Versus History Podcast

It feels like AI is ubiquitous! Large Language Models (LLM's) have exploded over the past few years. However, a new platform, NotebookLM, has taken things still further. It can convert virtually any source into an audio two-way discussion and debate. What will the impact of AI be on our world of History? This is very much up for debate, of course. It is a debate that will rumble on. That notwithstanding, we have given NotebookLM a try with a resource from our Malcolm X debate from back in 2018 here on the Versus History Podcast. The outcome is here for you to sample!Do you think AI / LMNotebook has done a decent job with it? Please let us know your thoughts!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Inspired by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Patrick was fascinated by the stories he saw on the news. In particular, he was stuck by the vulnerability of the young women travelling alone and the dangers that they might face when they arrive at their next destination. Patrick saw unique parallels between the war today and France of the Fourth Republic after WW2, a country haunted by the impact of the European War in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Alongside WW2 Lithuania, it is early post-war France that The Exile is set. Drawing on his own personal experiences, what he found out about early post war France, and his love for Lithuania which he has visited several times over the past 20 years as he has been happily married to a Lithuanian for that time - The Exile is Patrick's take on what happens when the boundaries between state and organised crime breaks down and the threat that permeates around Europe - just as it does today. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, the editors discuss the UK's forthcoming General Election, announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for 4 July 2024. Sunak quickly announced that 'National Service' will be introduced for young people if the Conservative Party is returned to government by the British public. The last time this was part of British policy was 1948-1960. We discuss all ...For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com.

In 1821 Afro-Native William Freeman found himself convicted of horse theft he vehemently denied and sentenced to five years of hard labor in Auburn State Prison (New York) — without pay and in total silence. It was the first prison built for solitary confinement, and it was in this oppressive environment that Freeman dared to challenge the system. Driven to extremes, he murdered a white family, explaining that "someone must pay." Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit, from distinguished Harvard Professor Robin Bernstein, unveils this gripping saga of defiance and its lasting effects on our penal system.The forthcoming release of Bernstein's newest book from The University of Chicago Press in May 2024 is highly anticipated, on the heels of her previous book, which received numerous awards, including the Lois P. Rudnick Book Prize from the New England American Studies Association. As Chair of Harvard's doctoral Program in American Studies, Bernstein brings to bear her expertise in U.S. racial formation from the nineteenth century to the present. Through meticulous research, she tells an explosive story about the tangled web of oppression and racism that still underpins our society's institutions.As civil rights icon Angela Davis aptly puts it, "Bernstein's compelling narrative provides insight not only into the institution of the prison in the United States but also into the lives of those whose newly experienced dreams of freedom were crushed by evolving intersections of punishment and racial capitalism. By disengaging the emergence of the prison from what has become its inevitable partner — 'rehabilitation'— Bernstein deftly reveals the deep connections between imprisonment, racism, and the development of the capitalist economy."Bernstein follows Freeman's ensuing trial, examining how narratives intertwined race with criminality, deflecting attention from the exploitative practices of Auburn. These narratives not only permeated the trial but also became entrenched in culture throughout the US, perpetuating harmful notions such as the myth of inherent Black criminality and providing justification for racialized mass incarceration.This timely and necessary story of Black resistance against the nexus of incarceration, racial capitalism, and slavery will further inspire the prison abolitionist movement. It's an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of our modern prison system from one of the most prominent experts on racism in America.

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, the Editors tackle the subject of free trade, Brexit and the Teeside 'Free Port' initiative, making (sometimes errant!) comparisons and contrasts to the British acquisitions of yesteryear, including Singapore in 1819 and Hong Kong / Shanghai in 1842. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this unique episode of the Versus History Podcast, we take something of a detour from the usual substantive history fest to indulge in some history teaching tales ...Co-Editior Elliott recounts tips, tales and home truths from over twenty years of teaching history worldwide. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Editors discuss a range of films that have flunked at the Box Office through time. Which films have flunked and why? From Heaven's Gate to Mario to Mr Nanny and many more besides... Find out in this episode!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this exciting episode, the Versus History team discuss the recent proposed smoking ban for UK citizens born after 2008 as well as the prohibition of alcohol in America in the early twentieth century and much, much more besides.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.comPlease give us a good review if you enjoyed the podcast!

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we discuss a serious miscarriage of justice which, between 1999 and 2015, saw over 900 subpostmasters prosecuted for theft, false accounting, and fraud for shortfalls at their branches when these shortfalls were in fact due to errors of the Post Office's Horizon accounting software.The recent ITV drama has captured British imaginations' to such an extent that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to pass legislation to exonerate the innocent.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we were delighted to interview Halik Kochanski, the winner of the Wolfson History Prize for 2023. Resistance: 'The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945′Across the whole of Nazi-ruled Europe the experience of occupation was sharply varied. Some countries – such as Denmark – were allowed to run themselves within tight limits. Others – such as France – were constrained not only by military occupation but by open collaboration. In a historical moment when Nazi victory seemed irreversible, the question ‘why resist?' was therefore augmented by ‘who was the enemy?'.Resistance is an extraordinarily powerful, humane and haunting account of how and why all across Nazi-occupied Europe some people decided to resist the Third Reich. This could range from open partisan warfare in the occupied Soviet Union to dangerous acts of insurrection in the Netherlands or Norway. Some of these resistance movements were entirely home-grown, others supported by the Allies.Like no other book, Resistance shows the reader just how difficult such actions were. How could small bands of individuals undertake tasks which could lead not just to their own deaths but those of their families and their entire communities?Filled with powerful and often little-known stories, Kochanski's book is a fascinating examination of the convoluted challenges faced by those prepared to resist the Germans, ordinary people who carried out exceptional acts of defiance.The Wolfson History Prize 2023 link is here.The book can be purchased here.Follow Versus History on X here.

“Empathy in history is a noble but ultimately unobtainable endeavour.” How far do you agree with this statement?This is the very question answered by one of the joint winners of the inaugural Versus History Essay Prize (#VHEssayPrize). In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we enjoy an audio-long read from joint prize winner Anoushka Sood of St Albans High School For Girls. This is followed by analysis from the VH Editorial Team, who were blown away by the research, reflection and epistemological insight shown by Anoushka in her essay.The Versus History Editors - Conal, Elliott and Patrick - would like to acknowledge the quite sublime support given to Neave and other students by the History Department at St Albans High School For Girls led by the Head of History. We also celebrate the support that families, parents, carers and friends give to students of history, such as Neave.Bravo to Anoushka and all the other entrants to the Versus History Essay Prize 2023! Look out for the 2024 iteration!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com 

In this episode, we interview author Max Leonard about his new book.A Cold Spell: A Human History of Ice by Max Leonard This book is the story of humanity through the lens of ice – our interactions with ice, our need for it, and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet. Max takes us from the beginning of our story to the modern day, tracing the ways ice has influenced our development, our economies, our social customs and our lives. Exposing the commonalities between an opulently frozen mummy, Winston Churchill's plans for inventive aircraft carriers and mountaineering, it's bound to change how you think about the world around you. ‘In a bracingly original book, Max Leonard makes something we all take for granted into an absorbing pathway into history, geography and science … A highly readable feast of insights and surprises- Michael Palin ‘A wonderful history of ingenuity, wanderlust, preservation and exploitation. Max Leonard has written an original chronicle of human nature, and you'll skate through it with enduringinsight and pleasure.' - Simon GarfieldFor terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

'A History degree isn't worth the paper it is printed on.' To what extent is this statement valid?This is the very question that provided the response for one of the joint winners of the inaugural Versus History Essay Prize (#VHEssayPrize). In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we enjoy an audio-long read from joint prize winner Neave Rees of King Edward VI High School For Girls in Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK. This is followed by analysis from the VH Editorial Team, who were blown away by the research, reflection and epistemological insight shown by Neave in her essay.The Versus History Editors - Conal, Elliott and Patrick - would like to acknowledge the quite sublime support given to Neave and other students by the History Department at King Edward VI High School For Girls, led by the Head of History, N. Haines. We also celebrate the support that families, parents, carers and friends give to students of history, such as Neave.Bravo to Neave and all the other entrants to the Versus History Essay Prize 2023! Look out for the 2024 iteration!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com 

This week on the @Versus History Podcast, we welcome back historian Charles Freeman to discuss his new book 'Children of Athena'. Charles Freeman presents a compelling and fascinating portrait of the continuing intellectual tradition of Greek writers and thinkers in the Age of Rome. In 146 BC, Greece yielded to the military might of the Roman Republic; sixty years later, when Athens and other Greek city-states rebelled against Rome, the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla destroyed the city of Socrates and Plato, laying waste to the famous Academy where Aristotle had studied. However, the traditions of Greek cultural life would continue to flourish during the centuries of Roman rule that followed, in the lives and work of a distinguished array of philosophers, doctors, scientists, geographers, travellers and theologians. Charles Freeman's accounts of such luminaries as the physician Galen, the geographer Ptolemy and the philosopher Plotinus are interwoven with contextual 'interludes' that showcase a sequence of unjustly neglected and richly influential lives. Like the author's The Awakening, The Children of Athena is a cultural history on an epic scale: the story of a rich and vibrant tradition of Greek intellectual inquiry across a period of more than five hundred years, from the second century BC to the start of the fifth century AD.“Charles Freeman has done it again – amassed a vast body of knowledge on a major subject and infused it with historical understanding and humane wit” Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge “The Awakening is a remarkable work of scholarship by esteemed historian Charles Freeman... The book is a fine production, adorned with coloured images of frescos and ancient manuscripts.” Irish Times “Freeman is a good host, a superb narrator and tells his story with aplomb... His elegant prose is a treat for the mind and the accompanying illuminations a treat for the eye.” International Times “A work of serious scholarship by an author who has clearly been everywhere, seen everything and read voraciously. But it is also a work written with great elan and, given its scope, undertaken with considerable courage.” Christopher Lloyd, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, 1988–2005For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com 

AD.60 and Brittania is in chaos. Boudica has had a taste of victory against the formidable veteransin Camulodunum and she won't stop now. How will Roman heroes Macro and Cato fare againstthe notorious Queen of the Britons?A quick response to the rapidly advancing rebel forces, Governor Suetonius takes command leadinghis army to the besieged Londinium with prefect Cato and a mounted escort in tow.The grim reality of Britannia slipping deeper into chaos and hysteria becomes unmistakable as tribalwarriors continue to swell the ranks of Boudica's forces. Both Cato and Suetonius confront thesobering truth that minimal preparations have been made to confront a full-scale insurrection.Meanwhile, in Londinium, a heart-wrenching revelation unfolds. Centurion Macro is among thosemissing following the Camulodunum massacre. Has Cato's loyal comrade, who has faced countlessbattles, met his ultimate challenge? As disaster looms, Cato readies himself for the next strategicmove. Can he dare to hope that Macro, marked by battle and unflinching courage, has managed toevade these bloodthirsty rebels?In this pivotal military campaign, Cato knows that only one man he trusts stands beside him, and thefate of the Empire in Britannia hangs in the balance.About the author of 'Rebellion': Born in Nigeria and educated in the UK, Scarrow's multicultural background has enriched his storytelling, allowing him to bring historical eras to life with a unique perspective.Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author who has spent his life travelling the worldand telling stories and he now lives in Mauritius with his wife. His books have sold over 5 millioncopies and include his Eagles of the Empire novels featuring Roman soldiers Macro and Cato, mostrecently DEATH TO THE EMPEROR, THE HONOUR OF ROME, THE EMPEROR'S EXILE and TRAITORS OFROME, as well as DEAD OF NIGHT and BLACKOUT, the first two novels in the Criminal InspectorSchenke thriller series, and many more. 12 of his Eagles of the Empire novels have been SundayTimes bestsellers and REBELLION marks no.22 of Simon's Eagles of the Empire Novels.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interview Historian Kenneth W. Harl, author of the brand new book Empires of the Steppes: The Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization. This book is an epic and enthralling narrative history of how Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and the so-called 'barbarians of the steppes' shaped the modern world. The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced some of the world's greatest conquerors: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, among others. And, as Kenneth Harl illustrates in this glorious work of narrative history, their deeds still resonate today. Indeed, these nomads built long-lasting empires, facilitated the first global trade of the Silk Road and disseminated religions, technology, knowledge and goods of every description that enriched and changed the lives of so many across Europe, China and the Middle East. From a single region emerged a great many peoples – the Huns, the Mongols, the Magyars, the Turks, the Xiongnu, the Scythians, the Goths – all of whom went on to profoundly and irrevocably shape the modern world. Professor Kenneth Harl draws on a lifetime of scholarship to vividly recreate the lives and world of these often-forgotten peoples from their beginnings to the early modern age. Their brutal struggle to survive on the steppes bred a resilient, pragmatic people ever ready to learn from their more advanced neighbours. In warfare, they dominated the battlefield for over fifteen hundred years. Under charismatic rulers, they could topple empires and win their own.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.comFor the Guardian review, please click here.For the book, please click here.For Kenneth's professional profile, please click here.

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interview Dr. Ambrogio A. Caiani about his new book.Losing a Kingdom, Gaining the World is the untold story of the fascinating and complex history of the Roman Catholic Church in the modern age. In the first book of its kind, Dr. Ambrogio A. Caiani unravels the enthralling and horrifying history of one of the world's most powerful, controversial, and defiantly archaic institutions. The ambitious and authoritative work sees Caiani masterfully narrate the Church's journey through an array of challenges posed by modernity in all its forms. From the emergence of representative democracy and the nation-state to the advancements of science, literature, and secular culture, the book offers a gripping account of the Church's struggle to adapt and endure. Covering a number of critical periods in the Church's history, Caiani begins with the aftermath of the French Revolution and the democratic rebellions of 1848 and follows the Church's unique evolution that sees three popes being forced out of Rome, the secular power of papacy being destroyed, a disastrous series of concordats with fascist states in the 1930s, and the Church's retreat into a fortress of unreason. As Catholicism lost its temporal power it made huge spiritual strides expanding across the globe and gaining new converts in America, Africa and the Far East; losing a kingdom but gaining the world.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.comTo check out the book, please click here.

In this episode of the podcast, we interview historian and author Jacob Bloomfield. His new book Drag: A British History is a groundbreaking study of the sustained popularity and changing forms of male drag performance in modern Britain. With this book, Jacob Bloomfield provides fresh perspectives on drag and recovers previously neglected episodes in the history of the art form.Despite its transgressive associations, drag has persisted as an intrinsic, and common, part of British popular culture—drag artists have consistently asserted themselves as some of the most renowned and significant entertainers of their day. As Bloomfield demonstrates, drag was also at the center of public discussions around gender and sexuality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Victorian sex scandals to the "permissive society" of the 1960s. This compelling new history demythologizes drag, stressing its ordinariness while affirming its important place in British cultural heritage.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Our Co-Editor Elliott is currently walking Hadrain's Wall, from the west coast of England to the east! In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with him as he finds a spot with mobile signal to fill us in on his adventures thus far! #VersusHistory

The epic story of the imperial rivalry between two of the greatest empires of the ancient world – Parthian and Persian – and how they rose and eventually fell.The Roman empire shaped the culture of the western world against which all other great powers are compared. Stretching from the north of Britain to the Sahara, and from the Atlantic coast to the Euphrates, it imposed peace and prosperity on an unprecedented scale.However, the exception lay in the east, where the Parthian and then Persian empires ruled over great cities and the trade routes to mysterious lands beyond. This was the place Alexander the Great had swept through, creating a dream of glory and conquest which tantalised Greeks and Romans alike. Caesar, Mark Antony and a long succession of emperors longed to follow in Alexander's footsteps. All failed. Only here did the Roman empire slow down and eventually stop, unable to go any further.Following seven centuries of conflict that, ultimately, neither Rome nor Persia would win, The Eagle and the Lion delves into the clash, context and journeys of these entities of great power and the people caught in their wider struggle.Adrian Goldsworthy has a doctorate from Oxford University. His first book, THE ROMAN ARMY AT WAR was recognised by John Keegan as an exceptionally impressive work, original in treatment and impressive in style. He has gone on to write several other books, including THE FALL OF THE WEST, CAESAR, IN THE NAME OF ROME, CANNAE and ROMAN WARFARE, which have sold more than a quarter of a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages. A full-time author, he regularly contributes to TV documentaries on Roman themes.

In this epsiode, we discuss Dr James Crossland's new book 'The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism' (Manchester University Press, 2023). We cover much ground relating to the history of terrorism, right up to the preset day and forecasts for the future. James is a Reader in International History, whose present research interests lie in the history of terrorism, societal fear, intelligence and propaganda. He is also a specialist in the history of international humanitarian law and the Red Cross movement, in particular during its formative years (1860s-1914). Beyond his research endeavours, he is Co-Director of LJMU's Centre for Modern and Contemporary History and Postgraduate Coordinator for the School of Humanities and Social Science.James has recently completed his third book, 'The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism' (Manchester University Press, 2023), which examines the development of international terrorism across the transatlantic world during the late nineteenth century. This book is part of a wider project that focuses on the political and societal impacts of fear narratives and fake news during the period of 1850s-1914.  James is on Twitter.Check out James' new book here.Check out James' MUP wesbite for the book here.

A Time in Paris is the new book by historical novelist David Lawday, the author of the critically-acclaimed book 'Danton'.As a correspondent for the Economist and U.S. News and World Report, David Lawday lived in France for many years, marrying a French woman and raising his two children there. His long experience of France, in the eyes of an Economist reviewer, made him "an ideal biographer" of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, a highly influential French statesman who held positions close to the top of a number of French regimes, notably that of Napoleon Bonaparte. Lawday's biography of the controversial Talleyrand, Napoleon's Master: A Life of Prince Talleyrand, was published in 2006.David's new book is a powerful historical novel which explores unlikely ties and how war changes hearts, set during one of the turning points in world history. The Siege of Paris – the impact of which is still felt today - has hitherto been under-explored by historians. David certainly helps to bring the subject to life in this fascinating novel. Check out David's Amazon book page here.  

In this episode, we interview Historian, Journalist & New York Times bestselling Author Evan Thomas about his brand new book, Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War.Road to Surrender is a riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan. To bring these critical events to vivid life Evan Thomas draws on the diaries and correspondence of three key players - Stimson (American Secretary of War), Togo (Japanese Foreign Minister) and Spaatz (head of strategic bombing in the Pacific). He lays out the behind-the-scenes thoughts, feelings, motivations, and decision-making of three people who changed history. Through rare access to diaries and personal discussions we have insight into the moral dilemmas faced on both sides and how the key political decision makers grappled with these impossibly difficult decisions and contemplated the immense weight of their historic decision.“In this meticulously crafted and vivid account, Evan Thomas tells the gripping and terrifying story of the last days of the Second World War in the Pacific” - Margaret MacMillan, author of War: How Conflict Shaped Us.Check out the book here on Amazon. 

US President Biden has just finished his visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. What are the historical connections? Can it be termed a success? If so, for who(m)? The Editorial team discuss ...For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Versus History Essay Prize 2023 (#VHEssayPrize). Full details can found via the links below. Please spread the word to anyone and everyone who may (or may not!) be interested! The webpage link for the #VHEssayPrize is here.The questions for the #VHEssayPrize are here. To contact Versus History via Twitter about the #VHEssayPrize, that link is here. 

In this episode, we interview actor, historian, podcaster and playwright Dominic Frisby about evacuation from London during WW2. Dominic is responsible for 'Kisses on a Postcard.' To set the scene, it is 1940. Two boys from London, Terry and Jack, aged seven and eleven, are being evacuated to escape German bombing. They end up in Cornwall, where they spend the next four years. The intensely moving musical by Terence Frisby tells the unforgettable story of those boys and their "second childhood". Full of surprising humour and memorable songs, this is a unique portrait of an extraordinary time in British history. "Enchanting, profoundly moving and delightful," Charles Spencer, the Telegraph. Starring John Owen-Jones, Katie Secombe, Rosie Cavaliero, Marcia Warren, Evie Hoskins, Ian Virgo, James Clyde, Peter Temple and others.Check out Kisses on a PostcardFollow Dominic Frisby on Twitter

In this exciting episode of the Versus History Podcast, we have something a little different. We discuss the 1990s and the wonderfully eclectic and inventive sounds it spawned, from Britpop's Oasis, Blur and Pulp to Jungle / Drum and Bass and Shy FX, General Levy and UK Apachi.We conclude with a guest mix from Leicester's and UMC Management's very own DJ Juvenile / DJ Juvie, playing an hour of original 90s-inspired Jungle from vinyl. Enjoy!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode, we interview Kate Strasdin, who is a dress historian who has been fascinated by old clothes since she was a child.  Her new book, 'The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes: Secrets from a Victorian Woman's Wardrobe' is a tour de force of History! Kate is a lecturer in Cultural Studies at Falmouth University and an Instagram sensation!In 2016 she was given an anonymous album full of annotated dress swatches that had been kept in a trunk for over fifty years, its original keeper unknown. She spent the next six years unlocking its secrets and wrote the following book ...The hidden fabric of a Victorian woman's life - from family and friends to industry and Empire - told through her unique textile scrapbook.In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of her life and times. Her name was Mrs Anne Sykes.Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Strasdin spent the next six years unravelling the secrets contained within the album's pages.Piece by piece, she charts Anne's journey from the mills of Lancashire to the port of Singapore before tracing her return to England in later years. Fragments of cloth become windows into Victorian life: pirates in Borneo, the complicated etiquette of mourning, poisonous dyes, the British Empire in full swing, rioting over working conditions and the terrible human cost of Britain's cotton industry.This is life writing that celebrates ordinary people: the hidden figures, the participants in everyday life. Through the evidence of waistcoats, ball gowns and mourning outfits, Strasdin lays bare the whole of human experience in the most intimate of mediums: the clothes we choose to wear.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode, the editorial team meets at the Future Learning Summit to discuss the news today (25/02/23). We look at AI, Presidents, railway strikes, nationalisation and much, much more besides ...For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Join us for this episode where we check out the big news stories of the week and investigate the historical connections and correlations.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we are joined by Mandy Robotham. She is a Globe and Mail, USA Today, and UK, Canadian, US and Australian Kindle Top 100 bestseller. She has been an aspiring author from the age of nine, but was waylaid by journalism and later enticed by birth. She's now a former midwife who writes about birth, death, love and everything else in between. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes University. In this episode, Mandy discusses her new book, The War Pianist, as well as many other topics, such as approaches to writing historical fiction, techniques and how to go about the research. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Jungle. Drum & Bass. Its impressively long history goes back to the very early 1990s, synthesising elements of rave, house and techno, but also reggae and Soundsystem culture. MC Co-Gee is a musician and artist who needs no introduction to fans of Jungle, Drum & Bass and Reggae. He was the very first Jungle MC on London's premier Jungle Radio Station, Kool FM 94.5 / Kool LDN, which ran between 1991 and 2023, having served microphone duties on the station for its entire tenure. He started his musical career on a Soundsystem, before migrating towards Jungle in the early 1990's.In this interview, we discuss everything, from his work on Kool FM to his career as an MC to the allure of UK Garage to the decline of the soundsystems and the rise of Jungle.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Chat GPT has been causing quite a stir on social media and in the news. But how revolutionary is it? Does all technological change have this much impact? What other changes have caused consternation through history? Find out in this episode, where the entire editorial team of Versus History gather round to discuss!For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we welcome back Historian Damien Lewis to discuss his new book 'SAS Brothers in Arms'.Damien Lewis' new bestseller tells the action-packed, riveting story of the band of mavericks and visionaries who made the SAS. Using hitherto untold stories and new archival sources, Damien Lewis follows one close-knit band of warriors from the SAS foundation through to the Italian landings - chronicling the extraordinary part they played as the tide of the Second World War truly turned in the Allied's favour. This is a narrative of wall-to-wall do-or-die action and daring, chronicling the exploits of some of the most highly-decorated soldiers of the twentieth-century.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta, and A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020. Her non-fiction book about women in Greek Myth, Pandora's Jar, was a New York Times Bestseller in 2022. She has written and performed eight series of her BBC Radio 4 show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics. In 2015 she was awarded the Classical Association Prize for her work in bringing Classics to a wider audience. Stone Blind is her fourth novel.So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters.'Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt. And her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.When the sea god Poseidon commits an unforgivable act in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can – and Medusa is changed forever. Writhing snakes replace her hair, and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. The power cannot be controlled: Medusa can look at nothing without destroying it. She is condemned to a life of shadows and darkness.Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .In Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes – the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships – brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before . . .

In this episode, the editorial team got together to talk about a small slice of the history that they encountered during their summer travels and also to announce the winner of the amazing Wolfson History Prize 2022 book bonanza!

In the 150th episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interview author Eva Taylor about her new book, 'Sabine's War'. The book notes are below: Sabine's War is the previously untold story of a remarkable resistance fighter and her incredible story of survival against the odds. When Germany invaded Holland in May 1940, Sabine Zuur joined the resistance movement without a moment's hesitation aged just 22. Helping to hide those avoiding the German authorities, she was soon betrayed and subjected to repeated violent interrogations. Many of her friends were executed but Sabine was instead sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp, via the Amersfoort andRavensbrück camps. Enduring gruelling conditions and backbreaking forced manual labour, she survived through a combination of guile and good fortune. But it was only after Sabine's death that her daughter Eva discovered an archive of letters detailing her extraordinary life, revealing a rich inner world and a past she had discussed little. Amongst them were declarations of love from pilot Taro, shot down in his Spitfire over northern France aged just 26; letters to her mother smuggled out in her prison laundry; and passionate, creepy missives from a German professional criminal named Gebele who would ultimately save Sabine's life. She emerges from this correspondence as a woman with an indefinable aura, somehow in control of her own destiny even when to all intents and purposes she was not. A transfixing story of survival, Sabine's War captures a remarkable life in the words of the young woman who lived it.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

