Authors of History Podcast

On this episode of the Authors of History Podcast I am joined by author, historian, battlefield guide and charity ambassador Ben Mayne.

Bens books "Wagons Roll : A Memoir of the East Riding Yeomanry - Alan King" was published in 2023.

Ben Mayne is a battlefield historian, guide, and advisor for the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans. He specializes in the Second World War, with a focus on the Normandy and Commando Operations. His journey in to history is one of walking the ground, learning on his feet and a passion for keeping alive the stories of all those involved in World War 2.

Ben Mayne is the UK Director for Liberations Europe UK - https://www.lre-uk.org/about-us/

LRE United Kingdom (LRE UK) was founded in December 2020. The main objective is to create a network of museums, organisations and locations across the UK to highlight the history and heritage of the UK during the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. This includes highlighting the stories of many of those Allied nations who came to the UK to fight the oppression of the Nazi’s and eventually liberated Europe. LRE UK aims to promote respect for and dissemination of the universal values of peace, freedom and democracy.

LRE UK collaborates with organisations working in various capacities for the enhancement and the preservation of Second World War memory and is the UK branch of the wider international organisation, LRE Foundation.

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On this episdoe of the Authors of History Podcast I am joined by historian and author Lindsay Powell. I talk to him about his journey into history, writing about the Romans and lessons learned in his research and also meeting famous authors. His latest book "Tiberius - From Masterly Commander to Masterful Emperor" is published by Pen and Sword.

Lindsay Powell is a historian and a writer who has a passion for the military history of the Roman Empire. He is news editor of Ancient History and Ancient Warfare magazines. His appearances include BBC Radio, Dan Snow’s History Hit and History Channel. 

He is author of Augustus at War, Eager for Glory, Germanicus and Marcus Agrippa from Pen and Sword Books. A graduate from Aston University, he is a veteran of The Ermine Street Guard re-enactment society. He divides his time between Austin, Texas and Wokingham, England.

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On this episode of the Authors of History Podcast, I talk to American author and historian Kathryn J Atwood about writing non-fiction for young adults and self publishing her first novel.

Kathryn has written multiple young adult collective biographies on women and war for Chicago Review Press. Her first book, Women Heroes of World War II, gets all the attention, but Booklist gave Kathryn's book on the Pacific Theater of WWII a starred review and likened each chapter to "a cliff-hanger screenplay." And Courageous Women of the Vietnam War was honored with one of those awards that to unfocused eyes sort of resembles the Newbery Medal.

Her first novel, The Belgian Girls, was born of Kathryn's admiration for the European resisters of both world wars, especially Gabrielle Petit, a young Belgian woman who worked for British Intelligence during the First World War.

Kathryn has been seen on WGN TV, "America: Fact vs. Fiction," and the Acorn TV series, "Deception: WWII"; heard on the BBC World Service's "History Hour" program and BBC America; published in The Historian and War, Literature & the Arts; and featured as a guest speaker at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park, and the Atlanta History Center.

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Phil Craig is a best selling author and multiple-award-winning film-maker, producer and TV network executive.

A former RAF cadet pilot, Phil studied history at Cambridge University, was a BBC graduate trainee and built his career working for iconic British current affairs series World in Action and Panorama, where he became senior producer. Later he became joint head of programmes at the prestigious Brook Lapping production company, where he made a range of contemporary and historical films for the BBC, Channel Four, PBS in America, Discovery, Nat Geo and numerous other international clients. He went on to run departments at the Discovery Channel and at ABC Television in Australia, where he supervised the entire factual output of the national broadcaster including its high profile ANZAC centenary project in 2015.

Throughout his TV and writing career Phil has spent many years researching and reinterpreting the story of Britain and its Empire during the Second World War, including his definitive and bestselling account of 1940 – Finest Hour.  His account of the battle of Trafalgar – Trafalgar: the Men, the Battle, the Storm – was nominated for the Mountbatten Maritime Prize and his biography of Diana, Princess of Wales – Diana: Story of a Princess – was a bestseller in both the UK and USA.

