The First Crusade was a watershed moment in both Islamic and Christian history – influencing history across Africa, Europe, and Asia for centuries to come. This is the story. It’s all here and it’s all for free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and it’s sociopolitical impact.

I also want to give a shout out to Eric and everybody listening at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. I know it’s hot out there. We’ll keep the beers on ice for you.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/bc34final/BC34.mp3

Download here: download

References: 

Dana C. Munro, “Urban and the Crusaders”, Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895).

Thomas Asbridge. The First Crusade.

Thomas Asbridge. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land.

Kenneth Setton. A History of the Crusades. Volumes 1-6.

Anonymous. Gesta Francorum.

H.A.R. Gibb. The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades, Extracted and Translated from the Chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi.

Albert. Albert of Aachen: Historia Ierosolimitana, History of the Journey to Jerusalem. Oxford Edition.

Fulcher of Chartres. Fulcher of Chartres, A History of the Expedition to Jerusalem, 1095-1127.

Raymon Ibrahim. Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West.

Rene Groussett. Histoire des Croisades. Volumes 1-3.

A. Krey. The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants. 

The H.L. Hunley was the first submarine in human history to effectively engage and destroy an enemy. The story of the Hunley is equal to the story of the Wright brothers’ first flight or Armstrong’s moon landing – a first step with dire repercussions for the future of the world. This is the story. It’s all here and it’s all for free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. 

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/bc33final/BC33final.mp3

Download episode 33 here: download link

Maps and Pictures:

References:

Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf

The CSS Hunley: The Greatest Undersea Adventure of the Civil War by Richard Bak

The Hunley by Mark K. Ragan

A History of the Confederate Navy by J. Thomas Scharf

Sea of Darkness: Unraveling the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Brian Hicks

The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy by Tom Chaffin

The Civil War by Shelby Foote

A History of South Carolina by Walter Edgars

Cover image is “The Final Mission” by Mort Künstler

The September 11 attacks. Almost 3,000 died. Hundreds of millions of dollars of property was destroyed. 15 pregnant women lost their babies – their bodies spontaneously aborting their children as their fellow citizens fled from the crashing towers in absolute terror. But behind all these figures – these faceless, nameless numbers – there are tens of thousands of stories. Stories that can make the most heartless men regain their heart. Stories of innocents being cooked alive in the ovens they formerly called their offices. Stories of men trampling down one another. Panic. Sheer terror – unmixed, unmitigated terror. This is the story of a day that made widows of hundreds of thousands – a day that inaugurated wars half a world away. A day of doom. A black day. A day called September 11.

Download episode 32: download

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/bc32_20190826/BC32.mp3

Illustrations

References

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright

The 9/11 Commission Report available at: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf

The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and al-Qaeda by Peter Bergen

102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn

Australian Broadcast Corporation: 9/11 Reporting, September 11, 2001.

“U.S. ATTACKED; HIJACKED JETS DESTROY TWIN TOWERS AND HIT PENTAGON IN DAY OF TERROR” by N. R. Kleinfield. September, 12, 2001, The New York Times.

“Everyone was screaming, crying, running. It’s like a war zone.” by Julian Borger et al. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/12/expertopinions.charlieporteronmensfashion

The battles for Hue and Khe Sanh were some of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. Hue was the third largest city in South Vietnam and its capture by Communist forces led to the first urban conflict of the Marine Corps since the Korean War. Khe Sanh was the battlefield where classical encirclement strategies faced off against the overwhelming technological might of the United States. It all makes for a riveting show and it’s all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact.

This is the conclusion of a two part series on the Tet Offensive. Find part 1 here: Tet part 1.

Download link: download

Maps and Figures

The Tet Offensive. It’s not a battle – it’s a campaign, a campaign that would change the course of American history. Tet combined major set-piece battles with guerrilla strikes up and down the length of South Vietnam, there was fighting everywhere. One Colonel said his situation map lit up like a pinball machine. With this one stroke, General Giap and the North Vietnamese high command undercut the American war effort in Southeast Asia and considerably hobbled American foreign policy for decades. It wasn’t talk or ideas or values that seriously curtailed American policy ambitions – it was a battle – it was war. It was Tet.

Lone Survivor.  It’s the deadliest day for United States special forces since World War II. Four Navy Seals, cut off and alone, fought for their lives on a literal mountain of pain – in terrain so hostile it actually fought against the men. I mean this literally, the terrain cut them, smashed them – foiled their plans. The true story is different from the movie and we’ve got it all here for you – with every resource the libraries of the world can bring to bear on this story. Every shot, every cut, every fall, every sacrifice – they’re all here and it’s all for free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its socio-political impact.

http://media.blubrry.com/429895/archive.org/download/BC29final/BC29final.mp3

Download: download link

Maps:

References:

Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN by Gary Williams

Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers – the Marine Corps’ Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan by Ed Darack

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson

Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics) by Thomas Barfield

Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban by Stephen Tanner

Simo Häyhä was the greatest sniper that ever lived. Using only iron sights and the normal equipment of the Finnish soldier in the Russo-Finnish Winter War, he carried out a 90-day reign of terror on the Soviet invaders of his homeland. They called him “The White Death.” He had over 200 confirmed kills. He gave all he had to give and never stopped – engaging the Russians in constant combat. Here is the story of a man worthy of a Hollywood epic. Here is a man that can show you the way to self-mastery and achievement. Here is Simo Hayha – the greatest sniper of all time. His story and the story of the Winter War are all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its socio-political impact.

Download link: download

Pictures and Maps:

References:

The White Sniper: Simo Häyhä by Tapio Saarelainen

A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 by William R. Trotter

The Winter War: The Soviet Attack on Finland, 1939-1940 by Eloise Engle and Lauri Paananen

Finland at War: The Winter War 1939–40 by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter, et al.

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