Someone Talked!

There is no such thing as an easy victory in war but after triumph in Tunisia, the sweeping success of the Sicilian invasion, and with the Italian surrender, the Allies were confident that they would be in Rome before Christmas 1943. And yet it didn't happen. Hitler ordered his forces to dig in and fight for every yard, thus setting the stage for one of the grimmest and most attritional campaigns of the Second World War. James Holland tells the definitive account of this brutal battle in Cassino '44.

Hailed as the most important book ever written about the conduct of the Catholic Church in WWII, we have more of The Pope at War with author David Kertzer.

With Pius XII's archives finally opened, David Kertzer paints a new, dramatic portrait of what the pope did and did not do as war enveloped Europe from 1939 to 1945.

With his book tour underway for Remember Us, we continue our conversation with #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert M. Edsel.

This episode begins with a look back at The Monuments Men, Robert M. Edsel's bestseller—which served as the basis for Academy Award recipient George Clooney’s 2014 film. Then our hosts delve into Edsel's highly anticipated, newly released book, Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II.

Podcast regular Chris Kolakowski returns with more from the mind of General Simon Buckner in his latest work Tenth Army Commander.

General Simon Buckner's chief of staff thought his daily notes were the makings of a post-war memoir, but the papers ended up scattered after the general's death. Buckner's diary is now fully published in the book Tenth Army Commander, edited by Chris Kolakowski.

Kara Dixon Vuic, a leading scholar on gender in the military, is back with more on the female experience on the front lines.

They brought the home front to the front lines entertaining American servicemen overseas from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan. Now author Kara Dixon Vuic brings The Girls Next Door to the podcast.

More students join the conversation with their questions for Linda Hervieux about the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion.