James Fell

@jamesfell · Sweary History with James Fell · Substack profile · History

Compare Share

James Fell has 87,325 followers on Substack as of Oct 31, 2026. On the latest board read, Oct 31, 2026, they were #21 on Substack's History Bestsellers board. 55 publications recommend them, and they recommend 20.

Followers read 7 days ago · Boards read 6 days ago

Last read Oct 31, 2026 (UTC). Followers are not email subscribers. Substack lists only the newest 50 recommendations for each publication, so a recommender count of 50 or more is a floor. History starts Oct 31, 2026; Substack publishes nothing earlier.

Followers: 87,325; read Oct 31
Last 7 days: first number on Nov 7
Last 30 days: first number on Nov 30
Subscribers: 63K+; rounded by Substack
Paid subscribers: Thousands; bestseller badge 1,000+
Recommended by: 55; none new in 30 days
Recommends: 20
Bestsellers rank: #21; History

Followers by day

Tracking since Oct 31, 2026. This is the first reading. Substack doesn't publish past follower counts, so history starts the day I first read a writer and grows by one reading every 3 days (daily if it's on your watchlist). The 7-day change appears on Nov 7, the 30-day change on Nov 30. Recommendation dates below go further back: they're Substack's own.

One reading a day, the last of the day. Marked: leaderboard steps (into the top 25, top 10, or #1). Followers are people who follow James Fell on Substack; they aren't email subscribers.

Show as a table

Daily readings
Date	Followers	Change	Subscribers	Paid band
Oct 31, 2026	87,325		63K+	Thousands

Leaderboard positions

Board	Rank now	Best on record	Reads on it
History Bestsellers	#21	#21	4 of 4

Rank on each read

Rank on each read of each board. Each cell is the leaderboard rank; empty means not in the top 100.
Writer	Oct 3107:00	Oct 3113:00	Oct 3119:47	Nov 621:50	Move
History Bestsellers	21	21	21	21	0

I read every board once a day.

Recommendations

55 publications recommend James Fell. James Fell recommends 20, and 5 of those recommend back. Lists read Oct 31.

The 9 largest publications on each side, by followers. Bigger dot, more followers. Orange: started in the last 30 days. Gray dots: publications I don't track, so no follower count.

When the recommendations started

Live recommendations by the month each began, using Substack's own start date. Removed ones aren't listed by Substack, so they don't appear. Substack shows only the 50 newest recommenders, so before Sep 2025 (outlined) I see only those from the 6,392 publications whose full lists I read.

Show as a table

Recommendations started per month
Month	Started
2023-12	1
2024-02	2
2025-08	2
2025-09	4
2025-10	4
2025-11	5
2025-12	3
2026-01	4
2026-02	3
2026-03	1
2026-04	3
2026-05	6
2026-06	5
2026-07	8
2026-08	2
2026-09	2

Recommended by

Jeff Tiedrich281k followers · started Dec 2023 · mutual
God254k followers · started Aug 2025 · mutual
Linda Caroll46k followers · started Jan 9, 2026 · mutual
Brooke Teegarden32k followers · started Feb 2024 · mutual
Evey Winters12k followers · started Feb 2024 · mutual
Thoughts from Jason Odellstarted Sep 19, 2026
The Adventurestarted Sep 9, 2026
Davestarted Aug 10, 2026
Buzz Dixon writerstarted Aug 3, 2026
Joshua's Substackstarted Jul 31, 2026
Codie's Substackstarted Jul 23, 2026
Sarah G Playsstarted Jul 22, 2026
Carl's Substackstarted Jul 18, 2026
S. A. Hoag's Substackstarted Jul 16, 2026
Michelle's Substackstarted Jul 5, 2026
RM's Substackstarted Jul 4, 2026
Steve's Substackstarted Jul 1, 2026
The Wrong Turnstarted Jun 30, 2026
Fidel Lansangan's Twinstarted Jun 19, 2026
Novels by Paul S Cilwastarted Jun 9, 2026
DrBee's Substackstarted Jun 8, 2026
Eternalstudent's Substackstarted Jun 5, 2026
Long Wharfstarted May 31, 2026
John's Substackstarted May 28, 2026

All 55

Ken's Substackstarted May 24, 2026
THE WESSEX FILESstarted May 14, 2026
David's Substackstarted May 5, 2026
Drops from the Tsunamistarted May 4, 2026
Lori's Substackstarted Apr 21, 2026
The Layman's Substackstarted Apr 11, 2026
Day By Day By Death in the National Parksstarted Apr 10, 2026
Fragments de fictionsstarted Mar 6, 2026
Renee's Substackstarted Feb 5, 2026
obsiidanc's Substackstarted Feb 3, 2026
Mark's Substackstarted Feb 3, 2026
Deb's Substackstarted Jan 29, 2026
Suzanne's Substackstarted Jan 7, 2026
Nicholas's Substackstarted Jan 3, 2026
Heather's Substackstarted Dec 28, 2025
Lalaluciamarie's Substackstarted Dec 22, 2025
Letters to Ninevehstarted Dec 10, 2025
Exit The Silostarted Nov 29, 2025
JANE L LOVSTUENstarted Nov 21, 2025
mike's Substackstarted Nov 18, 2025
Krissa's Substackstarted Nov 17, 2025
Katahdin's Substackstarted Nov 9, 2025
MONGOOSE's Substackstarted Oct 2025
Rhys' Rantsstarted Oct 2025
The Blatherskitestarted Oct 2025
Kara’s Substackstarted Oct 2025
Missives from the Far Realmsstarted Sep 2025
Lauren’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
ES’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
Sarah’s Substackstarted Sep 2025
American Metacognitionstarted Aug 2025

Recommends

Heather Cox Richardson3.5M followers · started Dec 2023
Robert Reich1.7M followers · started Mar 2024
Dan Rather851k followers · started Mar 2024
Jeff Tiedrich281k followers · started Dec 2023 · mutual
God254k followers · started May 2024 · mutual
Father Nathan Monk58k followers · started Feb 2024
Amanda Nelson52k followers · started Feb 11, 2026
Linda Caroll46k followers · started Jan 9, 2026 · mutual
Brooke Teegarden32k followers · started Apr 2024 · mutual
ProfessorMeredith29k followers · started May 15, 2026
Evey Winters12k followers · started May 2024 · mutual
Steve Hofstetterstarted Oct 29, 2026new
Unruly Figuresstarted Jun 2025
GenXcellentstarted Jun 2025
Differ We Muststarted Jun 2025
Just Mary Katherinestarted Jun 2025
Not a Mommy Blogstarted Mar 2024
Ancient Beatstarted Mar 2024
Vagina Devil Magic by Lisa Lee Curtisstarted Mar 2024
Mind the Science Newsletterstarted Dec 2023

Substack lists the 50 newest recommenders of each publication. I add every recommendation found in the full lists of the 6,392 publications I read, so writers with many recommenders may still be missing a few small ones. "Started" is Substack's date.