History Book Club

By Oliver Webb-CarterNews Arts Books Politics History

History Book Club episodes

March 05 Bonus. Have Podcasts Replaced Books? With Antonia Senior & Roger Moorhouse
A quick bonus for my club members. There has been talk among certain literati that podcasts are replacing books. This is a chat with Roger and Antonia where we address the question head on. Do get in touch I’d love to hear from you.
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41 min
March 02 9. The Troubles in South Armagh with Toby Harnden
The Troubles may be over, but the legacy lives on, as ongoing legal cases revive past incidents, but one area that has continued to capture the imagination of those interested in this period of British and Irish history is Bandit Country. That is South Armagh and the IRA’s relatively successful campaign against the British Army.
Toby Harnden joins today as we talk about his book, published in 1999 but republished recently and the seminal account of the South Armagh Brigade of the IRA throughout the Troubles. We kick off the chat over whether podcasts are replacing books.
Toby Harnden Links
Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh
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52 min
February 23 8. Armies that Made Europe with Barney White-Spunner
Europe is in a bit of a fix, with a belligerent Russia to its East, and the traditional ally and protector disinterested to the West, governments are only starting to think about maybe increasing defence spending. In Britain, we are behind our continental allies and still trying to find excuses not to improve defence capability.
So who better to get on than a former General, Barney White-Spunner, who has written a book about five armies that saved Europe (spoiler alert, one of them is American), and so we chat about what that means for the present.
BWS Links
Nations in Arms: Five Armies That Made Europe
Ukraine Links
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50 min
February 16 7. Thucydides with Robin Waterfield & Polly Low
Herodotus is known as the father of history, and the next historian out the blocks, Thucydides, took the idea, and it was very much an idea in infancy, and produced a work that is still discussed by politicians and generals 2,500 years later.
There is a new translation of the History of the Peloponnesian War by the great translator Robin Waterfield, and he enters the club with historian Polly Low to discuss Thucydides, his style as a historian, the Peloponnesian War and plenty more.
Thucydides Links
The History of the Peloponnesian War, Translated by Robin Waterfield
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53 min
February 09 6. The Atlantic Slave Trade with Hannah Durkin
Today’s episode is a subject that has been prominent in the last few years, the Atlantic slave trade, and today’s book, Survivors is a quite brilliant one that focusses on one voyage in particular, the Clotilda.
Joining is Hannah Durkin who tells the harrowing tail of one boat’s enslaved people, from when they are capture in West Africa, through to their journey across the Atlantic, to Mobile Alabama, and then the story of the descendants.
Hannah Durkin Links
Survivors: A History of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Ukraine Links
Convoy for Ukraine, run by my friend Ian Wilson-Young
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41 min
February 02 5. History Film Club: Saving Private Ryan (1998)
This is the first movie to appear on the History Book Club pod. It's perhaps the most influential film to depict combat in the last thirty years. Steven Spielberg's epic captures the pathos of warfare.
In this episode we discuss
Saving Private Ryan Links
Bixby Letter
⁠James Holland on Saving Private Ryan⁠
Our Awards
Best Performance
Most Egregious Overracting
Biggest Plot Flaw
Historical Inaccuracy
What if Tarantino Made It?
Who won the film?

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1 hr 11 min
January 26 4. Rakes, Whigs and Tories: 17th & 18th century Britain with George Owers
This week we are going back to late 17th and early 18th century Britain, a time when politics as we recognise today was formed: the development of the party system – Whigs and Tories, The Act of Union with Scotland, and foreign wars often unpopular at home.
Joining me, is George Owers, and as you heard he describes a fantastic romp through the period, which is the subject of his book The Rage of Party.
George Owers Links
Rage of Party: How Whig Versus Tory Made Modern Britain
Oliver Webb-Carter Links
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1 hr 11 min
January 19 3. V-Force with Jonathan Glancey
The History Book Club is staying with the 20th century as we discuss
the V-Force, the aircraft best exemplified by the Vulcan which was the plane that played a huge role in the James Bond film, Thunderball. It was a remarkably beautiful engineering feat, that remains an iconic vision of where British design and science was at in the 1950s. It was capable of flying vast distances where it was intended to deliver its payload, a nuclear bomb. Perhaps its most well-known mission was a bombing run during the Falklands War in 1982.
Jonathan Glancey joins the club – he’s an aircraft enthusiast, writer on architecture as well as being a thoroughly interesting chap with a lovely voice so we talk about British produced bombers and fighters
produced post-war.
Jonathan Glancey Links
V-Force: Britain's Nuclear Bombers and the Cold War⁠
Vulcan barrel roll, Farnborough 1955
Oliver Webb-Carter Links
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49 min
January 12 2. Terrorism in the '70s with Jason Burke
After last week’s episode on the Iranian Revolution, I wanted to stay with the 1970s, and so Jason Burke joins me to discuss terrorism during the period, and specifically the Red Army Faction and Palestinian paramilitaries who would cooperate throughout the decade. This is an era when air travel was luxurious, booze sodden and fun – not like now sadly. Another element of flying back then was the very real risk that a couple of hairy Baader Meinhof gang members would hijack your plane, having waltzed through lax security.
Jason is the author of The Revolutionists and he joins to discuss the ideologies as well as characters such as Carlos the Jackal, Leila Khaled
and Ulrike Meinhof.
Jason Burke
The Revolutionists
Oliver Webb-Carter Links
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57 min
January 06 1. The Iranian Revolution with Scott Anderson
As you may be aware, there is an uprising across Iran, and
the government has lost the bazaars due to economic collapse. The Bazaars are the middle class shops, and their owners an important demographic in a country like Iran. The last time this happened, the Shah fled and regime we see today
took power.
Joining me is Scott Anderson, the author of King of Kings,
as we discuss the revolution, its participants, the US administration’s
involvement, the Shah and where we see the future, though with the strong caveat that this discussion took place before the current demonstrations.
Scott AndersonKing of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East
Latest news from Iran: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3kl56z2l4o
Oliver Webb-Carter Links
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45 min

About History Book Club

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Welcome to the History Book Club - the club for all lovers of history, presented by writer and historian Oliver Webb-Carter. Oliver interviews authors of the best historical writing, to draw out the stories that you'll be interested in.