At the end of June in 1399 Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt and cousin to King Richard II, landed at Ravenspurn with a small force intent on the overthrow of Richard. The King, who had been in Ireland, did not rush to return to England, but when he did, his throne had been lost, and Bolingbroke became King Henry IV. Richard would die in mysterious circumstances not long after. Henry had secured the throne but his would not be a happy reign.

Joining to discuss the two grandsons of Edward III is Helen Castor, author of The Eagle and the Hart: the Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV as we delve into the two characters in a fascinating period of medieval history.

Helen Castor Links

The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV

Helen on X

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In this second and concluding episode of our special on the Battle of the Bulge, it is Christmas Eve 1944 and the German advance has run aground as US troops counter-attack, and the weather cleared to allow the resumption of allied air superiority.

Joining to discuss are two acclaimed military historians, Gordon Corrigan, author of The Second World War: A Military History, and Philip Blood, author of War Comes to Aachen as we cover Germans in American uniform, atrocities and murder, and finally the battle's legacy for both NATO and the current conflict in Ukraine.

Episode Links

The Front Line during the ‘Bulge’

The Second World War: A Military History, by Gordon Corrigan

War Comes to Aachen: The Nazis, Churchill and the 'Stalingrad of the West', by Philip W. Blood

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On the morning of 16th December 1944 , German artillery opened up a massive barrage before Tiger tanks, supported by infantry, began their attack across the front line and into Allied territory. In freezing conditions, US troops struggled to contain the advance, and soon a large bulge in the American defensive line emerged.

In this first of a two part special on the Battle of the Bulge, Gordon Corrigan and Philip Blood join to discuss the last major battle of the Western Front as they chat freezing conditions, the bigger picture, German and US soldiers, Bastogne and nuts. Links showing the front lines are in the show notes.

Episode Links

The Front Line during the ‘Bulge’

The Second World War: A Military History, by Gordon Corrigan

War Comes to Aachen: The Nazis, Churchill and the 'Stalingrad of the West', by Philip W. Blood

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In today’s episode we hear from a wonderful writer, Elizabeth Buchan. She’s been at the top of her game for many years now, and has recently written two books that take the reader to post war France and Italy, with both countries dealing with the trauma of WW2. In the French case, collaboration, and with Italy, the rise of Communism.

Elizabeth has been in publishing prior to her writing career, so we’ll hear stories of her involvement with writers such as Dirk Bogarde and VS Naipaul. Links are below, including to her bestseller she talks about, the Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman, so what better name for the episode than that!

Elizabeth Buchan Links

Bonjour, Sophie

Two Women in Rome

Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman

Books Elizabeth mentioned:

Perfect Wives in Ideal Homes, by Virginia Nicholson

Bad Blood: A Memoir, by Lorna Sage

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On the 14th October 1066 two armies faced each other on the south coast of England. One, under Harold Godwinson was tired after marching from the north but had the high ground. The other was a foreign force led by Duke William of Normandy. The result of this battle, not far from Hastings, would have major ramifications for European and world history.

Joining me are two writers to discuss the events leading up to Hastings, the claims on the English throne, the battles beforehand and the characters involved. Adam Staten and Paul Bernardi are the authors of series set during the Norman invasion.

Episode Links

Honour Bound: Blood Debt & Oath Breaker, by Adam Staten

The Huscarl Chronicles: Thurkill's Revenge, Thurkill's Battle, Thurkill's Rebellion; Blood Feud, by Paul Bernardi

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It's time for this year’s Books of the Year podcast. We talk histories of the Middle East, medieval kings, nautical novels and naval epics plus much more. Roger Moorhouse, Antonia Senior and Richard Foreman join for an informal chat.

Books of the Year - Links

Arnhem: Black Tuesday 

Time of the Child

The Eagle and the Hart

The Price of Victory

Naples 1944

The Wide Wide Sea

Henry V

The House of War

Izabela the Valiant

The Peacock and the Sparrow

Military Matters

Gabriel's Moon

The Siege

Podcast Links

Spy Masters podcasts - Aspects of History

The Siege Episode - Aspects of History

Naples 1944 Episode - Aspects of History

The House of War Episode - Aspects of History

Izabela the Valiant Episode - Aspects of History

Henry V Episode - Aspects of History

Arnhem Episode - Aspects of History

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This month’s film club is the presidential thriller All the President's Men, directed by Alan J. Pakula, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman

Links

The Vote for next Film Club Episode

All the President's Men on IMDB

All the President's Men on Wikipedia

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Tim on X

Roger on X

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The great city of Aachen was of key strategic importance during the Second World War. The seat of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlamagne is a wonderfully beautiful baroque city of stunning architecture, best exemplified by its cathedral. However early on in the war the RAF began a bombing campaign that had devastating consequences, not only for the civilian population, but also for US troops who would endure fighting reminiscent of Stalingrad at the end of 1944.

Friend of the show Philip Blood joins to discuss a fascinating episode in the last year of the war as he talks about his book War Comes to Aachen.

Episode Links

War Comes to Aachen: The Nazis, Churchill and the 'Stalingrad of the West'

Putin’s War, Russian Genocide, Edited by Philip W. Blood

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Charlie Higson joins, he's a comedy legend, actor, author of the young Bond novels and presenter of a successful podcast Willy Willy Harry Stee, which covers all the monarchs over several series so do check it out.

Episode Links

Willy Willy Harry Stee

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As we all now are aware, Donald Trump will be the next American president. This episode looks into the intelligence and foreign policy implications, taking into account the US and UK’s shared history. As we’ve seen in the past few weeks, historians are the ones to listen to, not so called political experts, and so Michael Smith, author of The Real Special Relationship joins to discuss the new Trump appointments, Trump’s plans for the Middle East and Ukraine, and what may happen vis a vis China and Taiwan.  Michael is a long standing journalist, former intelligence operative and historian of many books on espionage.

Episode Links

The Real Special Relationship

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