This week on History Happy Hour: December 1942 saw the bloodiest Christmas in the history of mankind. From the islands in the Pacific to the China front, from the trenches in Russia to the battle lines in North Africa, in the skies over Europe and in the depths of the Atlantic, men were killing each other in greater numbers than ever before. It offers a glimpse of the extremes, good and bad, that World War II gave rise to.

Chris and Rick will explore this period around the globe with Peter Harmsen, author of Darkest Christmas: December 1942 and a World at War. The way the holiday was marked around the world reflects the deeper story of the human condition in extraordinary times.

 

Peter Harmsen, PhD, is the author of New York Times best seller Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze and Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City, as well as a three book series, War in the East about the war against Japan. He studied history at National Taiwan University and has been a foreign correspondent in East Asia for two decades.