Jeff Rutherford
@jeffcrutherford.bsky.social
Historian of Modern Germany, the Second World War, and the German Army. Research focus on the German army's ideological, operational, and economic war against the Soviet Union. Teaches at Xavier University.
Hook'em.
Hook'em.
An excellent article from the always readable Mike Finger.
On Bo French, Arch Manning, A.I. slop, gutter racism, chuckling reporters, university curriculum changes, why apologies are good, and why, now as ever, football does not build character, but can reveal it:
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
www.expressnews.com/sports/artic...
How Longhorns' big win over Ohio State revealed the bad along with the good
There is more than one way for a school and a state to show who it values, and who it doesn’t. And yes, football can be a positive part of that. But a game can’t hide who you really are.
www.expressnews.com
September 17, 2026 at 10:16 PM
An excellent article from the always readable Mike Finger.
What a game. Hook’em.
September 13, 2026 at 3:14 AM
What a game. Hook’em.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
We're hiring a postdoc for #BLOACKADE (ERC Synergy Grant) : the final position we'll be advertising for the project. 4-year, full-time, Modern History, at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, supervised by Prof @elisabeth-piller.bsky.social . 🧵
September 4, 2026 at 10:04 AM
We're hiring a postdoc for #BLOACKADE (ERC Synergy Grant) : the final position we'll be advertising for the project. 4-year, full-time, Modern History, at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, supervised by Prof @elisabeth-piller.bsky.social . 🧵
Question for German historians: are there any English-language journal articles or book chapters on memory of the Nazi period and the Eagle’s Nest/Berchtesgaden that would be appropriate for an undergrad class? 🗃️
#skystorians
#skystorians
July 23, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Question for German historians: are there any English-language journal articles or book chapters on memory of the Nazi period and the Eagle’s Nest/Berchtesgaden that would be appropriate for an undergrad class? 🗃️
#skystorians
#skystorians
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Out Now: Breaking Rommel - The Struggle for Air Supremacy over El Alamein, July 1942. This post contains order information, a sample chapter, overview map, the index and list of tables, photos, plates and figures.
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social
OUT NOW: Breaking Rommel
Book Announcement – Breaking Rommel Available for Purchase Breaking Rommel: The Struggle for Air Supremacy over El Alamein is now available to purchase from IBN publishers in Rome, in time fo…
crusaderproject.wordpress.com
July 6, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Out Now: Breaking Rommel - The Struggle for Air Supremacy over El Alamein, July 1942. This post contains order information, a sample chapter, overview map, the index and list of tables, photos, plates and figures.
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social
@earlfckinweaver.bsky.social Thank you for bringing Opus, Steve Dallas, Bill the Cat and Company to my attention.
July 4, 2026 at 2:03 PM
@earlfckinweaver.bsky.social Thank you for bringing Opus, Steve Dallas, Bill the Cat and Company to my attention.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Wisdom.
July 2, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Wisdom.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Spent years building up a big following on Twitter, essential for publicising my aviation blog, which I live from. Desperate to leave it & publicise on nicer platforms, but I have too few follows. If you want to help me escape, do give this a share. Much obliged. My blog here: hushkit.substack.com
July 1, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Spent years building up a big following on Twitter, essential for publicising my aviation blog, which I live from. Desperate to leave it & publicise on nicer platforms, but I have too few follows. If you want to help me escape, do give this a share. Much obliged. My blog here: hushkit.substack.com
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
If a historian doesn’t revise previous history in their research, then that research is pointless because the entire purpose of research is the creation of new knowledge. There would be no need for history at all if we just repeated the same ideas a nauseam without adding any new information.
May 27, 2026 at 2:46 PM
If a historian doesn’t revise previous history in their research, then that research is pointless because the entire purpose of research is the creation of new knowledge. There would be no need for history at all if we just repeated the same ideas a nauseam without adding any new information.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
I was interviewed about my book, Latvian Soldiers of World War II: Fighting for the Homeland in Nazi and Soviet Service. My thanks to @peripheralhist.bsky.social for the thoughtful questions and the chance to share my thoughts!
bsky.app/profile/peri...
bsky.app/profile/peri...