His latest book 1945:The Reckoning was published by Hodder and Stoughton in April 2025.

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Dr Elizabeth Norton is a London-based historian specialising in the queens of England and the Tudor period. She has a double first class degree from the University of Cambridge, a Masters degree from the University of Oxford and a PhD from King’s College London. She has taught History at King’s College London and RADA. Her academic research has been published in several peer reviewed journals.

Elizabeth’s most recent books are the critically acclaimed ‘The Lives of Tudor Women’ and ‘The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor’. She is also the author of a biography of Margaret Beaufort and four of Henry VIII’s wives, amongst other titles. She regularly writes for magazines, including BBC History magazine, All About History, History Revealed and Who Do You Think You Are? magazine.

Elizabeth frequently appears on television, including Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family (BBC1), Digging up Britain’s Past (Channel 5), Secrets of Great British Castles (Channel 5), An American Aristocrat’s Guide to Great Estates (Smithsonian), Flog-It (BBC2), Bloody Tales of the Tower (National Geographic) and Queen Victoria in her own words (Channel 5). She also appears as an expert on BBC London News and on international television, radio and podcasts. She has live commentated events for television, including royal weddings and the Trooping of the Colour. In addition to these television appearances, Elizabeth has worked as a historical consultant on a number of non-fiction and fiction historical films and television.

Elizabeth regularly gives talks. She also guides tours for the Telegraph Newspaper, Historical Trips, Andante and Travel Editions.

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My guest on this episode of the Authors of History Podcast is Author, Historian, Television Historian,fFounder of the Great War Group and childrens author Alexandra Churchill.

Alex takes us through her history journey from her first book on Eton College students in the First World War to researching in the Royal Archive within Windsor Castle and writing in collaboration with Nicolai Eberholst their new book a new inclusive and world-spanning history of the first year of the first World War, RING OF FIRE is out now

Alexandra Churchill is a historian and presenter, with a special interest in the 20th century. She has appeared in numerous documentaries, including on the BBC, Channel 5, and History Hit. She is co-host of the podcast History Hack, which has now garnered well over a million downloads. She is a fellow of The Royal Historical Society. She is also a founder of the Great War Group, which was established in 2020 to make the subject more inclusive and to break down national barriers in sharing information about the war. She has written 10 books on History, Sport and even Fiction

After researching certain First World War pilots Alex was approached to contribute towards an episode of BBC's Timewatch: Falling Aces (2009). She subsequently took on a similar role for Channel 4's Fighting the Red Baron (2011). In 2012 she helped plan and research the BBC's series commemorating the sinking of the Titanic: Titanic with Len Goodman. She also researched individual soldiers and contributed their stories to Channel 5's First World War archaeology series: WW1 Tunnels of Death - The Big Dig. The latter aired throughout Europe in 2013 and reached US screens in 2014. in 2015 she researched and appeared in a documentary to mark the centenary of the Lusitania disaster.

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On this episode of the Authors of History Podcast I talk to Chris Wroblewski and Garth Barnard about how collaboration works when writing their book SABOTAGE !: An in-depth Investigation of the 1943 Liberator Crash that Killed Polish General Sikorski. A facinating journey into their love of History, trying to solve the mysterious death of a Polish General and working in collaboration.

Chris Wroblewski has been fascinated with aircraft and Second World War aviation history. Over a 36-year career as a licensed Canadian aircraft maintenance engineer, he has amassed experience on a range of aircraft and worked for commercial and private aviation companies. From 1992 to 1994 he served as director of maintenance for the Great War Flying Museum in Brampton Ontario. Currently he is studying part-time for a military history degree at University of Calgary and was published in the 2009 winter edition of on spec magazine. Chris lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Garth Barnard Garth Barnard’s interest in aviation stems from a lifelong passion and unshakeable resolve to investigate the deaths of thousands of young airmen during the Second World War. He began his research in 2000 and by 2003 created aviationresearch.co.uk to document the operational training units of Bomber Command across south Northamptonshire, north-east Oxfordshire, and north-west Buckinghamshire. From 2012 to 2014 Garth was investigator and presenter for six episodes of WW2 Air Crash Detectives which aired on Yesterday Channel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabotage-Depth-Investigation-Liberator-Sikorski/dp/1911667904

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On this episode of the Authors of History Podcast I am joined by Daily Telegraph journalist and historian Tim Wigmore.

Tim Wigmore is the author of Crickonomics- a Waterstones sports book of the Year-and Cricket 2.0: Inside the T20 Revolution, which won the Wisden Book of the Year and Daily Telegraph Cricket Book of the Year in 2020. He is a sports writer for the Daily Telegraph, and has also written for The Economist, The New York Times, ESPNCricinfo and The New Statesman.

Tim Wigmore's latest book: Test Cricket - A History published by Quercus publishing is available from all book retailers.

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On this episode of the Authors of History Podcast I talk to author and historian Prit Buttar.

Prit Buttar studied medicine at Oxford and London before joining the British Army as a doctor. After leaving the army, he worked as a GP, first near Bristol and then in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

An established expert on the Eastern Front in 20th-century military history, He has written 15 non fiction books and 2 fiction books. His books include the critically acclaimed Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944–45 (Osprey 2010) and Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II (Osprey 2013) and a definitive four-part series on the Eastern Front in World War I which concluded with The Splintered Empires: The Eastern Front 1917–21 (2017).

He talks about his journey into history from his school days, how he researches and writes about the Eastern Front in 20th-Century conflicts and writing in collaboration with his daughter. He recommends a author or history book that we should all read and and Independant Book shop we should support.

The Authors of History Podcast with Prit Buttar

If you like what I do you can support the podcast at this link. https://buymeacoffee.com/authorsofhistorypod

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On this episode of Authors of History I talk to the brilliant TV and Radio Historian and author Dr Victoria Taylor about her journey into history and writing. What facinates her about aviation and her new book.

Dr Victoria Taylor, BA (Hons), MRes, AFHEA is an award-winning aviation historian, broadcaster and writer who completed her PhD thesis on the Luftwaffe and National Socialism in the Third Reich at the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University. Her main historical focus is on British and German aviation during the interwar period and the Second World War.

Victoria served as narrator, co-writer, and historical consultant on ‘Inside the Battle of Britain’: the second series of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund podcast series ‘All Stations’. This five-part series was nominated for a Best Independent Podcast award by the Radio Academy in 2021. She has contributed to popular history magazines such as BBC History Extra, Iron Cross Magazine and Britain at War, along with publishing in academic journals and volumes. Her work has spanned everything from traditional airpower subjects and military aircraft, to aviation diplomacy, combat motivation, and the ethics of aerial bombardment.

Since 2018, she has widely featured as an onscreen and offscreen expert in history documentaries made for BBC Two, Channel 4, Channel 5, the Smithsonian Channel, History Hit, National Geographic, and SBS Australia. In 2020, she presented and co-wrote a programme on Supermarine's development of the Spitfire for BBC Radio 4 (‘Spitfire: From The Ashes’), in addition to serving as an expert contributor alongside Diane Morgan and Matthew Parris for the 'Great Lives' episode on Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding.

More recently, she served as an assistant producer, historical consultant, and on-screen expert for Series 11 of the Smithsonian Channel’s flagship aviation programme ‘Air Warriors’. A clear reflection of her passion for breaking new ground within historical programming is illustrated by her recent venture into creating her own exclusive online content: ‘Afterburners™’. This project was launched in June 2024 - transforming ten of her previous academic lectures on various airpower history subjects into a uniquely immersive audiobook series.

Victoria sits on the Advisory Board for the cross-party Spitfire AA810 restoration project in the House of Lords and is an Assistant Editor for the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Journal of Aeronautical History. She formerly lectured in the Department of History at the University of Hull, before moving to the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London in 2023. There, she delivered teaching on historical and contemporary air power to junior RAF officers as part of the Joint Services Command and Staff College courses at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham. She is an Ambassador for both the National Spitfire Project and the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust.

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