Your host is Oliver Webb-Carter and this is the Aspects of History Podcast. You'll hear what you can expect on the Pod. Legendary historians, great history, topical subjects, specials and bonus episodes including the new Film Club.

So do subscribe and join Oliver as he delves into the world of History.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is the legendary filmmaker John Sayles, who has just written an epic novel, Jamie MacGillivray, set during the French & Indian War. We talk about the history, Native American tribes and Scotland at the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. The French & Indian War was part of the wider Seven Years War conflict, which Winston Churchill described as the first world war.

John's films have a strong historical theme, so we discuss his career, and go on to talk about filmmaking today, and the new challenges posed by streaming services.

John Sayles Links

Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey

Lone Star (1996)

John on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Aspects of History's Top 10 War Films - Aspects of History

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is the bestselling author of the Medieval period Ian Mortimer. We get to grips with the issues of the era, including when it starts and ends; the introduction of time; slavery, serfdom and inequality; the Black Death; the Middle Ages on film, Edward III and Richard III, and plenty more.

Ian is a fascinating historian who makes you think about a period that is often dismissed by certain historians and Tarantino crime lords as simply being about torture and brutality, but the truth is far more interesting.

Ian Mortimer's Links

Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

Ollie Links

Ollie on Twitter

Latest article: Top 10 War Films

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first of a new series of bonus episodes, the Aspects of History Film Club discusses Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg with friend of the show Director Tim Hewitt. Released more than ten years ago, it won Daniel Day Lewis his third Oscar for Best Actor. With a host of acting talent including Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Harris and Gloria Reuben, the film covers the political machinations that led to the 13th Amendment, to the Constitution of the United States to abolish slavery.

We discuss Most Unlikely Scene, Best Performance and Legacy, as well as veering off on a few tangents involving Jared Harris, other Civil War films, The West Wing and a small homage to John Sayles' Lone Star (1996).

Next film in the club: Argo (2012)

Links

IMDB Lincoln

Book on which the film is based: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Tim Hewitt on Twitter

Ollie on Twitter

Email Ollie - [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is Nigel Biggar, the author of a new book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, which deals with the British Empire. Nigel asks the question, is it all bad, or is there a more nuanced interpretation of around 300 years of history? We discuss slavery, famine, the Second World War and whether pride or shame are the right responses to the people and events of empire.

Nigel Biggar is Emeritus Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford and he gives a balanced view of empire and colonialism which makes for an interesting chat.

Coming up on Tuesday, the Aspects of History Film Club with Director Tim Hewitt starts with Lincoln (2012).

Nigel Biggar Links

Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

Nigel on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Ollie on Twitter

Ollie's recent piece: The Great War: Was it a Waste?

You can email me [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My guest this week is the writer and filmmaker Tom Petch, author of Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Untold Secret Origins of the SAS. It's predominantly the story of Dudley Clarke, played by Dominic West in SAS Rogue Heroes. Clarke was the brains behind so many Special Forces units that sprung up in the War - necessity being the mother of invention. We talk about him, Eric Dorman Smith, T.E. Lawrence and the modern day SAS.

Tom is also a filmmaker, and directed The Patrol, a psychological drama about a platoon of British troops up against the Taliban, so we talk a bit about that and the West's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Tom Petch Links

Book: Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Untold Secret Origins of the SAS

Tom's film: The Patrol

Article: Were the SAS Rogue Heroes? - Aspects of History by Tom Petch

Tom on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Article: Aspects of History The Birth of the SAS in WW2 by Gavin Mortimer

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is the distinguished historian Gary Sheffield, author of Forgotten Victory: First World War Myths & Realities, and we explode some of those myths that have developed over the years. Thanks to the great TV show Blackadder, and it is great, a view developed that the generals, and in particular British generals, were callous upper class twits who drank fine wines as their .

Why did the war start, and who was to blame? Was it lions led by donkeys? What was Haig like as a general? All this and much more is answered.

Gary Sheffield Links

Forgotten Victory: First World War Myths & Realities

Gary on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Website

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's pod is a real treat - it's the 144th anniversary of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 which began in January. My guest is Saul David, author of Zulu: The Heroism & Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879.

The arrogance of the British Empire resulted in a humiliating defeat at Isandlwana, before recovering with the morale boosting defence at Rorke's Drift, made famous by Stanley Baker and Michael Caine in the 1964 movie, Zulu.

Saul and I discuss the build up to the invasion, the Zulu nation itself and its ancient antecedents, the personalities involved, the Zulu victories before their eventual defeat and what the conflict means for empire and colonialism today.

Saul David Links

Zulu: The Heroism & Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879

Victoria's Wars: The Rise of Empire

Military Blunders

Saul on Twitter

Ollie Links

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I continue my chat with Mark Turnbull on the execution of Charles I, which took place on the 30th January 1649.

Charles is guilty in a stitch up, but what is Cromwell's role? Did Charles crumble in the immediate aftermath of the guilty verdict? What were his final words, and was the chop itself executed (sorry) smoothly?

This is Part Two, so I do recommend going back to listen to Part One on the Trial.

Mark Turnbull Links

The King's Cavalier

Mark on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

The Trial of Charles I by Leanda de Lisle - Aspects of History

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest is friend of the show Mark Turnbull who returns to talk about the trial of King Charles I, which began on 20th January 1649. The trial was a sham, but Charles behaved admirably, and with great integrity and nobility.

We talk about the events leading up to the trial, the Rump Parliament, New Model Army, Cromwell and the events of the trial itself.

Part Two, the execution, is coming up on Tuesday.

Mark Turnbull Links

The King's Cavalier

Mark on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Ollie on Twitter

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices