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William Dalrymple

@willdalrymple

Scottish historian & art historian; @EmpirePodUK.bsky.social podcaster & Jaipur Lit Fest co-director. Visiting Fellow at All Souls, Oxford. Writes the occasional book.

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14.11.2024
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Latest posts by William Dalrymple @willdalrymple

How Civilisation Came Back From Collapse (ft. Eric Cline)
How Civilisation Came Back From Collapse (ft. Eric Cline) YouTube video by Empire β€’ World History

Maybe not good short term. As you say, Eric Cline (@digkabri.bsky.social) says in new book, and this podcast with @willdalrymple.bsky.social, some nations became successful by exploiting the opportunities that arose.

What are ours? Renewables? Deeper treaties?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7zO...

09.03.2026 10:45 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

You should really give @empirepoduk.bsky.social a listen, the episodes on partition and the events and people involved are fantastic. @willdalrymple.bsky.social and @anitaanand.bsky.social do a great job of guiding those of us who didn't know anything but the most basic history beforehand.

06.03.2026 08:25 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Donald Trump is losing the Iran war πŸ‘‡

www.owenjones.news/p/why-trump-...

04.03.2026 20:20 πŸ‘ 125 πŸ” 44 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 4
Preview
Chairman Mao: China's Communist Uprising Podcast Episode Β· Empire: World History Β· 5 March Β· 49m

339. Chairman Mao: China's Communist Uprising (Ep 2)/qxZ8hNErMhiBCMzgm

05.03.2026 08:52 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com

05.03.2026 08:51 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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In this episode @empirepoduk.bsky.social @anita & I are joined once again by Rana Mitter, Professor of Modern Chinese History at Harvard and author of A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World, to discuss the Chinese Civil War and the Long March.
linktr.ee/empirepoduk

05.03.2026 08:50 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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Why did 80,000 communists walk across the country in the β€œLong March”, and how is this retreat reframed in Chinese political memory today? linktr.ee/empirepoduk

05.03.2026 08:49 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Why did the Communists and Nationalists join forces with the USSR during the Chinese Civil War? When did the nationalists purge communists in what is known as the β€œWhite Terror”?
linktr.ee/empirepoduk

05.03.2026 08:48 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Do you think of him as a model democrat?

05.03.2026 08:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Our @EmpirePodUK Chairman Mao biopod continues:
Episode Two: The Long March
With the brilliant Rana Mitter, Professor of Modern Chinese History at Harvard and author of A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World

05.03.2026 08:42 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
One side of Rodney's Stone, a Class II Pictish carved stone located near Brodie Castle in Moray. At the top are two coiling S-shaped creatures with staring eyes, sharp teeth and lolling tongues; circular curled and dotted objects float between them. Below these two monsters is what is known as a "Pictish Beast", a strange, aquatic-looking creature with flipper-like limbs and a long snout; its body is decorated with knotwork carving, and a whip-like crest curls from the top of its head back down along its spine. At the base of the image is a highly ornamented Pictish double-disc crossed with a z-rod.

One side of Rodney's Stone, a Class II Pictish carved stone located near Brodie Castle in Moray. At the top are two coiling S-shaped creatures with staring eyes, sharp teeth and lolling tongues; circular curled and dotted objects float between them. Below these two monsters is what is known as a "Pictish Beast", a strange, aquatic-looking creature with flipper-like limbs and a long snout; its body is decorated with knotwork carving, and a whip-like crest curls from the top of its head back down along its spine. At the base of the image is a highly ornamented Pictish double-disc crossed with a z-rod.

β€œThe iconography on the stones… is one of the few sources that modern scholars can work with to learn about the Picts & their world – & it also turns out to be a great source of inspiration for science fiction TV”

β€”Dr @janetekay.bsky.social on Picts & #DoctorWho
ima.princeton.edu/2017/07/31/p...

04.03.2026 14:05 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
What's Left of the Picts? Scotland's Pictish Stones - Historic Environment Scotland Blog Pictish stones can be found all over Scotland, but what are they, who carved them, and why? We take a look at some of the research.

Scotland’s Pictish carved stones, dating from the first millennium CE, display a number of symbols of unknown meaning. Some symbols show animals, some are abstract/geometric, but the same designs can be found from Shetland to the Borders
#WyrdWednesday
blog.historicenvironment.scot/2025/08/what...

04.03.2026 14:05 πŸ‘ 76 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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Join the Empire Club: Unlock the full Empire experience – with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to miniseries and live show tickets, exclusive book discounts, a members-only newsletter, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at empirepoduk.com

03.03.2026 17:09 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Join the Empire Club today to listen to ALL 6 episodes right now. Learn about

⭐China's Civil War
⭐China in WW2
⭐The Great Leap Forward
⭐The Cultural Revolution

03.03.2026 17:08 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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In this episode @anitaanand.bsky.social & I are joined by the brilliant Rana Mitter, author of A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World, Modern China: A Short Introduction and Forgotten Ally, China’s World War II, to discuss the origin story of Mao Zedong.
linktr.ee/empirepoduk

03.03.2026 17:04 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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A child born in a rural village, Mao hated the Confucian traditions he grew up with. He read profusely and rebelled against his father. But how did his early life shape him into the dictator he would become?
linktr.ee/empirepoduk

03.03.2026 17:01 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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A revolutionary hero or a brutal despot? Mao Zedong has one of the most recognisable portraits on Earth. How did he rise to become the founder of the People’s Republic of China?
linktr.ee/empirepoduk

03.03.2026 16:59 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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New from @EmpirePodUK

CHAIRMAN MAO: THE MAKING OF A DICTATOR

@anitaanand.bsky.social & I are joined by the wonderful Professor Rana Mitter for a six episodes deep dive into Mao's life.

03.03.2026 16:54 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
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Donald Trump’s dangerous β€˜war of whim’ [FREE TO READ] Anyone who claims to know where this conflict will go is bluffing

"Trump has seen George W. Bush’s record and raised it. There's nothing good to say about Iran’s regime. But it has shown a better instinct for reading Trump’s intentions than his voters." My column on Trump's reckless gamble. as.ft.com/r/66e49702-f...

03.03.2026 12:02 πŸ‘ 636 πŸ” 171 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 9

Ha!

02.03.2026 18:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

02.03.2026 18:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It is!

02.03.2026 18:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

That's the most flattering comparison you could possibly make in my book!

02.03.2026 18:52 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Jibāl as-Sarawāt

02.03.2026 11:35 πŸ‘ 49 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Qalat Abu Sarrah

02.03.2026 11:32 πŸ‘ 42 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Amazing photos of a rarely seen part of the World.

02.03.2026 11:27 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Rijal Almaa

02.03.2026 11:29 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Jabalpur Soudah

02.03.2026 11:28 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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... despite everything

02.03.2026 11:27 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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...what wonders I've seen...

02.03.2026 11:26 πŸ‘ 46 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0