An interview with Dr Clare Jackson, the winner of Wolfson History Prize 2022 about her book, ‘Devil-Land:England Under Siege, 1588-1688′. Clare is the Senior tutor of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. The description for the book:Among foreign observers, seventeenth-century England was known as ‘Devil-Land': a diabolical country of fallen angels, torn apart by rebellion, religious extremism and royal collapse. Clare Jackson's dazzling account of English history's most radical era tells the story of a nation in a state of near continual crisis.As an unmarried, childless heretic, Elizabeth I was regarded with horror by Catholic Europe, while her Stuart successors, James I and Charles I, were seen as impecunious and incompetent, unable to manage their three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The traumatic civil wars, regicide and a republican Commonwealth were followed by the floundering rule of Charles II and James II, before William of Orange invaded and a new order was imposed.Devil-Land reveals England as, in many ways, a ‘failed state': endemically unstable and rocked by devastating events from the Gunpowder Plot to the Great Fire of London. Catastrophe nevertheless bred creativity, and Jackson makes brilliant use of eyewitness accounts – many penned by stupefied foreigners – to dramatize her great story. Starting on the eve of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and concluding with a not-so ‘Glorious Revolution' a hundred years later, Devil-Land is a spectacular reinterpretation of England's vexed and enthralling past.To check the book out, visit the link here.For more on the Wolfson History Prize, here is the link. For Clare's website, visit here.

This is a Wolfson History Prize 2022 Special! In this special interview we chat with Professor Frances Stavrakopoulou (@ProfFrancesca) about her new book 'God: An Anatomy'. This was a nominee for the 2022 Wolfson History Prize. The description of the book is here:Three thousand years ago, in the Southwest Asian lands we now call Israel and Palestine, a group of people worshipped a complex pantheon of deities, led by a father god called El. El had seventy children, who were gods in their own right. One of them, a minor storm deity known as Yahweh, had a body, a wife, offspring and colleagues. He fought monsters and mortals, gorged on food and wine, wrote books, and took walks and naps. He would become something far larger and far more abstract: the God of the great monotheistic religions.The Bible has shaped our ideas about God and religion, but also our cultural preferences about human existence and experience; our concept of life and death; our attitude to sex and gender; our habits of eating and drinking; our understanding of history. Examining God's body, from his head to his hands, feet and genitals, Francesca Stavrakopoulou shows how the Western idea of God developed. She explores the places and artefacts that shaped our view of this singular God and the ancient religions and societies of the biblical world. She analyses not only the origins of our oldest religions, but also the origins of Western culture.For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Mr. Barry Cooper's educational career spans 20 years, 3 continents, and 4 prestigious schools in London, Edinburgh, Shanghai and Dubai. Most recently, he shaped the academic curriculum for the newly launched Brighton College Dubai, while also finding time to create and curate a new Arts festival. Previously he championed the IB Diploma programme for History at Wellington College Shanghai, after 8 years on the leadership team at leading Scottish boarding school Loretto just outside Edinburgh. He started his career at Epsom College, as teacher of History and a residential Assistant Housemaster.Barry read History at St Andrews and then took his master's degree at Stirling with a focus on the historiography of The Crusades. He also has the UK National Professional Qualification for Headship.As well as being a keen student of history Barry also has an interest in Japanese Print Art, which he collects (a habit picked up from three years in Asia). 

In this episode, we interview Karina Urbach, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of London about her brand new book. So what happened to the books that were too valuable for the Nazis to burn?Alice Urbach had her own cooking school in Vienna, but in 1938 she was forced to flee to England, like so many others. Her younger son was imprisoned in Dachau, and her older son, having emigrated to the United States, became an intelligence officer in the struggle against the Nazis. Returning to the ruins of Vienna in the late 1940s, she discovers that her bestselling cookbook has been published under someone else's name. Now, eighty years later, the historian Karina Urbach - Alice's granddaughter - sets out to uncover the truth behind the stolen cookbook, and tells the story of a family torn apart by the Nazi regime, of a woman who, with her unwavering passion for cooking, survived the horror and losses of the Holocaust to begin a new life in America.Impeccably researched and incredibly moving, Alice's Book sheds light on an untold chapter in the history of Nazi crimes against Jewish authors.

