Tom Isitt

There’s a distinct “Dexter” vibe going on in my house at the moment. Quite Halloweeny, too.

Exploring the Balkans via the medium of Google Maps labels. The first is a “tourist attraction”, the second is a “local business”, the third is a “B&B”.

Technically, Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on October 1st, 1915, not on the 14th, as usually stated. Both sides were using the Julian calendar at the time, which was 13 days behind everyone else. 🤓 It’s quite useful to know this when examining primary sources, but few historians mention it.

I was really hoping Strictly would be hosted by Jack Dee and Frankie Boyle this year. #Disappointing

This is interesting. It posits that the Bulgarian collapse in September 1918 was due to a myth promoted by Stamboliyski. The myth claimed Bulgaria was only contracted to support the Central Powers for 3 years, from September 6, 1915. So a significant number of troops packed up and went home.

I seem destined to cross paths with Stephen Graham. I used Challenge of the Dead as research for Zone Rouge. He lived on the Italian Front after WW1. He married a Bosnian Serb involved in the Great Retreat of 1915 as a 14 year old girl. And I’ve just finished Line of Duty (starring Stephen Graham).

The resemblance is uncanny 😉

I’ve read the history books, watched the YouTube videos, and now have a very clear idea of the problems facing the Balkans, and who’s to blame. But I’m keeping it to myself because I don’t want my nose cut off and my house burned down.

Huge rockfalls in the Tofane group (WW1 battlefield in the Dolomites, 1915-1917) last weekend. The Austrian position of Tre Dita is visible in the bottom left of the first photo. Exploring these mountains is becoming quite hazardous. #TiTM

It’s not too late to sign up for this wonderful event. I’ve done an all-new, mountain-specific presentation, and will be giving my talk while dressed thematically. @ntwf.bsky.social

I’ll admit to being riveted by the Manchester City thing. It just gets worse and worse. As my mother (and Seneca) would say, “Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas."

Financial doping, eh? It’s beginning to look a lot like the Armstrong years.

Not for the first time, I find myself wondering why I’m drawn to subjects studiously avoided by British historians 🙄

As a teenager with an interest in photography, my father gave me this book and an old East German SLR. They sparked a lifelong passion for photography and journalism. Mercifully the book survived our recent flood (the camera was sold long ago).

Accommodation options for my forthcoming research trips to the Balkans are…interesting.

If there’s a group of sportspeople less enthusiastic about doing their job, I can’t think of it.

Climate change: good for bomb disposal troops and archaeologists, bad for everything else. Over 200 UXOs in the Italian alps have been made safe in the last two weeks.

It’s always chilling to read about a fatality on a climb you’ve done. This poor chap fell 80m from near the Osservatorio into Circo Est, a place where numerous bodies accumulated during WW1.

The upside of our flood…empty shelves will require refilling. A book-buying spree in Belgrade could be in order (it’s cheaper to fly there than pay postage on 15kg of books).

I’m on the latest Helion Military History podcast chatting to Chris about the Italian Front, QR codes, and what readers of military history really really want. Have a listen… #TiTM

One of these days I’m going to run Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, and Trevelyan’s Scenes from Italy’s War through an AI thingy to see how much Hemingway lifted. Also, these covers 😂 AFTA features no snowy mountains, and SFIW wasn’t set in the Middle East.

I own a few terrible books about WW1, but typically not one of them was damaged in our recent flood. Instead, some of my favourites perished 😢

For @louiseprovan.bsky.social

How did I not know about this??? It’s got my name written all over it. International bestseller, blockbuster movie (think Escape to Victory, but in bikes), merch, you name it. It might even be true, who knows?

Bloody hell, Balkan social media’s reaction to the death of Mladić 😱 Some of these people are seriously deranged.

It looks like the Vuelta is also adopting the week-long format.

I’m currently reading this, about the Bosnian war of the late 1990s. I’m intrigued by conflict photography/reportage, and the effect it has on its practitioners. How does anyone do that job without being horribly traumatised? And why would anyone want to do that job?

A sunflower has self-seeded next to our bug hotel, which pleases me greatly.

The CPA not understanding how helmets work, and making themselves look stupid, again.

Nice email from a reader who has fully engaged with the spirit, as well as the content, of Thunder in The Mountains 👊

My very useful map of the Great Retreat from Serbia in 1915 has one small problem…all the dates are from the Julian calendar. So I’ve changed them all to the Gregorian calendar to avoid endlessly having to add 13 days to everything (which makes my head hurt). It took a while.

It’s so hot in my office that I’ve kindly given myself the rest of the day off.

I’ve finally finished ‘Dan Šesti’, by Rastko Petrović, generally considered to be Serbia’s greatest book about WW1. It’s a wild, fevered, jumble of nightmarish vignettes. This jumped off the page: ‘Hunger sat beside him, grinning, and held one of his hands in its own.’

When it became clear in November 1915 that Serbia was lost, most Serbs packed essential clothing and food and prepared to flee to Albania. Branislav Nušić packed 15kg of books. I think many of us can relate to that.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney rode up Ventoux in under an hour, in 30 degrees of heat, and not one bead of perspiration appeared on her face. I lost about 2 litres of sweat doing it at half the speed!

Terrible moral dilemma: should I subscribe to an AI translation platform? It would be very useful for my forthcoming Balkan book, but it would mean that your grandchildren will probably die of thirst. For an extra $7 a month I could get it to write the book as well 👊

😂

Today we have mostly been in the Argonne looking at WW1 craters and eating heavenly tarts.

Today’s find: winding gear from a German WW1 cable car system on Hohneck, in the Vosges. There’s still a lot of this stuff scattered around these mountains, and some great hiking.

It’s #NationalDogPhotographyDay so here’s Doggo at the Vatican.

Imagine being the only clean rider on that list (I’m talking about Big Mig, obvs).

I’ve had a Johnny Hoogerland moment and cycled through 300m of brambles.

Today’s learning outcomes: 1. Push-starting a 1,400kg car on your own, in 35 degrees, is possible, but inadvisable. 2. Paying €300 never to have to do it again seems very good value.