in WWII. They were barred from joining the ‘administrative grade’: the senior staff/policymakers. Many hundreds joined the FO in support functions like typing. BUT 1/6 12413
Reposted by Mike ChapmanDr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 14/04/2026If you're wondering how the blockade is landing, this has been making its way around the naval nerds today 281144277
Reposted by Mike ChapmanJoshi Herrmann @joshih.bsky.social · 15/04/2026I have three court hearings to attend in three months. Two subjects of our reporting are suing us. Journalism is threatened by abusive legal threats aimed at silencing reporting. The Government needs to #StopSLAPPs. Please share and write to your MP. manchestermill.co.uk/three-courts... 25539
Reposted by Mike ChapmanAlan Owlport 🦉 🎃 @alanallport.bsky.social · 12/04/2026Russell Crowe’s Göring in Netflix’s #Nuremberg is genuinely impressive: vain, intelligent, manipulative, unrepentant. And the film gets the courtroom dynamic right: Jackson fumbling the cross-examination before Maxwell Fyfe stepped in to rescue the prosecution. So far, so good. 🧵 432348
Mike Chapman @mikethechapman.bsky.social · 18/02/2026A joy of buying second hand books is finding an old bookmark. My quick research suggests Dazzle was staged in 1955 and as Retrospect was published in 1952 I can’t help wondering if the first owner gave up at p94? Layers of biblio-archaeology! 010
Reposted by Mike ChapmanBen Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Plans to invade Greenland have just been cancelled after this 15166182073
Mike Chapman @mikethechapman.bsky.social · 06/02/2026Always exciting to find an SIS CX report out in the wild, especially when (a) I wasn’t looking for it and (b) for once we know that it’s flat out incorrect. (Unsurprisingly the source supports the false Japanese justification for the Mukden Incident). 010
Reposted by Mike ChapmanDan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026Still the greatest list ever complied. 1530160
Mike Chapman @mikethechapman.bsky.social · 31/01/2026Finished this last night. An outstanding read. Fascinating, stimulating but never imho controversialist. And the final page - I wasn’t expecting that. What a way to finish a Second World War book. 000
Reposted by Mike ChapmanRhodri Marsden @rhodri.biz · 24/12/2025Just bumping the link for donations, if you can spare any moolah #DuvetKnowItsChristmas www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...gofundme.comDonate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri MarsdenUnbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025 210285
Reposted by Mike ChapmanThe Mary Rose Museum @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social · 15/04/2025On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked, "If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?" Allow our scaled diagram to explain... 216132405371
Mike Chapman @mikethechapman.bsky.social · 24/08/2024Started the day exploring a WW2 Liberty ship, finished it taking a ride in a @waymo.bsky.social cab and I feel I've experienced modern transport development at warp speed. 060