The History Files

Leaked correspondence! Mudslinging! Dirty politics! No, this week we’re not talking about the 2016 US presidential election season. How about the 1800 election? Yep, it’s time to talk about… Aaron Burr. I’ll bet you thought I was going to say Alexander Hamilton. He’s so overdone…

Show notes and links:

* A bowyer talks about authentic longbows (Lindybeige)

* Longbow versus breastplate – which will win? (Lindybeige)

* Totally Accurate Battle Simulator: Alpha signup — LandFall Games (landfall.se)

* Alexander Hamilton: Ron Chernow (amazon.com)

* Aaron Burr

* Tammany Hall

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

The 15th century was a time of tumult, war, and change both social and technological. This week we look at five events that changed the course of history around the globe: the end of the 100 Years War, China’s switch to silver currency, the fall of Constantinople, Pope Nicholas V’s legalization of slavery, and Gutenberg’s printing press.

Show notes and links:

* Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories Book 1), Mary Robinette Kowal (amazon.com)

* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (miniseries)

* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) dir. Terry Gilliam

* Baron Munchausen

* Hundred Years’ War

* China and Europe, 1500–2000 and Beyond: What is Modern? (columbia.edu) Chinese currency.

* Fall of Constantinople

* Pope Nicholas V legalizes slavery

* Gutenberg’s Printing press

* Music: Codex Faenza (ca. 1410 – 1420): Francesco Landini (youtube.com)

* Chinese Ancient Music  (youtube.com)

* Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – Barbershop A Cappella Quartet (youtube.com)

* Music of Ottoman empire, old Ottoman Song 18/19 th Century – Üsküdara Giderken (youtube.com)

* Early 16th Century Venetian Lute Music, Paul O’Dette (youtube.com)

* German Renaissance Music (youtube.com)

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

Given the nature of horses, how in the world did cavalry ever become a thing? Is cavalry a terrible idea? In this episode we delve into the crazy world of mounted combat, real and Hollywood style, by turning the tables on Gordon and interviewing him for a change. We ran a bit long, but not long enough to split it into two episodes. Consider it bonus material.

Show notes and links:

* THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN – The Seven (In Theaters September 23) (youtube.com)

* Westworld Trailer (HBO) – MATURE VERSION (youtube.com)

* Swordsmiths in Visby – part one (Lindybeige)

* Cavalry was a stupid idea (Lindybeige)

* Lars Andersen: a new level of archery This is the Swedish archer we mentioned. He makes Hawkeye (Marvel Universe) look like an amateur.

* Ride with the Devil (film) (wikipedia.org)

* School of the Renaissance Soldier (youtube.com)

* The History Files #14: From Lance to Pistol (csicon.fm)

* 21st Century Horse Soldiers – Special Operations Forces and Operation Enduring Freedom (defensemedianetwork.com)

* Bad Cat Shop at Zazzle

In part four of our series on Afghanistan we endure the horrors of Maiwand and make it all the way through the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) to reach a lull in the endless skirmishing, invasion, and revenge ops.

Show notes and links:

* BRASS – Season 1 trailer (soundcloud.com)

* BRASS by John Longenbaugh on iTunes

* Lives of a Bengal Lancer – trailer – Gary Cooper

* The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film) (1935)

* Rudyard Kipling: The Young British Soldier (poetryloverspage.com)

* Second Anglo-Afghan War

* Gen. George Burrows (Indian Army officer) – eBooks (gutenberg.org)

* Battle of Maiwand (July, 1880)

* Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)

* This week’s special music: “Pareshe Jal” (The Flight of the Lark) (youtube.com)

* Bad Cat Shop at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

In part three of our series on Afghanistan we get fully into the second Anglo-Afghan War, picking up where we left off, in 1878. Will the British have learned valuable lessons from previous decades? Will they consequently learn anything from subsequent disasters? If you’ve been listening, you can probably guess the answers, but tune in anyway and find out!

Show notes and links:

* Wee Willie Winkie  (1937) Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, Cesar Romero

* Kim (1950) Errol Flynn.

* Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839-1947: Michael Barthorp

* Second Anglo-Afghan War

* Edward Bulwer-Lytton

* Sam Browne

* Gen. Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts

* This week’s special music: Raag Bhairvi – Afghan Instrumental

* Bad Cat Shop at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

In part two of our series on Afghanistan, we discuss the devastating consequences of colonizing attempts in a region that really, really doesn’t want outside influence. With a healthy dose of home court advantage, the 1st and 2nd Afghan wars showed just how horrific the results can be.

Show notes and links:

* The Year Of Battles I THE GREAT WAR Summary Part 6 (youtube.com)

* Gunga Din (1939)

* King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) Tyrone Power, Michael Rennie (youtube.com)

* My Life in the Gurkhas : John Masters (amazon.com)

* The road past Mandalay : John Masters (openlibrary.org)

* The History Files #63: Afghanistan pt. 1 (csicon.fm)

* First Anglo-Afghan War

* Second Anglo-Afghan War

* Today’s special music: “Ghar Aya Mera Pardesi” (youtube.com)

* Bad Cat Shop at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

Afghanistan has been called the “graveyard of empires”. This week we look far back into the origins of this concept and make it as far as the beginning of the 1st Anglo-Afghan war in the first half of the 19th century. Remember: it’s easy to get into Afghanistan, but not so easy to get out.

Show notes and links:

* Shooting Austro-Hungarian Arms | WeaponsMan (weaponsman.com)

* The Quiet Gun 1957 Western Movie Forrest Tucker, Jim Davis, Lee Van Cleef  (youtu.be)

* Gun the Man Down | (trailersfromhell.com)

* Afghanistan: the Great Game, review (telegraph.co.uk)

* East India Company 

* Henri-Joseph Paixhans

* Alexander Burnes

* First Anglo-Afghan War

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (Zazzle.com)

It’s Christmas time. No, not the holiday, and not Jason Statham’s kick-butt character from the “Expendables” movie trilogy; we’re talking about the real deal, here. The historical General Lee Christmas was a larger-than-life character who made a name for himself policing, gun-running, and, well, kicking butt in late 19th century Honduras. Grab a gin and tonic and your favorite machine gun: it’s going to be a wild ride.

Show notes and links:

* Ten Medieval Kingdoms and States that No Longer Exist (medievalists.net)

* Moghul armour part two (Lindybeige)

* Afghanistan: the Great Game (telegraph.co.uk)

* Dictionary of the American West: Over 5,000 Terms and Western Expressions from AARIGAA! to Zopilote, by Win Blevins (amazon.com)

* Soldiers of Fortune by Richard Harding Davis (gutenberg.org)

* A Gallery of Gunfighters: Eugene Cunningham, Joseph G. Rosa, Eugene Manlove Rhodes

* General Lee Christmas, train driver turned mercenary (headstuff.org)

* The History Files #38: Interventions (For more on the United Fruit Company)

* The History Files #47: Pancho Villa (Wherein we mention Emil Holmdahl)

* The History Files #42: The Black Count (All about Alexandre Dumas, Sr.)

* War Is A Racket, by Major General Smedley Butler, 1935 (ratical.org)

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

This week we go full Medieval, all the way back to 1212 A.D., King Alfonso VIII of Castile, and the Battle of Los Navas de Tolosa. It’s the Moors vs. the Spaniards: who will win? Tune in and find out!

Show notes and links:

* Plated mail – armour of the Moghuls (Lindybeige)

* Ripper Street (TV Series 2012– )

* The Cavalier of the Apocalypse (Aristide Ravel Mysteries Book 1), Susanne Alleyn

* Affair of the Diamond Necklace

* The Battles that Changed History, by Fletcher Pratt (gutenberg.ca)

* Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa

* Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

* Karankawa people

* The narrative of Alvar Nunez Cabeça de Vaca : Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th cent (complete text at archive.org)

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)

This week is a bit of a double-header. Part 1 is all about how nations deal with a major crisis especially in the area of technological development. Part 2 is about the Rule of Law, a topic we’ve touched on before, but especially pertinent in the current legal and political climate of 2016.

Show notes and links:

* The Great War (Indy Nydell)

* History Buffs: Saving Private Ryan

* Whale Oil (petroleumhistory.org)

* Pennsylvania oil rush

* The Battle of Jutland, pt 1 (The History Files)

* Fourth-generation warfare

* Magna Carta

* William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham – “The Great Commoner”

* Bad Cat Store at Zazzle (zazzle.com)