This week on the History Files, it’s the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, which calls for some discussion of what it is and its impact on western governments, especially those of Britain and the United States.

Show notes and links:

* The Lion in Winter (1968) (imdb.com).

* The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) (imdb.com).

* Robin Hood (1922) (imdb.com) The classic Douglas Fairbanks silent.

* Robin Hood (1991) (imdb.com) Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman.

* Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott (gutenberg.org).

* Ivanhoe (TV Movie 1982) (imdb.com)

* The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman, by Mark Girouard (amazon.com).

* Is America practicing Lex Rex or Rex Lex?  (jacklewis.net).

* Featured Document: The Magna Carta (archives.gov).

* Edward Coke (en.wikipedia.org).

* John Locke (en.wikipedia.org).

* The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, by Barbara W. Tuchman (amazon.com).

* Habeas corpus (en.wikipedia.org).

* World Wide Words: Deodand (worldwidewords.org).

Since this episode of The History Files was recorded in May of 2015, exactly 100 years after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, Gordon thought it might be appropriate to discuss “false flag” events.

It should come as no surprise that the Lusitania incident isn’t the only one. It should also not surprise anybody to discover that political leaders can do some pretty shady things in the name of “the ends justify the means”.

Show notes and links:

* US-China war ‘inevitable’ unless Washington drops demands over South China Sea (telegraph.co.uk).

* Sinking of the RMS Lusitania (en.wikipedia.org).

* Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists (goodreads.com).

* Case Closed: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident (historynet.com).

* 42 ADMITTED False Flag Attacks Washington’s Blog (washingtonsblog.com).

* USS Maine (ACR-1) (en.wikipedia.org).

* Attack At Pearl Harbor, 1941 (eyewitnesstohistory.com).

* Fumimaro Konoe (en.wikipedia.org).

* Lend-Lease Act (history.com).

* Walter Short (en.wikipedia.org).

* Husband E. Kimmel (en.wikipedia.org).

In this episode of The History Files, Gordon discusses the difference between “warrior” and “soldier”, and the impact of the evolution of firearms on what would become the model of the modern army.

Producer’s note: We had a recording glitch that meant I had to chase Gordon down at his day job and re-record part of the main segment in less-than-ideal circumstances, so that’s the reason for the weird “why is he suddenly in an abandoned warehouse?” sound for a few minutes. Apologies!

Show notes and links:

* 2015 Waco shootout (en.wikipedia.org).

* Amazon.com: Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) (9780801869945): Bert S. Hall: Books (amazon.com).

* Matchlock (en.wikipedia.org).

* Wheellock (en.wikipedia.org).

* Stuhlweissenburg, Battle of | Hungarian history | Encyclopedia Britannica (britannica.com).

* Arquebus (en.wikipedia.org).

* Universalmuseum Joanneum :: Styrian Armoury (museum-joanneum.at). Graz Armory

* Heritage History | Homeschool History Curriculum | Story of Old France by Helene Guerber (heritage-history.com). Battle of Coutras (1587)

* Battle of Turnhout (1597) (en.wikipedia.org).

* From Lance to Pistol — myArmoury.com (myarmoury.com).

In this episode of The History Files, Gordon interviews historical archeologist Morgan Blanchard. Starting with new developments in high-tech surveying tools, they go on to discuss excavations of battle sites in New Mexico, World War 2 internment camps, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the Tlingit Revolt of 1802 amongst other things.

Show notes and links:

* Victory in Europe (history.com). VE Day

* Baseball | PBS (pbs.org). Ken Burns’ “Baseball”

* Battle of Glorieta Pass (nps.gov). Battle of Glorieta Pass (1862)

* Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn: Douglas D. Scott, Dr. Richard A. Fox Jr. Ph.D, Melissa A. Connor, Dick Harmon: 9780806132921: Amazon.com: Books (amazon.com). Doug Scott, “Archeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Big Horn”

* The Taos Revolt. (en.wikipedia.org). The Taos Revolt (1847)

* Battle of Sitka (en.wikipedia.org). Tlingit Rebellion (1802)

* Indian Battles and Conflicts in Washington State (legendsofamerica.com). Yakima War (1855-1858)

* Tlingit (everyculture.com). Katlian, Chief of the Tlingits

* Evacuation and Internment, 1942-1945 (nps.gov). Japanese Internment during World War 2 in Alaska

There’s truly nothing new under the sun, and journalistic bias is one of those things. In this episode Gordon talks about the Spanish Civil War, specifically George Orwell’s experiences which he fictionalized in his novel Homage to Catalonia.

Show notes and links:

* For Whom the Bell Tolls: Ernest Hemingway: 9780684803357: Amazon.com: Books (amazon.com).

* Homage to Catalonia: George Orwell: 9780156421171: Amazon.com: Books (amazon.com).

* Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) (imdb.com).

Gordon discusses Breki Tomasson’s musings about where Canada may be headed, recommends the 2004 feature film The Alamo, and then adds his own thoughts on the formation of Canada and the United States and what the future may hold for North America.

Special outro music: The Plains of Alberta, by Wilf Carter (a.k.a. Montana Slim), ca. 1930s

Show notes and links:

* The (Un)United States of Canada | Breki Tomasson (brekitomasson.com).

* Old Alberta Plains (youtube.com).

Gordon and special guest Nancy Frye discuss five major events of the 1450s that shaped our world, after first chatting extensively about historical fiction in film, television, and literature… the good and the not so good.

Addendum: One of the things we didn’t squeeze into the show, while discussing China and silver, was the importance of Spanish silver on world trade. The Spanish “real” was, during the 17th and 18th Centuries, the standard form of exchange between people, nations, and cultures everywhere in the world. Renowned for its purity and reliable weight, these “Spanish Dollars” or “pieces of eight” were hugely important in world trade. Spanish ships carrying silver reals sailed across the Pacific from Peru and Mexico to Manila, which became the primary trade entrepôt for Chinese merchants engaged in commerce with the Europeans, and likewise Spaniards engaged in the China trade. Similarly, the “Spanish Dollar” was the standard form of exchange within all of the American colonies, Spanish and English alike (and I imagine French and Portuguese as well!).

Since small change wasn’t minted, in order to “make change” these silver dollars would be cut into up to eight pieces, thus the “pieces of eight” nomenclature. See also the doggerel “Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar…”, being a quarter, half and three-quarters of a dollar respectively. 1/8 of a dollar was 12-1/2 cents in “American money”, as it were, but seldom used. The quarter and half-dollar denominations became standard, even though the name “piece of eight” still referred to the original sum of the parts.

Special outro music: Istanbul not Constantinople, from the Alka Seltzer Show, 1953, performed by Martha Tilton and Kurt Massey and via the Internet Archive.

Gordon is skeptical about promises of self-determination, tells us why we in the West should care about the Ukraine, and declares the A-10 the Chevy pickup of tactical aircraft.

In episode two of The History Files, Gordon and Dylan talk about the Spanish American War, U.S. imperialism in the 1890s (and beyond), and blame it all on Gordon’s ancestors.

Gordon talks with Dylan about books, TV shows and movies that inspired him to study history, dispels some historical misconceptions, and explains why George Washington was even more awesome than you already think he is.