History Book Club

Old friend of the show Steven Veerapen joins the pod to discuss Elizabeth I in two parts. First he discusses depictions of the greatest English monarch on screen, including performances from Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Margot Robbie, and then Elizabeth's presentation of herself as monarch.

Steven is a historian and author of a number of novels and history books. The Queen's Fire is his latest.

Steven Veerapen Links

Steven's Blog of Top 10 Depictions

Steven on Twitter / X

The Queen's Fire

Ollie Links

Ollie on Twitter / X

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This bonus episode features former cabinet minister Vince Cable as he chats with Ollie about the Coalition, the 2008 Crash and the Coalition's response to it, foreign policy including Russia and China, and of course, Brexit.

Vince has written a new book with his wife Rachel Smith which is an interesting glimpse of life as a politician and as the spouse of a government minister.

Vince Cable & Rachel Smith Links

Partnership & Politics - Aspects of History

Partnership and Politics in a Divided Decade

Ollie Links

Ollie on Twitter / X

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This week's episode, our 100th, sees Roger Moorhouse join to talk about the Holocaust and the extraordinary efforts of Polish diplomats to get victims out using an passport scheme from their embassy in Switzerland.

Roger is an old friend of the show and his latest book, The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust's Most Audacious Rescue Operation, is out now and is an amazing story so well worth settling down and listening.

Roger Moorhouse Links

The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the Holocaust's Most Audacious Rescue Operation

Roger on Twitter / X

Article from Roger: Alfred Naujocks: The Man Who Started the Second World War - Aspects of History

Ollie Links

Email me: [email protected]

Ollie on Twitter / X

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This week's episode has two guests and friends of the show in Rob Lyman and the Major returning to chat all things Bill Slim - titan of the XIV Army and one of Britain's greatest generals.

Rob and Gordon discuss with our editor whether Slim is ahead of Montgomery and Alexander, and then whether he can be considered alongside Henry V, Oliver Cromwell and the Duke of Marlborough and the Duke of Wellington.

Do get in touch if you'd like us to cover Henry V, Cromwell, Marlborough and Wellington.

Bill Slim Links

Tales of Empire, by William Slim, Edited by Robert Lyman

Courage and Other Broadcasts, by William Slim, Introduction by Robert Lyman

Aspects of History Links

Bill Slim: a Master of both War and Words - Aspects of History

Ollie on Twitter/X

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This week's pod features historian and intelligence expert Michael Smith who has written about British and American spy agencies and how they've worked well, and not so well, since the Second World War.

We talk the Russian spy Oleg Penkovsky, the Cambridge Spies, the impact of intelligence on the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Falklands and the Iranian Coup of 1953.

Michael Smith Links

The Real Special Relationship: The True Story of How the British and US Secret Services Work Together

The Special Relationship - Aspects of History

Michael on Twitter

Aspects of History Links

Ollie on Twitter

Aspects of History home - Aspects of History

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This month's film club, which has NO SPOILERS, is a review of Christopher Nolan's new masterpiece, Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jnr and Florence Pugh. J. Robert Oppenheimer: the most important man who ever lived?

Both acclaimed Director Tim Hewitt and I saw the film on Monday at 70mm Lux Leicester Square with a sell-out audience, and we were impressed.

Links - Books on Oppenheimer

Short Read:

Oppenheimer: A World Destroyed, by David Boyle

Book on which the film is based:

American Prometheus:The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Cillian Murphy on BBC Radio 6

Storyville Documentary - The Trials of Oppenheimer

Contact us

Ollie on Twitter

[email protected]

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This week's pod is The Parthenon Marbles, and our editor welcomes Paul Cartledge, ancient historian and the author of countless books on ancient Greece. Dr Tessa Dunlop also joins to give her view.

Why the case is stronger than ever. Why the British Museum has erred in their display. Who are the people involved? How long will it take to return?

Links

Plenty of links here are discussed in the chat:

The British Committee for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles

GB News Discussion with Tessa Dunlop

Why return the Marbles?

Contact the UK Government Minister Lucy Frazer

Contact the UK Opposition Minister Lucy Powell

The Acropolis Museum, Athens

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A bonus episode as I chat with Harry White from the Modern British Political History Podcast and it's the Falklands War. Over the next hour you'll hear us talk about the build up to the invasion, the British response, the controversy and tragedy as the Belgrano, Sheffield and Coventry warships are sunk. We talk about how Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dealt with the conflict domestically, Chile and the US, and the legacy of the war.

Links

British Political History Podcast

There are plenty of cultural references throughout, and you'll find the links here:

An Ungentlemanly Act (1992)

The Iron Lady (2011)

Tumbledown (1988)

This is England (2006)

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4, by Sue Townsend

The Falklands Play (2002)

Who Dares Wins, by Dominic Sandbrook

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This week's guest is Charles Spencer talking Charles II - his escape from the clutches of Parliamentarian forces, his early life during the Civil War and his life in exile. Charles goes on to talk about Charles' reign, and Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Charles is also started a podcast with Richard Coles and Cat Jarman, so we chat about that briefly.

Plenty more great guests and subjects coming up so please do subscribe.

Charles Spencer Links

To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape

Blenheim: Battle for Europe

Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I

The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream

The Rabbit Hole Detectives

Ollie Links

Sticky Wicket: From Bodyline to Bairstow - Aspects of History

Ollie on Twitter

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This week's guest is the Ukrainian historian Serhii Plokhy who has written a new book on the history of the Russo-Ukrainian War and he chats with me about Putin's misunderstanding of history, Ukrainian identity, whether this is the last kick of a dying empire and plenty more so if you're interested in why the war began and where we are, this is the chat for you.

Serhii Plokhy Links

The Russo-Ukrainian War

Serhii on Twitter

Ollie Links

Ollie on Twitter

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