A slim, but sensory-rich meditation on Henry David Thoreau you won't soon forget. Read my review of Followed by the Lark by Helen Humphreys (Farrar,Straus&Giroux) at Historical Novels Review:
historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/follow…

Fascinating article on the finding of two Zhou dynasty skeletons with lower limb amputation as a punishment. There's a great paper on this by Jesse Chapman...

Great thread on Mao biographies

Publication announcement: 'The Niu–Li Factional Strife: The Origins of a Historiographical Fiction' Journal of Chinese History. In it I argue that one of the master narratives of late Tang history was invented by Song and further amplified by Republican historians: bit.ly/3KdCtbv

Latest arrival!! Shanghai by Joseph Kanon (2024) from Simon & Schuster as supplied by the ever effervescent Aunty Lesley Bridge Books Dromore Co Down 📚 of Bridge Books, Dromore - Dromore being the bustling metropolis that Shanghai always wished it could be #China #CrimeFiction #spy

Gosh

Overrun with starlings and their babies at the moment. They got through 10 suet balls yesterday, until I told them they were eating me out of house and home. They came back this morning, though. In a couple of weeks they'll vanish to the fields, to return this time next year....

Finished Knight Flower last evening. Great fun!! #kdrama

The Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park welcomed 20 #SiberianTiger cubs and 15 #AmurLeopard cubs born in 2023 as the wild population of tigers and leopards continued to grow, reaching 70 and 80, respectively, according to the park administration. #biodiversity

'Bird-watching has emerged as a rapidly growing hobby in China, as is made evident from the multitude of people seen watching and photographing birds in parks in major cities' - China Daily

chinadaily.com.cn/a/202405/21/WS…

🚨 NEW RESEARCH 🚨

‘China’s PLAN: Maritime dominion beyond the South China Sea’

In this new Policy Paper, Dr Emma Salisbury investigates the build-up and modernisation of the Chinese navy and its implications for the geopolitics of the South China Sea 🇨🇳🌏

👇
geostrategy.org.uk/research/china…

This image of a Barred Eagle Owl ( #BirdsSeenIn2024 ) was taken just before dawn today here in Malaysia and what an impressive bird it is with its horizontally-held ear tufts, brown ‘bottomless” eyes, yellow bill and greyish-brown vermiculated wings [BirdingInChina.com].

‘Animal VC’ for a second world war POW dog, has been discovered in the National Archives.

whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/judy-dog-…

#MurderEveryMonday historical mysteries this week & some great covers!! Kate Jackson Ancient Rome, 14th C Italy, 1960s Italy (hmmm bit of an Italian theme) & 17th C Europe...

Dancing puppet goats!!

Without saying your age, post your favourite film that was released the year you turned 18

He lost an eye but can still see better than most. Wise words from Salman Rushdie

In the morning, the bridge in a town.

Still reading this big novel #amreading Set in modern Cuba, it also tells the true tale of the voyage of the St Louis which arrived in Cuba in 1939 carrying 937 Jewish refugees to be eventually turned away & returned to Europe, 254 of the refugees to die in the camps

STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE

Biography of Qing statesman Zuo Zongtang, who argued for China's self-strengthening, introduced key technologies and industries, and helped put down the Taiping rebellion.

May 2024
Naval Institute Press
usni.org/press/books/st…