Dr Meg Kobza

Well, this sucks!

*chef's kiss* Happy book launch to the exquisite @stephhoward-smith.bsky.social 🥂🐾 And for those who have not had the pleasure of holding 'Yap!' in their own paws, you can find it in all good (UK) bookshops on Thursday!! #skystorians #dogs #18thcentury

Contrary to billing change over time as our beat, as a historian I'm here to tell you that violence against women is an absolute constant. Not generations but centuries of activism & policies have made that violence only somewhat more public. Our daily news reminds us how and why.

Help! Does anyone, by chance, have either photos or transcriptions of Thomas Parsons's diary? In whole or part? He was a stonecutter in Bath in 1769. It's at the Huntington and all I can find a handful of articles :/ #18thc #skystorians

For the British Georgian elite, the masquerade was an opportunity like no other to gather, flirt, and consume. For everyone else it was notorious for mischief and misbehaviour. What a feast to have @fancyhistorian.bsky.social with us on Thurs 27th August to hear all about it. See you there!

The Leverhulme Trust, as part of its major (£100 million) centenary investment in UK research, has announced 3 new partnerships designed to enhance opportunities for underrepresented groups at the early stages of research careers. @leverhulme.ac.uk Terrifically good news, and sorely needed. 1/3

The sec of state who has seen at least 15000 academics lose their jobs just said this. Out loud. Mercy me. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Calling all historical fashion students, costume makers and re-enactors! I am delighted to announce a new series of 18th Century Gown-Making Workshops in Scotland next spring. Please spread the news... and start stitching those undergarments! 😉 www.timesmith.co.uk/scotland-wor...

18thC friends. Do we have any idea what the Ace of Spades might have symbolised? Asking for any and all knowledge on this because I have none. ♠️♠️♠️ #skystorians #18thc #playingcards

No matter how cringey you find occult stuff, asking a tarot deck a question will always be more dignified than asking ChatGPT

I double checked. This is true.

Thanks everyone--secret was my first reading of it too, but other people in the room doubted it bc of the phrase 'do a secret'.

Friends! Historians! What is this word?? I have a guess but will keep it to myself so as not to cloud your reading of it. #skystorians #18thc #historians

Haven't been on in a while, so in case you missed it...Masquerade is out now and you can find her in a good bookshop near you (or online!) 💖✨ #18thC #history #nonfiction @yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social

IT'S TIME! The #CFP for #BSECS2027 has been released! This year's theme is 'Artifice and Authenticity'. The deadline for submissions is the 15 September 2026. The conference will by the 6-8 January 2027 @pembrokeoxford.bsky.social #18thC #skystorians 🗃️ www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/...

Next Weds 10 June we welcome @jamie-gemmell.bsky.social (KCL) to our seminar, who will present their paper titled ‘John Satia and the 1731 ban on Black apprenticeship’ Register below to join us either in person at the IHR or online from 17:30. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Today on #BetwixtTheSheets, I am talking to the marvellous Meg Kobza about her new book on the history of the masquerade ball in Georgian Britain. 🎭 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO GO! #CFP #skystorians #18thC

So given this is Season 4, and Season 1 was in 1813, it must be the Seditious Meetings Act 1817, which means they're *definitely* trailing Bridgerton Season 6: The Peterloo Massacre, where Eloise's forgotten radical tradesman boyfriend reappears only to die in her arms at the hands of the Yeomenry

Well played, London Underground.

My course syllabi now contain a link to this document, "why Professor Holliday Doesn't Use Generative AI". Feel free to share/repurpose or just check out the links for your own reference. It won't stop some of them, but I want students to know why. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

This Author has the privilege of sharing the tale of Mrs Catherine Perceval with avid readers & riotous revellers alike. The Author hopes this will satiate the ton's boundless appetite for gossip. For now. yalebooks.co.uk/the-real-mas...

Whatever my uni declares, I am not going to engage with AI. I am not going to use AI or teach students to use it. I am going to continue to explain to students why it is harmful. Absolutely absurd to allow this anti-intellectual, environmentally devastating technology into the university at all.

This works for Masquerade pre-orders too 😘

Including Novels, Needleworks, and Empire by @chloewigstonsmith.bsky.social, and a preview of Masquerade by @fancyhistorian.bsky.social! Free postage in the UK. Offer runs until 31/1/26. Not available in North/South America & Australia/NZ.

14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.

We have two vacancies on the Council of the *British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies*: 1. Postgraduate Representative 2. Communications Officer Happy to answer any questions about @bsecs.bsky.social Council life! More info here: www.bsecs.org.uk/the-society/...

Evenings and mornings.

We have a whole report on this www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/univers...

It’s my birthday! A really wonderful gift would be if you could listen, like and share my new podcast series, Uprising: The Civil Wars (and, if you have enjoyed it, give it 5 ⭐️) In the words of Henrietta Maria, Merci. 🎧 play.megaphone.fm/quvuyhkqs66t...

Congratulations to Katie Donington, Abdul Mohamud, Robin Whitburn, Nicholas Draper and their contributors! Their #OpenAccess book Teaching Slavery published today. Read and download free at: bit.ly/48vnDdJ #Education #Colonialism #Slavery #Racism

TODAY! We’re looking forward to this in-person CECS seminar with the always wonderful Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth @carolinemccaff.bsky.social

A movie that takes place where you're from.

This is the most frustrating and exhausting thing about academia. When I mentioned it to a headhunter who was asking about things that could change, they said, “you are the first person to bring this up” — but two other women in the room backed me up.

You have to understand what pieces like this from the NYT are and are not. They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today. They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.

For colleagues in the UK: Yale UP is running a 50% discount through November, using the promo code FIFTY. Lots of books at much better prices, including my own: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Early Bird Registration for #BSECS2026 closes on the ***15 NOVEMBER 2025*** www.bsecs.org.uk/conferences/... #skystorians #18thC 🗃️

I have fallen victim to the craze.

Had an interesting lunchtime talk today at @yalebooks.bsky.social from Dr Meghan Kobza about her upcoming book The Masquerade: A History of Extravagance and Intrigue. Now I want to go to a Masquerade 🎭 find out more about the book here yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...

Anthony Blinken was explicitly calling the actions of the RSF and SAF in Sudan a genocide all the way back in January. Which people who’d actually been paying attention to the situation in Sudan before now (when it’s handy to use it Sudan as a rhetorical gotcha against Gaza protesters) would know.

When no one at the école noticed your work

My review of @benltjackson.bsky.social's excellent book!

‪ Great to see Mary Newbould's new book on #Sterne and networks of reception out and open access rom @universitypress.cambridge.org! Lots of rich #18thcentury material here, including oral recitals & naughty Sternean poetry @shandyhall.bsky.social @lsternetrust.bsky.social

🎉We are pleased to announce new Applied History Fellowships in partnership with @royalhistsoc.org & @findmypast.bsky.social. Join us on the 19 November at our launch event to find out more about the Fellowships and how to apply: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

These lovely new books are for work. I promise. #18thc