A one-legged Chinese Admiral and triad vigilantes make the most out of the period during the Battle of Hong Kong when the Imperial Japanese Army held the mainland side of the water and the British/Indian/Canadian/Hong Kong forces retreated within their island 'fortress'.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast in December 2015 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Mao pokes his nose into Hungary in 1956 and concludes, "Eastern Europe just didn’t kill on a grand scale…We must kill."

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast on 2 November 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Noreen and I visit Berlin in November 1940 where Stalin’s Foreign Minister, Molotov, is wooed by Ribbentrop and Hitler: they want the USSR, already in bed with Germany in the Molotov-Ribbentrop (or Nazi-Soviet) Pact to join the Axis Alliance and carve up most of the world.

Churchill, however, gatecrashes the party.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast on 19 November 2015 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Noreen and Paul delve into the reasons why China discarded their emperors and empresses for an unemployable medical doctor - and why he handed rule to an opportunist who makes Donald Trump look shy.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast on 11 October 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Noreen and I examine the rhetoric of the first presidential debates, in 1960, compared with 2016 Trump v Clinton. We consider whether 'civility' was or is an important trait in US presidential candidates. (On air I mention an article I wrote on civility in global leaders.)

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast on 11 October 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

We focus on the Taiwan Strait Crises of the 1950s and how close the world came to nuclear war. We see how the tail wagged the dog as little Taiwan bent the US to its will in the 1950s. And, throughout the crisis, we will see how Mao’s provocations entice the USSR to help China’s nuclear development.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

This episode was first broadcast on 14 January 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website). Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

We look at war between the two communist giants, the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union – a conflict which began in March 1969. And we’re going to be joined by a special guest who, as a US air force pilot, found himself too close for comfort to the Soviet fleet off China’s coast just as they prepared to strike China in 1969…

We hear about Bruce Gordon's experience of Pearl Harbor, what it takes to be a fighter pilot and why he learned cricket.

In 1969, Bruce was based in Osan, South Korea. One day Bruce came across a Russian fleet lying off the coast of North Korea. He buzzed the ships to see what was going on. He watched what appeared to be a fishing boat pull away from the largest Russian warship at HIGH SPEED – he knew fishing boats didn’t travel at high speed…

And you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out more about Bruce’s story. You could also take a look at his book, The Spirit of Attack. (On air I also mention an insightful book – Dr Li Zhisui’s The Private Life of Chairman Mao.)

Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website).

This episode was first broadcast on 17 March 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Each month, Paul Letters examines events from this month in history. Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Our irregular guest historian Bruce Gordon joins us. As well as being an eye witness to the Pearl Harbor attack, a US air force pilot in Vietnam and Korea and - inadvertently - saving the planet from World War III , Bruce was born in the Philippines. He has written about the 1899-1902 'Phil-Am War', and today he tells us about the Filipinos' day of victory and why subsequent American revenge still affects US-Philippine relations today.

Later on, Noreen and Paul discuss how the Communists won the Chinese Civil War despite the cards appearing to be stacked in the Nationalists’ favour. How Chiang dealt with communist sleeper agents didn't help.

On air, I recommend both The China History Podcast and Jung Chang/Ian Halliday’s biography, Mao: The Unknown Story.

This episode was first broadcast on 21 September 2016.

This episode was first broadcast on 17 March 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3.

Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website.

Each month, Paul Letters examines events from this month in history. Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

Why World War III didn’t happen – when it looked odds on in October 1962.

And we look at the three-way war in China in 1940.

We investigate the 'evidence' that made the world believe a famous pop star, who is still alive today, “died” in 1969.

This episode was first broadcast on 22 October 2015.

Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website.

This episode was first broadcast on 17 March 2016 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3 Show, RTHK Radio 3. Each month, Paul Letters examines events from this month in history. Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →

We look at the first US presidential election debate in history, and we’ll see how an afternoon by a hotel pool helps win that election and save humanity from World War III.

And we examine what provoked the Japanese to join in alliance with Germany and Italy - signing the Tripartite Pact - in September 1940.

Finally, we ask, who is the biggest cheat in sporting history? 24th September is the anniversary of one big sporting cheat, and you tell us who you think are the biggest, baddest or most audacious cheats in sporting history.

This episode was first broadcast on 24 September 2015 on Noreen Mir’s 1-2-3Show, RTHK Radio 3.

Click ‘Subscribe’ to receive future podcasts automatically (or see the This Month in History website).

Each month, Paul Letters examines events from this month in history. Recorded at Radio Television Hong Kong Studios, Broadcast Drive, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Paul Letters is a historian, journalist, educator and novelist. See paulletters.com for more history, including a daily ‘On-This-Day-75-Years-Ago’ Twitter feed and photographs. Plus the novel that combines: the real history of the Allies’ first strike against Nazi Germany; Paul’s granny’s escape (as a teenager) from 1939 Poland to 1940 Paris to wartime London; the ‘Double-Cross System’, the Special Operations Executive and assassination in Prague (aChanceKill.com).

Podcast cover work by Gill Bertram.Continue reading →