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James Connolly

@drjamesconnolly

Historian at UCL SELCS specialising in modern France and Europe, the First World War, and military occupation. Other interests include film, TV, gaming, and comedy (especially puns). Very occasional stand-up comedian (8 performances so far).

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Latest posts by James Connolly @drjamesconnolly

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L’histoire par les textes - Aphg Antiquité Moyen Âge Période moderne Période contemporaine Thèmes transversaux Historiographie Liens utiles N.B. Les documents portant sur les séquences intermédiaires entre plusieurs ères (antiquité t...

Il est là, tout chaud grâce au colossal travail de compilation réalisé par @andreloez.bsky.social pour @aphg.bsky.social : le site l'Histoire par les Textes rassemble, grâce à la collaboration de nombreux enseignants ayant exercé à l'université, brochures et fascicules. www.aphg.fr/lhistoire-pa...

12.03.2026 14:13 👍 42 🔁 22 💬 1 📌 3

I also feel there should be a distinction between liking and loving something, and the heart blurs the line. But maybe that's my native Anglophone brain refusing to get on board with the complexity of 'aimer' in French etc.

12.03.2026 12:26 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The irony is that to 'like' this we have to click on a heart.

12.03.2026 10:36 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Institut national de l'audiovisuel | INA Découvrez les fonds audios et vidéos à consulter gratuitement, des articles qui éclairent l’actualité, les activités de l’INA, ses rendez-vous, ses formations et bien plus encore !

I too have this problem. And for anyone teaching twentieth-century French history more generally, a lot of INA.fr's links have changed - in some cases, videos have been removed entirely.

11.03.2026 11:42 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

In an increasingly depressing world, I can't offer insightful takes on current events but I can offer mild distraction via lots of puns and silliness about the French Revolution and #FrHistory

05.03.2026 15:19 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
Preview
Modern French History Seminar

You can also hear much more about the book at my book launch tonight!

It takes place at the IHR in Senate House, from 5.30pm. If you can't attend, you can always watch along online!

www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

🗃️ #skystorians

09.03.2026 09:15 👍 5 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 2

Just started listening to this on the train and enjoying it a lot! Two clever, funny people I know being clever and funny - but you don't have to know them to appreciate it.

09.03.2026 09:50 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

In an increasingly depressing world, I can't offer insightful takes on current events but I can offer mild distraction via lots of puns and silliness about the French Revolution and #FrHistory

05.03.2026 15:19 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
James Connolly - The French Revolution stand-up - dates and origins
James Connolly - The French Revolution stand-up - dates and origins YouTube video by JEPC123

An extract from my stand-up routine on the French Revolution. Excuse the poor sound and image quality.

youtube.com/watch?v=SSLV...

05.03.2026 11:27 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

On the way to do my stand-up set on the French Revolution at @brunelmuseum.bsky.social this evening. Really looking forward to it, and to seeing the other sets!

04.03.2026 16:23 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Bit harsh placing the WC away from Marx, too, given he was its biggest fan. (Or am I the only one using 'WC' for 'working class' in my notes?)

04.03.2026 16:19 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Great to see this well-deserved positive review of the book born of @mjgronau.bsky.social's PhD thesis (which I enjoyed co-supervising)!

03.03.2026 18:23 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

As a complete dweeb goodie-twoshoes who seeks external validation, I used to love school parents' evening. Now, I've just come back from one for my son in Reception, and I get a similar feeling.

03.03.2026 17:23 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

No doubt his finest shower.

02.03.2026 15:50 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Unfortunately I can't make it due to the usual childcare issues, but enjoy!

02.03.2026 14:11 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

@smidbob.bsky.social is a great historian and I'm sure his book will be fascinating, as will the launch!

02.03.2026 14:09 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I've read so much about anticlericalism in French history, and yet I still don't understand what its supporters had against office workers.

(An unused joke from my comedy routine on the French Revolution, perhaps for good reason)

28.02.2026 11:22 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 2

My four-year-old has returned from his first 100 days in school. Looking back at his achievements and policies, he's made good progress and hasn't made too many U-turns.

26.02.2026 16:46 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The story's not just a load of crêpe, then? Maybe the English confused desserts when trying to make an île flottante.

24.02.2026 08:57 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

There are still tickets left for this, if anyone is interested in jokes about the French Revolution and engineering!

23.02.2026 08:33 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks! 😊

18.02.2026 19:38 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Really looking forward to performing stand-up on the French Revolution at this event!

18.02.2026 18:15 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 2

I'm doing some more open-mic stand-up tonight, so even if I bomb, that little moment makes today a win in the grand scheme of things.

17.02.2026 16:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

My four-year-old, whilst we sat on a bench together in the park: "I love you. Even when you're angry, I love you. Even when I'm angry, I love you. Even when you're a bit annoying, I love you."

Maybe we're not completely failing as parents. I hope he feels like that forever.

17.02.2026 16:31 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

'Community' also fits into Vichy's values since it replaced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen with the Principles of the Community.

16.02.2026 12:21 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Just saw a Reform billboard with the slogan 'Family, Community, Country.' Hard to know whether they're aware that it's worryingly close to interwar pseudo-fascist and WWII Vichy France's tryptich of 'Work, Family, Country/Fatherland.'

16.02.2026 12:21 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

When will Will get his flours for these puns?

15.02.2026 10:07 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I sometimes do it "for" my wife too, but a) she now understands a ridiculous amount of French, and b) it's clear that it's me being passive-aggressive to make a point, ahem.

11.02.2026 17:53 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

(It was a performative switch to English, so the guy understood me and in the hope he would move to avoid my son)

11.02.2026 16:28 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Bilingual four-year-old, after I said "Be careful" as he nearly cycled into someone on the pavement: "Daddy, I don't like it when you speak in English."

11.02.2026 16:22 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0