Battlecast

Waterloo. It’s a battle that’s on the top of every list of decisive battles in human history. It’s a day that changed the world forever. It’s the nail in the coffin for one of the greatest military leaders in human history and it’s all covered on Battlecast, the world’s foremost podcast on war and its socio-political impact.

Download episode 27 here: download

Battle Maps:

References:
Waterloo: Day of Battle by David Howarth
The Fifteen Most Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Creasy 
The Face of Battle by John Keegan
With Napolean at Waterloo by Mackenzie Mcbride and Edward Bruce
Waterloo by Alessandro Barbero
Waterloo: 1815 by Thierry Lentz
Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts
Napoleon: A Concise Biography by David Bell

In 1956 the Hungarian nation revolted against their Soviet masters. The Soviets responded with massive force – columns of tanks that went on for miles, like an interminable death train. The rest of the world looked on dumbfounded. They did nothing. The Hungarians fought against overwhelming odds – in the teeth of air strafing, tanks, and artillery – they fought and they died. And the rest of the world drank tea and chased women as the youth of Hungary were massacred by their gallant Soviet allies – as the dictatorship of the proletariat murdered workers in the street. It’s a little told story. Most people have never heard of it. Today you won’t be one of them. It’s all for free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and it’s sociopolitical impact.

Download the show here: download

Battle maps

References:

Twelve Days: The Story of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Victor Sebestyen

The Cambridge History of the Cold War edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad

The Hungarian Revolution 1956 by Erwin Schmidl et al.

This is the second part of our series on the Paraguayan War, the bloodiest war in South American history. It’s a war of waste, of burned cities and child soldiers. It’s a war of tyrants and monarchs. It’s a war to the knife. It’s all here and it’s all for free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on military history and its sociopolitical impact. You can find the first episode in this series here: link 

Download this episode here: link

References

The Road to Armageddon by Thomas Whigham link: amazon

The Paraguayan War: Causes and Early Conduct by Thomas Whigham link: amazon

I Die with my Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham

Francisco Solano Lopez and the Ruination of Paraguay by James Saeger

Seven Eventful Years in Paragay by George Masterman

The War in Paraguay by George Thompson

Maps

The Paraguayan War. It’s the bloodiest inter-state war in South American history. It’s the bloodiest war in modern history on a per capita basis. Because of this war, the Paraguayan people, an entire culture, almost ceased to exist. And how many of you even knew about it before you read this? But it’s not just me on the show today. Riding shotgun is Dr. Thomas Whigham, Professor of Latin American history at the University of Georgia and the definitive historian on the Paraguayan War. In our show tonight, you’ll hear about the bloodiest battle in South American history – the battle of Tuyutí. You’ll hear about Solano Lopez – the man who took dictatorial control over the nation of Paraguay and brought his people to the brink of annihilation. You’ll hear about pain, blood, sacrifice. So much sacrifice. Sacrifice that you can’t even imagine. Starvation. Limbs hacked with machetes. Men blown to pieces. Trench warfare. Devastation. Waste. Child soldiers. And it won’t cost you a dime. It’s all here on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its socio-political impact.

Download here: download

References

The Road to Armageddon by Thomas Whigham link: amazon

The Paraguayan War: Causes and Early Conduct by Thomas Whigham link: amazon

I Die with my Country: Perspectives on the Paraguayan War by Hendrik Kraay and Thomas Whigham

Francisco Solano Lopez and the Ruination of Paraguay by James Saeger

Seven Eventful Years in Paragay by George Masterman

The War in Paraguay by George Thompson

Maps

Christmas, 1944. The weakest sector of the American line is getting ready to celebrate the Yuletide when Nazi Germany, like a second-Mordor, disgorged multiple armies no one knew Hitler even had into the green American troops. The tide of steel was overwhelming. Hundreds of thousands of men would die. Hundreds of thousands of mothers would weep. And the Devil laughed because it was his best Christmas ever. The battle is the Battle of the Bulge – the bloodiest battle in American military history. It’s all here and it’s all free, our gift to you in this most holy time where the bird of dawning sings all night long and no spirit dare stir abroad. But with our battle tonight we’ll make the planets strike.

Download the show here: download

Battle Maps

References

Battle of the Bulge Volumes 1 and 2 by Hans Wijers

Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose

The Second World War by John Keegan

The Longest Winter by Alex Kershaw

Atlas of the Second World War by John Keegan

Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge by Antony Beevor

Battle – The Story of the Bulge by John Toland

A Time for Trumpets by Charles Macdonald

Dracula. He’s a legend who will appear at innumerable parties on Halloween. Children will wear capes and not understand why. Adults will watch movies about vampires sucking blood and never know why they do it. As Armand said in Interview with the Vampire: “I know nothing of God, or the Devil. I have never seen a vision nor learned a secret that will damn or save my soul. And as far as I know, after four hundred years, I am the oldest living vampire in the world.” Armand was wrong. The oldest vampire was Dracula. On tonight’s show, we will show you the first vampire. We will tell you the origins of the cape you will see on every American street. We know why the legend of blood-sucking appeared. We have the answer for the stake-through-the-heart. Allow us to introduce you to Vlad Tepes, the real Dracula. You hear his orchestral soundtracks in your mind’s ear; he still haunts your children’s nightmares. Here he is and the truth, if you can believe it, is more brutal than the art it imitates. It’s all free and it’s all on Battlecast- the world’s foremost podcast about war and it’s sociopolitical impact.