For all those interested in the history of the Second World War and Latvia, we have a new author interview for you. Check out our conversation with @harrymerritt.bsky.social on his recently-published book 'Latvian Soldiers of World War II' www.peripheralhistories.co.uk/post/latvian...
Latvian Soldiers of World War II: Fighting for the Homeland in Nazi and Soviet Service
In Latvian Soldiers of World War II: Fighting for the Homeland in Nazi and Soviet Service (Oxford University Press, 2026), Harry C. Merritt explores the wartime experiences and postwar legacies of the...
www.peripheralhistories.co.uk
May 22, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I was interviewed about my book, Latvian Soldiers of World War II: Fighting for the Homeland in Nazi and Soviet Service. My thanks to @peripheralhist.bsky.social for the thoughtful questions and the chance to share my thoughts!
bsky.app/profile/peri...
bsky.app/profile/peri...
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Just once I would like to hear a policymaker give a Memorial Day speech that reflected on the costs of sacrifice that included the admonition to think carefully and critically before putting our sons and daughters in harm’s way.
May 24, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Just once I would like to hear a policymaker give a Memorial Day speech that reflected on the costs of sacrifice that included the admonition to think carefully and critically before putting our sons and daughters in harm’s way.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Nourishing Victory: Food Shortages and Post-Imperial Transition in the Bohemian Lands and Slovenia, edited by Václav Šmidrkal and me and published by @ceu-press.bsky.social will start shipping in about a week. At the same time, the open-access e-book will be available for download.
Nourishing Victory: Food Shortages and Post-Imperial Transition in the Bohemian Lands and Slovenia
An aggravating food shortage was the central internal crisis in Habsburg Austria during the First World War, and it posed a major challenge to the consolidation of the successor states. Nourishing Vic...
www.routledge.com
May 21, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Nourishing Victory: Food Shortages and Post-Imperial Transition in the Bohemian Lands and Slovenia, edited by Václav Šmidrkal and me and published by @ceu-press.bsky.social will start shipping in about a week. At the same time, the open-access e-book will be available for download.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
So this is actually happening.
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social @airminded.org @smoorebofb1940.bsky.social @airpowerhistory.bsky.social @rafhistory.bsky.social @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social @karljames1945.bsky.social
@rgpoulussen.bsky.social @garius.bsky.social @cedricmas.bsky.social @ww2tv.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social @airminded.org @smoorebofb1940.bsky.social @airpowerhistory.bsky.social @rafhistory.bsky.social @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social @karljames1945.bsky.social
Book Announcement – Breaking Rommel
Almost there!Well it has been a while that I had time to work on the blog, and the reason for this is below.We are about to hand our book Breaking Rommel, covering the airwar over the first battle …
crusaderproject.wordpress.com
May 21, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Watching a series of former Confederate states rush to eliminate any vestige of black representation in the House pretty much answers the question whether the Voting Rights Act was still necessary.
May 13, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Watching a series of former Confederate states rush to eliminate any vestige of black representation in the House pretty much answers the question whether the Voting Rights Act was still necessary.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
I have been thinking about how, in Asimov's "Foundation and Empire," the Mule’s empire collapses almost immediately after his death because it was built on a single person rather than a system, revealing his institutional impact as dependent entirely on its leader charismatic force.
May 12, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I have been thinking about how, in Asimov's "Foundation and Empire," the Mule’s empire collapses almost immediately after his death because it was built on a single person rather than a system, revealing his institutional impact as dependent entirely on its leader charismatic force.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Everything’s a conspiracy if you don’t understand how anything works.
May 7, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Everything’s a conspiracy if you don’t understand how anything works.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
Class in the US is entirely a matter of aesthetics now. Rich suburban kids are “country”. Beard Dudes who look like they love IPAs are “working class.” Teachers who make $32,000 a year but have to dress up sort of nice in JCPenney clothes are “elites“. None of these words mean anything anymore.
