Brian DeLay
@briandelay.bsky.social
Berkeley Historian. Author of War of a Thousand Deserts. For Norton, finishing Aim at Empire: An international History of American Revolutions, through the Barrel of a Gun. Also 2nd Amendment cases. Birds, too. https://history.berkeley.edu/brian-delay
Pinned
Brian DeLay
@briandelay.bsky.social
· Mar 17
The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture — California Law Review
The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen elevated history, text, and tradition as the sole criteria for assessing the constitutionality of firearms...
www.californialawreview.org
I'm thrilled that "The Myth of Continuity in American Gun Culture," a long (79-p.) article that I spent most of a year working on, has just been published in the California Law Review www.californialawreview.org/print/gun-co...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
My department is hiring an assistant professor of (post-1945) Korean history. Come work with me!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10290
Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions about the position. And I'd be ever so grateful if you could spread the word to potentially interested parties.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10290
Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions about the position. And I'd be ever so grateful if you could spread the word to potentially interested parties.
Assistant Professor of Korean History (post-1945)
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
August 5, 2026 at 6:39 PM
My department is hiring an assistant professor of (post-1945) Korean history. Come work with me!
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10290
Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions about the position. And I'd be ever so grateful if you could spread the word to potentially interested parties.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF10290
Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions about the position. And I'd be ever so grateful if you could spread the word to potentially interested parties.
Berkeley History is hiring: The Mediterranean and its Hinterlands, 500-1500 CE. Our third search this year (!). Please help us spread the word aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05501
Assistant or Associate Professor – Mediterranean and its Hinterlands, 500-1500 CE - Department of History
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 16, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Berkeley History is hiring: The Mediterranean and its Hinterlands, 500-1500 CE. Our third search this year (!). Please help us spread the word aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05501
Berkeley is hiring in Modern European Intellectual History - please help us spread the word 🙏
Assistant Professor – Modern European Intellectual History - Department of History
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 11, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Berkeley is hiring in Modern European Intellectual History - please help us spread the word 🙏
My friend (&, believe it or not, former student) Garret Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social has been an indispensable voice in this epoch of cruelty, stupidity, national humiliation, sabotage, & generational vandalism. Somehow he's also found time to write a hopeful book about our past & (maybe) future 🙏
September 10, 2026 at 1:33 AM
My friend (&, believe it or not, former student) Garret Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social has been an indispensable voice in this epoch of cruelty, stupidity, national humiliation, sabotage, & generational vandalism. Somehow he's also found time to write a hopeful book about our past & (maybe) future 🙏
Berkeley History is hiring in African History. Please help us spread the word😎
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05494?app...
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05494?app...
Assistant Professor – African History - Department of History
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
September 9, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Berkeley History is hiring in African History. Please help us spread the word😎
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05494?app...
aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05494?app...
A few years ago, in a seminar on American Revolutions, my students wondered why anyone in the 19th c. wanted constitutional monarchy. I asked them whether anyone could possibly fill that role today in our divided country. Secret ballot. Three of us came up with the same name. RIP Queen Dolly.
August 26, 2026 at 5:06 PM
A few years ago, in a seminar on American Revolutions, my students wondered why anyone in the 19th c. wanted constitutional monarchy. I asked them whether anyone could possibly fill that role today in our divided country. Secret ballot. Three of us came up with the same name. RIP Queen Dolly.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Working hard creating an interactive map of Texas that visualizes the forced migration of enslaved people into Texas from 1800 to 1865. Check us out at enslavedtexas.org We are about halfway in this initial stage, so visit us often for updates! [email protected]
Enslaved Texas
Visualizing the forced migration of ~48,000 enslaved people into Texas (1800-1870) based on Freedmen's voter registration records.
enslavedtexas.org
July 29, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Working hard creating an interactive map of Texas that visualizes the forced migration of enslaved people into Texas from 1800 to 1865. Check us out at enslavedtexas.org We are about halfway in this initial stage, so visit us often for updates! [email protected]
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Permit less carry rapidly spread over the last decade and a half. Because of its recency, there’s been little systemic research on its effects. This new paper finds that it makes society meaningfully worse off.
July 28, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Permit less carry rapidly spread over the last decade and a half. Because of its recency, there’s been little systemic research on its effects. This new paper finds that it makes society meaningfully worse off.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
The issue is out! Once it’s available online (it’ll be open access for thirty days!), I’ll post about the forum on the Dickinson documents discovery that I was so excited to help organize.
