Roger Moorhouse studied history at the University of London and is a visiting professor at the College of Europe in Warsaw. He is the author of several books on World War II history, including Berlin at War (shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Prize) and The Devils’ Alliance. He lives in the United Kingdom.

His new book, Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II (Basic 2020), looks at the beginning of World War II in Poland.

 

 

 

 

From the Publisher:

A gripping history of the September Campaign and the onset of World War II

For Americans, World War II began in December of 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor; but for Poland, the war began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler's soldiers invaded, followed later that month by Stalin's Red Army. The conflict that followed saw the debut of many of the features that would come to define the later war-blitzkrieg, the targeting of civilians, ethnic cleansing, and indiscriminate aerial bombing-yet it is routinely overlooked by historians.

In Poland 1939, Roger Moorhouse reexamines the least understood campaign of World War II, using original archival sources to provide a harrowing and very human account of the events that set the bloody tone for the conflict to come.

Podcast Highlights:

The beginning of World War II in Europe

How history is often "Written by the victors"

Nazi propaganda

Dispelling the Calvary vs. Tanks trope

Race war against Poland

The Soviet Union - victims, victors, or perpetrators?

Polish resistance and the fight against invasion

French and British response to the war

Writing for a broad audience

Elevating Polish accounts of the war

https://youtu.be/w27y5b53s1g

 

Suggestions:

Roger: Katyn - Andrzej Wajda

Steven: 19 Polish Songs - Frederic Chopin

Cover image: German troops breaking the border barrier in the Polish town of Sopot on the morning of 1 September 1939. The Soviet invasion would follow on 17 September.