What is it about oyster farming in the American imagination that makes a privately educated small businessman “working class”?
May 5, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Class in the US is entirely a matter of aesthetics now. Rich suburban kids are “country”. Beard Dudes who look like they love IPAs are “working class.” Teachers who make $32,000 a year but have to dress up sort of nice in JCPenney clothes are “elites“. None of these words mean anything anymore.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
In short, I want a society which treats anti-intellectualism, from the anti-humanities 'that's just book learnin' sort to the anti-vaxxers, with the sort of searing cultural contempt those choices and ideologies deserve.
Because a grown-ass adult who believes that should feel shamed.
Because a grown-ass adult who believes that should feel shamed.
May 2, 2026 at 1:45 AM
In short, I want a society which treats anti-intellectualism, from the anti-humanities 'that's just book learnin' sort to the anti-vaxxers, with the sort of searing cultural contempt those choices and ideologies deserve.
Because a grown-ass adult who believes that should feel shamed.
Because a grown-ass adult who believes that should feel shamed.
Anna Bikont once gave a talk at Wheeling Jesuit University about her book on the killings in Jedwabne. After meticulously detailing what happened (& the cover up), she took questions. The first comment was “but we Poles are such a friendly people. We would never do that.” Kinda proved her point.
"In the Polish town of Jedwabne, where historians agree that townspeople killed most of their Jewish neighbors during World War II, a brand-new “information center” denies the crime." www.jpost.com/diaspora/ant...
New ‘information center’ in Polish town denies murders of Jews in 1941 | The Jerusalem Post
The information center was installed earlier this month and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which Wojciech Sumlinski, a right-wing Polish activist, shared online.
www.jpost.com
April 18, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Anna Bikont once gave a talk at Wheeling Jesuit University about her book on the killings in Jedwabne. After meticulously detailing what happened (& the cover up), she took questions. The first comment was “but we Poles are such a friendly people. We would never do that.” Kinda proved her point.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
"In the Polish town of Jedwabne, where historians agree that townspeople killed most of their Jewish neighbors during World War II, a brand-new “information center” denies the crime." www.jpost.com/diaspora/ant...
New ‘information center’ in Polish town denies murders of Jews in 1941 | The Jerusalem Post
The information center was installed earlier this month and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, which Wojciech Sumlinski, a right-wing Polish activist, shared online.
www.jpost.com
April 18, 2026 at 6:24 PM
"In the Polish town of Jedwabne, where historians agree that townspeople killed most of their Jewish neighbors during World War II, a brand-new “information center” denies the crime." www.jpost.com/diaspora/ant...
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
On this day, in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
April 15, 2026 at 10:28 AM
On this day, in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
The only AI I recognize.
hell yeah baby
April 8, 2026 at 4:39 PM
The only AI I recognize.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
We gotta bring back the productive kind of national shame. Not the throwing up your hands and going “what can you do, we suck” kind but the “I’ll be GODDAMNED if I let the fucking FRENCH have better TRAINS” kind
April 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
We gotta bring back the productive kind of national shame. Not the throwing up your hands and going “what can you do, we suck” kind but the “I’ll be GODDAMNED if I let the fucking FRENCH have better TRAINS” kind
Twice.
I think people are allowed to draw conclusions about the American people based on their decision to put this man in office bsky.app/profile/pear...
Gibberish closely related to war crimes
April 7, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Twice.
Reposted by Jeff Rutherford
FYI Team #MilitaryHistory! Praise for @susangrunewald.bsky.social's book: an "important contribution to our understanding of WWII, the Soviet postwar recovery, the penal system(s) of the Soviet Union, & the Cold War" AND "a noteworthy piece of scholarship."
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
April 1, 2026 at 8:45 PM
FYI Team #MilitaryHistory! Praise for @susangrunewald.bsky.social's book: an "important contribution to our understanding of WWII, the Soviet postwar recovery, the penal system(s) of the Soviet Union, & the Cold War" AND "a noteworthy piece of scholarship."
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....