An incredible forum in the latest William and Mary Quarterly, spearheaded by Jane E. Calvert and @jgienapp.bsky.social. The contingency of the revolutionary moment can’t be clearer.
July 25, 2026 at 9:23 PM
The issue is out! Once it’s available online (it’ll be open access for thirty days!), I’ll post about the forum on the Dickinson documents discovery that I was so excited to help organize.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Breaking News: The nation’s largest group of scholars of U.S. history denounced a White House report attacking the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Historians Reject Trump Administration’s Criticism of Smithsonian Museum
The nation’s largest group of scholars of U.S. history denounced a White House report attacking the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
nyti.ms
July 8, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Breaking News: The nation’s largest group of scholars of U.S. history denounced a White House report attacking the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
I recently wrote an article for the Alabama Law Review in which I argue that in the 18th and 19th century mass violence was generally not committed by individuals, but instead by armed groups who collectively would commit horrific acts of mass violence.
law.ua.edu/wp-content/u...
law.ua.edu/wp-content/u...
July 8, 2026 at 4:28 PM
I recently wrote an article for the Alabama Law Review in which I argue that in the 18th and 19th century mass violence was generally not committed by individuals, but instead by armed groups who collectively would commit horrific acts of mass violence.
law.ua.edu/wp-content/u...
law.ua.edu/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
The real headline from the birthright‑citizenship case isn’t the outcome. It’s that four Supreme Court justices signaled they believe a president can effectively rewrite the Constitution through executive order.
June 30, 2026 at 5:03 PM
The real headline from the birthright‑citizenship case isn’t the outcome. It’s that four Supreme Court justices signaled they believe a president can effectively rewrite the Constitution through executive order.
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Please read and share widely this first ever interview between two writers with non-speaking autism. (One is my son, the other is his good friend Woody Brown, a Columbia MFA and the author of the best-selling UPWARD BOUND.)
lareviewofbooks.org/article/wood...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/wood...
Nonspeakers Speaking Out | Los Angeles Review of Books
Woody Brown discusses his debut novel and the challenges those with nonspeaking autism face today.
lareviewofbooks.org
June 29, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Please read and share widely this first ever interview between two writers with non-speaking autism. (One is my son, the other is his good friend Woody Brown, a Columbia MFA and the author of the best-selling UPWARD BOUND.)
lareviewofbooks.org/article/wood...
lareviewofbooks.org/article/wood...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Lovely to see this review of The Firearm Revolution in the WSJ
‘The Firearm Revolution’ Review: Shots Heard Around the World
On 16th-century battlefields, formidable mounted cavalry were overwhelmed by a military innovation: lines of foot soldiers armed with long-barreled guns.
www.wsj.com
June 22, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Lovely to see this review of The Firearm Revolution in the WSJ
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Reposted by Brian DeLay
His first book was fundamental to everything I have done since I started grad school--indeed the first thing Bud Bailyn had me do in his grad seminar in the fall of 1969 was to go to the Widener archives to read his dissertation. Fortunately I was too young to grasp what a profound project it was.
June 8, 2026 at 2:31 PM
His first book was fundamental to everything I have done since I started grad school--indeed the first thing Bud Bailyn had me do in his grad seminar in the fall of 1969 was to go to the Widener archives to read his dissertation. Fortunately I was too young to grasp what a profound project it was.
A giant. Gordon Wood spent decades arguing productively & provoking productive argument in response. If you haven't read him yet, "Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality & Deceit in the Eighteenth Century" is a marvelous place to start: www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1... RIP
June 9, 2026 at 4:44 AM
A giant. Gordon Wood spent decades arguing productively & provoking productive argument in response. If you haven't read him yet, "Conspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality & Deceit in the Eighteenth Century" is a marvelous place to start: www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1... RIP
My friend & colleague Francisco Barbosa died too young. Thanks to the tireless Erika Blum, Francisco's wonderful book is finally being published. INSURGENT YOUTH is an inspired history of the young people who powered the Nicaraguan Revolution. 40% discount code: BARB26. #@lasabluesky.bsky.social
Insurgent Youth
Insurgent Youth
upcolorado.com
June 4, 2026 at 4:55 PM
My friend & colleague Francisco Barbosa died too young. Thanks to the tireless Erika Blum, Francisco's wonderful book is finally being published. INSURGENT YOUTH is an inspired history of the young people who powered the Nicaraguan Revolution. 40% discount code: BARB26. #@lasabluesky.bsky.social
Reposted by Brian DeLay
THREAD 🧵
An Al Jazeera investigation has found that military goods from at least 51 countries were sent to Israel, even after the ICJ warned in January 2024 of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered states to help prevent it.
🔗: aje.news/2f90pn | #Infograph
An Al Jazeera investigation has found that military goods from at least 51 countries were sent to Israel, even after the ICJ warned in January 2024 of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered states to help prevent it.
🔗: aje.news/2f90pn | #Infograph
May 23, 2026 at 3:50 PM
THREAD 🧵
An Al Jazeera investigation has found that military goods from at least 51 countries were sent to Israel, even after the ICJ warned in January 2024 of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered states to help prevent it.
🔗: aje.news/2f90pn | #Infograph
An Al Jazeera investigation has found that military goods from at least 51 countries were sent to Israel, even after the ICJ warned in January 2024 of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered states to help prevent it.
🔗: aje.news/2f90pn | #Infograph
Reposted by Brian DeLay
UC Berkeley Law creates new AI policy that bans AI for "conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing any work submitted for credit" or exams because "thinking remains the sine qua non of good lawyering (and of a quality legal education)."
That's what I'm talking about.
That's what I'm talking about.
May 21, 2026 at 4:21 PM
UC Berkeley Law creates new AI policy that bans AI for "conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing any work submitted for credit" or exams because "thinking remains the sine qua non of good lawyering (and of a quality legal education)."
That's what I'm talking about.
That's what I'm talking about.
So excited to see FREEDOM ROUND THE GLOBE out in the world, by my brilliant friend Sarah Pearsall. It's *really* good. But don't take my word for it...
May 21, 2026 at 6:07 PM
So excited to see FREEDOM ROUND THE GLOBE out in the world, by my brilliant friend Sarah Pearsall. It's *really* good. But don't take my word for it...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Delighted to be able to share a first teaching and research resource relating to The Firearm Revolution: a compilation of links to primary sources - visual, objects and translations of texts that I cite in the book #academia #earlymodern #skystorians
Primary sources for The Firearm Revolution
Are you teaching with The Firearm Revolution? Or perhaps you’re an independent researcher with an interest in the history of firearms. With the help of my PhD student Guy Reynolds, I’ve …
catherinefletcher.info
April 30, 2026 at 11:05 AM
Delighted to be able to share a first teaching and research resource relating to The Firearm Revolution: a compilation of links to primary sources - visual, objects and translations of texts that I cite in the book #academia #earlymodern #skystorians
"The Premier [Lord North] has advanced too far to recede with safety...In common life, to retract an error, even in the beginning, is no easy task; perseverance confirms us in it, & rivets the difficulty. But in a public station, to have been in an error & to have persisted in it when it is detected
April 5, 2026 at 8:36 PM
"The Premier [Lord North] has advanced too far to recede with safety...In common life, to retract an error, even in the beginning, is no easy task; perseverance confirms us in it, & rivets the difficulty. But in a public station, to have been in an error & to have persisted in it when it is detected
Historians: The Trump administration wants to issue oil and gas leases across the greater Chaco landscape. They've given the public ONE WEEK (till 4/7) to weigh in on the future of this immensely important place. Please tell them what you think: eplanning.blm.gov/Participate-...
April 3, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Historians: The Trump administration wants to issue oil and gas leases across the greater Chaco landscape. They've given the public ONE WEEK (till 4/7) to weigh in on the future of this immensely important place. Please tell them what you think: eplanning.blm.gov/Participate-...
Reposted by Brian DeLay
Listen to the Ideas Podcast with Emilie Connolly and Miranda Melcher, @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social host. They discuss the long history of Native land dispossession and unequal dividends of colonialism in the US.
press.princeton.edu/ideas/ideas-...
#history #podcast
press.princeton.edu/ideas/ideas-...
#history #podcast
March 18, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Listen to the Ideas Podcast with Emilie Connolly and Miranda Melcher, @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social host. They discuss the long history of Native land dispossession and unequal dividends of colonialism in the US.
press.princeton.edu/ideas/ideas-...
#history #podcast
press.princeton.edu/ideas/ideas-...
#history #podcast