The beer this episode is Pumpkin Ale by Sam Adams: 3.5 bullets out of 5.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/nothing_BC22/BC22.mp3

Dracula download: download

Illustrations

Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times by Radu R Florescu and Raymond T. McNally

In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally

A Concise History of Romania (Cambridge Concise Histories) by Keith Hitchins

The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 3, Part 1: The Prehistory of the Balkans, and the Middle East by John Boardman and I. E. S. Edwards

History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky

A History of the Ottoman Empire by Douglas Howard

On May 29, 1453 Constantinople fell. This is the story of the fall. Check out the first part of the story here: Fall of Constantinople part 1

The beer this episode is Mythos, 3 bullets out of five.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/BC21_2034/BC21.mp3

Download link: download

Illustrations

References

1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley

Diary of the Siege of Constantinople 1453 by Nicolo Barbaro

The Fall of the Byzantine Empire: A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes translated by Marios Philippides

History of Mehmed the Conqueror by Kritovoulos, translated by Charles T. Riggs

The Fall of Constantinople 1453 by Steven Runciman

History of the Byzantine State by George Ostrogorsky

It’s a holy war between Islam and Christianity. It’s a battle known the world over. It’s the last outpost of Christian Europe in the Near East facing down a Turkish onslaught. It’s a battle that has profound and lasting implications for our modern world: from debates about Turkish entry into the European Union to the role of religion in warfare. It’s called the Battle of Constantinople. We’ll recount it all and we’ll analyze it all on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on warfare and its socio-political impact.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/BC20final/BC20final.mp3

Download link: download

Illustrations

References

1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley

Diary of the Siege of Constantinople 1453 by Nicolo Barbaro

The Fall of the Byzantine Empire: A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes translated by Marios Philippides

History of Mehmed the Conqueror by Kritovoulos, translated by Charles T. Riggs

The Fall of Constantinople 1453 by Steven Runciman

What can you write to describe this battle? It’s Stalingrad. It’s a scar on all ethics – all morality – all outlooks that men are basically good. Were men good when they massacred each other, starved each other, shot and stabbed and exploded one another at Stalingrad? Homo homini lupus – Man is a wolf to Man, according to Hobbes. This is the story of wolves shaped like men. This is Stalingrad.

The beer this episode is Bitburger – 4 bullets out of 5.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/nameless22__BC19/BC19.mp3

Download link: download

References:

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig

Stalingrad by Antony Beevor

Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II by Stephen G. Fritz

The West Point Military Atlas of Modern War edited by Thomas E. Griess

The West Point Military History of The Second World War edited by Thomas E. Griess

The Second World War by John Keegan

Diary of a German Soldier by William Hoffman

A Soviet Veteran Recalls by Anton Kuzmich Dragan

Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army by Hans Wijers

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer

Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer

Stalin: A Political Biography by Isaac Deutscher

Hitler by John Toland

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Atlas of the Second World by John Keegan

Battle Maps:

Stalingrad. It’s a name we’ve all heard before. It’s a showdown between two totalitarian systems and a battle that sent millions of people to the grave. Can you even imagine millions upon millions of men at war? Think about it. In our show today, this tragedy will take place in your ear drums, will desecrate your speakers. It’s beyond entertainment, though it is that. It’s beyond history, but it’s that too. And before you listen, know, there are no words in human language to describe the tragedy of this show – the limitless suffering. All I can say is thank you for joining us for another episode. Thank you for taking the time to listen and to hear about the darkest corners of human capacity. Solzhenitsyn said, “The line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Press play and I will take you over the line and show you the evil side in your heart, and my heart, and all of our hearts. It’s all for free and it’s all on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast about war and its sociopolitical impact.

The drink this episode is Green Mark Vodka – 4 bullets out of 5.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/BC18finalized/BC18finalized.mp3

 Download link: download

References:

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig

Stalingrad by Antony Beevor

Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II by Stephen G. Fritz

The West Point Military Atlas of Modern War edited by Thomas E. Griess

The West Point Military History of The Second World War edited by Thomas E. Griess

The Second World War by John Keegan

Diary of a German Soldier by William Hoffman

A Soviet Veteran Recalls by Anton Kuzmich Dragan

Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army by Hans Wijers

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer

Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer

Stalin: A Political Biography by Isaac Deutscher

Hitler by John Toland

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Atlas of the Second World by John Keegan

Battle Maps: