Warfare

There are many theories for when the Second World War was lost by the Axis powers. In this episode, Digital historian Alwyn Collinson shares the reasons why 1943 can be seen as this turning point. Digital Projects Manager at the University of Oxford, Alwyn runs the twitter account @RealTimeWWII and during this episode, he and James also explore whether video games can be an accurate or useful representation of the wars that they are based on. Alwyn can also be found on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RealTimeWWII©Everett Collection/Shutterstock

Niall Ferguson, a renowned historian and senior fellow at prestigious universities like Stanford and Harvard, shares insights on crisis planning and responses to disasters. He discusses how historical events like the World Wars and the Spanish Influenza can inform our understanding of present challenges. The conversation delves into the political implications of crisis management, the societal attitudes towards public health measures across generations, and the importance of proactive strategies to prepare for future calamities.

With battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, and then defeat and public criticism for the United States in 1975, the Vietnam War became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict. In this episode, Dan Snow speaks to Max Hastings about the Domino theory, whether it was possible for the US to win the war and the effect the war had on those who fought in it. Using the testimony of warlords and civilians, statesmen and soldiers, Max emphasizes the impact of the war on individuals on all sides.

When the self-propelled torpedo was invented in the late 19th century, it threatened to revolutionize naval warfare. The weapon was instrumental in the wars of the 20th century, but also within the spheres of the global marketplace, government control and intellectual property. In this episode, Katherine Epstein, author of ‘Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain’, discusses the development of this lethal weapon in relation to military, legal and business history.

With the role of coordinating resistance overseas, the task of a member of the Special Operations Executive could be extremely influential, but also perilous. Kate Vigurs has been investigating the lives of the 39 female members of the Special Operations Executive for her book Mission France: The True History of the Women of SOE. In this episode, she tells James how women came to be recruited for this work, how their abilities and missions varied, and what dangers they faced.© IWM

It was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile, developed to avenge the bombings of German cities during the Second World War. For this episode, novelist, former journalist and BBC television reporter, Robert Harris, joined Dan on the podcast to talk about Nazi Germany and the story of the V2 rocket.

It was not until 1956 that the Soviet Union repatriated the last of their German prisoners of war. To find out more about the experience of these men, Susan Grunewald has been mapping the locations of the camps where they were kept. Listen as Susan and James explore why the Germans were detained for so long and how they were treated, from building Soviet cities to facing re-education programmes. Susan is the Digital History Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh World History Center, her maps of the prisoner of war camps can be found here: https://susangrunewald.com/© Memorial Museum of German Anti-Fascists

From 1914 until 1917, submariners from Britain and Russia fought against the German Imperial Navy for control of the sea lanes in the icy Baltic. Their endeavors have been buried beneath the stories of Second World War U-boats, but with a serendipitous mistake in Kew Archives, a water damaged, blood stained submarine log landed in front of Dr Ian Johnson. Thus began a mission to uncover the story of British submarine strategy in the First World War. Ian is Professor of Military History at the University of Notre Dame. In this episode he shares the story of the British submariners, the role of the Russian revolution in the Baltic and how this theatre of the First World War impacted upon the Second.

On 10 May 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and his calamitous handling of the Norway campaign. On the same day, Adolf Hitler launched a monumental assault on Western Europe. It was the toughest first week in office a Prime Minister has ever faced. In this podcast, Dan visited the house of Churchill's biographer, Andrew Roberts, to look at some previously unseen historic material - a fascinating insight into the world of this remarkable man. © NPG

A suave secret agent and fictional character turned household name and multi-billion dollar franchise: we all know James Bond. But what about the man behind him? In this episode, hear about the people and places that inspired Ian Fleming as he wrote the stories of 007. Professor Klaus Dodds researches geopolitics and security, ice studies and the international governance of the Antarctic and the Arctic at Royal Holloway, but he is also an expert on Fleming and Bond. Listen as he discusses the influence of Fleming’s childhood, of his experiences during the Second World War and of his family's exploits.©Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo