History Book Club

Yaroslav Trofimov is the Foreign Affairs Correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, a native of Ukraine, and the author of Our Enemies Will Vanish. He joins to talk about the war and the ramifications of the conflict in a geo-political sense. With the war now entering it's third year, and with no end in sight, how do we see this play out, and what lessons will China and other totalitarian states draw?

This is an existential fight for Ukraine, and Yaroslav brings not only insight, but also a deep understanding to the discussion, in what is a fascinating discussion on the war in Ukraine.

Yaroslav Trofimov Links

Our Enemies Will Vanish

Yaroslav on X

Ollie Webb-Carter Links

Ollie on X

Get in touch: [email protected]

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Antonia Senior joins to discuss her new podcast SpyMasters, from Aspects of History. She and Ollie chat the Cambridge Spies, David Petraeus and the latest spy fiction as she talks about what we can expect.

Links

SpyMasters

David McCloskey

David Petraeus

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Gordon Corrigan, the Major, returns as we go through those commanders from the Second World War that missed out when we settled on Bill Slim. The big names from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are here: Montgomery, Alexander, Alanbrooke, Auchinleck, Pound, Cunningham, Harris, Dowding, Parks and Portal. Gordon gives his view, and in particular it's Monty who takes quite a bit of flak. Auchinleck, Harris and Cunningham gain his approval, as does Alexander and Alanbrooke.

Episode Links

Earlier Episodes in the series:

Great British Commanders: Bill Slim

Great British Commanders: Douglas Haig

The Second World War: A Military History, by Gordon Corrigan

Gordon's Substack

Ollie on X/Twitter

Email us [email protected] 

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The new Apple TV series has arrived, Masters of the Air, written and produced by John Orloff, of Band of Brothers. It stars Austin Butler (Elvis, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, Top Boy) and Callum Turner (Queen and Country, The Only Living Boy in New York). We discuss the history behind the show with two historians of the Allied Bombing Campaign.

Patrick Bishop is the bestselling author of Bomber Boys and Paul Bingley, historian and author of Bomb Group.

Episode Links

Bomb Group by Paul Bingley

Bomber Boys by Patrick Bishop

Masters of the Air on Apple TV

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

The Way to the Stars

Battleground Pod

Documentary on Bomber Command with Ewan McGregor

Debate: The Allied bombing of German cities in World War II was unjustifiable

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The recent Channel Four documentary, The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence saw historian Philippa Langley and TV personality Judge Rinder examine documents which they believe prove Edward V and Richard Duke of York were not murdered by their uncle Richard III, but were in fact spirited away to mainland Europe. From there they plotted both their return and the overthrow of Henry VII, victor over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Joining today me in the first of a new series of bonus episodes is Jackson van Uden, the host of the History with Jackson podcast. Jackson chats about this evidence, as well as past episodes on his pod, and then we both talk about what to expect in 2024.

Episode Links

History with Jackson - Jackson's Podcast

History with Jackson site

The Princes in the Tower: David Pilling on 'The New Evidence' - Aspects of History

Channel Four: The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence

Image of The Princes

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On the 20th January 1942 fifteen men met at the Wannsee Villa to discuss what they described as the final solution to the Jewish question. The Holocaust had been underway for many months but what those delegates agreed put in motion the industrial nature of the killings.

Roger Moorhouse, historian of Nazi Germany, joins Ollie to discuss the film Conspiracy which starts Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth. How accurate is it historically? What's the background to the bureaucrats and SS men attending, and what about Wannsee itself?

Conspiracy Links

Conspiracy (2001)

Berlin at War, by Roger Moorhouse

The Forgers, by Roger Moorhouse

First to Fight, by Roger Moorhouse

The Villa, The Lake, The Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution, by Mark Roseman

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, by Christopher Browning

The Conference (2022)

The Wannsee Conference (1984)

Roger on X/Twitter

Ollie on X/Twitter

JustWatch (to find movies on which platform)

Email us at [email protected]

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During the Napoleonic period, if you got into a serious disagreement and you were of the officer class, then you would challenge your opponent to a duel. Ben Kane joins our editor to discuss duelling, with pistols and swords during the Napoleonic period, as well as 'rivet counters'; readers of historical fiction who get in touch with writers to highlight inaccuracies.

Ben is the bestselling author of our Fiction Book of the Month, Napoleon's Spy.

Ben Kane Links

Ben Kane

Napoleon's Spy

Ben on X/Twitter

Ollie Links

Ollie on X/Twitter

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One evening in 376AD two Gothic kings attended a lavish dinner thrown by Lupicinus, a Roman general responsible for defending the Empire's eastern border. The bloody conclusion to the party resulted in catastrophe for Rome and the death of an Emperor. Simon Turney, bestselling novelist and historian joins to discuss this event, the wars and historical fiction in general. Simon is a hugely successful author of Marius' Mules, the Damned Emperor series and Para Bellum.

Simon Turney Links

Para Bellum

The Damned Emperors

Marius' Mules

Rise of Emperors (with Gordon Doherty)

Who was Agricola? - Aspects of History

Simon on X/Twitter

Ollie Links

Ollie on X/Twitter

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On the 29th January 1928 Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig died of a heart attack aged 66. Less than ten years earlier he had led the British Army to their greatest victories in the 100 Day Campaign of 1918. As he lay in state thousands of his soldiers marched past paying homage.

Two distinguished historians, Gary Sheffield and Gordon Corrigan, join Ollie to discuss why Haig deserves to be remembered alongside Marlborough, Nelson, Wellington and Slim.

Gary Sheffield Links

Military History Plus Podcast

Forgotten Victory: The First World War: Myths and Realities

Douglas Haig: From the Somme to Victory

The Chief: Douglas Haig and the British Army

Gordon Corrigan Links

Mud, Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the Great War

Douglas Haig: Defeat Into Victory

Get in Touch

Ollie on X/Twitter

[email protected]

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Historian and biographer Adam Zamoyski talks about the new movie, previous Napoleon films and the strange attitude in France to Bonaparte.

Adam Zamoyski Links

Napoleon: The Man Behind the Myth

1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow

Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna

YouTube Debate with Jeremy Paxman and Andrew Roberts on Napoleon

Narodnost: Russia and Nationalism - Aspects of History

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