Monaco is a nation smaller than one square mile but filled with more wealth per capita than almost any other country in the world. According to one historian, the tiny principality has zero natural resources. However, there is one resource Monaco does possess: The Rock – an impregnable natural fortress jutting into the azure water lanes of the Mediterranean sea. It was this natural fortification and its accompanying port that laid the foundation of Monaco’s abnormally persistent sovereignty. Put succinctly, Monaco has a history steeped in warfare, assassinations, and conflict. This is the definitive story of that conflict.

It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact.

Download episode 105 here: download link

Extensive maps and images are posted to the Historical Atlas of Monaco located here

Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio /// website: karlcasey.bandcamp.com

Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire by Peter H. Wilson 

The Royal House of Monaco by John Glatt

Histoire de Monaco by Pierre Fabry

The History of Monaco by H. Pemberton

The Grimaldis of Monaco: Centuries of Scandal, Years of Grace by Anne Edwards 

Making Monte Carlo: A History of Speculation and Spectacle by Mark Braude 

Genoa and the Genoese, 958-1528 by Stephen Epstein

Princes de Monaco: l’histoire remarquable de la famille Grimaldi by Françoise de Bernardy

The Oxford History of Italy edited by George Holmes