In this podcast, Conal, Patrick, and Elliott gather around the microphone to discuss the upcoming November midterm elections in the United States and put them in historical context for the listener. Will the party of the president lose seats in Congress and what might this mean for the man in the White House? Is there historical precedent for a president losing control of either the House of Representatives or the Senate (there is) and what effect has this had in the past on the administration of the incumbent president? Listen and find out answers to these questions.

In this episode, we catch up with WW2 author and historian Damien Lewis, discussing his brand new book ‘The Flame of Resistance: American Beauty. French Hero. British Spy'.  In December 2021 Josephine Baker, music hall and movie star, and civil rights activist, entered the French Panthéon – the nation's highest honour. Now Damien Lewis reveals her gripping wartime story.It was during WW2 that Josephine Baker, the world's richest and most glamorous Black female entertainer, became an Allied spy. This is the extraordinary story of her heroic personal resistance to Nazi Germany. Prior to the war, Josephine Baker was a music hall diva renowned for her risque song and dance routines, her movie roles and her beauty; she was one of the most photographed female performers in the world. But when Nazi Germany seized her adopted home, Paris, she was banned from the stage, along with all 'negroes and Jews'.  Yet, instead of returning to America, she vowed to stay and to fight. Overnight she went from performer to Resistance hero and spy.Drawing on a plethora of new and unpublished historical material, first-hand interviews and rigorous research, including previously undisclosed letters and journals and newly-released government files, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker's war, revealing that her mark on history went far beyond the confines of what she is universally known for – her stardom. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode, cricket expert and the Head of History at Felsted School, Rakesh Pathak, returns to the Versus History Podcast. Having been our guest in episode #111, Rakesh is back to discuss a range of cricketing questions and themes, including how historians should view Joe Root's captaincy of the England team, the future of red-ball cricket, the IPL, women's cricket, The Hundred and the streaming of the LV County Championship on Youtube. For more from Rakesh, please check out his excellent cricketing blog 'Red Ball Radical' here. Rakesh has also written a short book about cricket, entitled Nudges, Nicks and Nonconformists, which is here.

Sri Lanka is currently in the midst of an economic and political crisis the likes of which the island nation has not witnessed in the years since gaining independence in 1948. Under pressure from protesting Sri Lankans across the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse recently resigned and went into hiding. His brother the President - Gotabaya Rajapakse  - just appointed career politician Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister who was immediately questioned as to whether he has the moral and political mandate to help run a country that didn't elect him. His response - some would say justification - was to invoke Churchill having experienced the same fate when he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940.The Versus History team discuss the legitimacy of this parallel and whether it has any historical merit. Meanwhile, we at Versus History wish the people of Sri Lanka the very best in the most awful of circumstances.

In this episode, we interview Peter Bradley, who was the Labour MP for The Wrekin between 1997 and 2005, about his book ‘The Last Train - A Family History of the Final Solution'. Peter has written, usually on politics, for a wide range of publications, including The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesman and The New European, but in this interview, he talks at length about his book. It is the profoundly moving and deeply intimate story of one Jewish family's fate in theHolocaust, following the thread from Germany to Latvia and to Britain. It was by accident that Peter as a child discovered that his father, Fred Bradley, was in fact born Fritz Brandes. But it was only after his father's death in 2004 that Peter was able to begin to piece together the family's story and set out on the journey – literally and figuratively – that forms the basis of his book. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this episode, we explore the losing US presidential candidates with Peter Shea. His book, which he co-authored with Tom Maday, entitled In the Arena profiles 34 American leaders who captured their party's nomination for the presidency, but never reached the Oval Office. Author Peter Shea chronicles the rise, early careers, campaigns, and later achievements of historical giants like Aaron Burr and Henry Clay, up through modern candidates Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. A foreword by 1988 candidate Michael Dukakis gives readers more personal insight into what it's like to run for one of the most powerful positions in the world – and come up short. Photos of monuments and other memorials accompany each subject, along with campaign memorabilia, illustrating the legacy many of these candidates left behind after relinquishing their dreams of serving as President of the United States. In a speech that gave the book its name, President Theodore Roosevelt gave ultimate credit “to the man who is actually in the arena…who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” In the Arena honors, in words and pictures, their courage and sacrifices.

In this episode, we talk with Samuel Clowes Huneke an assistant professor of history at George Mason University about his new book, States of Liberation. The book traces the paths of gay men in East and West Germany from the violent aftermath of the Second World War to the thundering nightclubs of present-day Berlin. Following a captivating cast of characters, from gay spies and Nazi scientists to queer politicians and secret police bureaucrats, States of Liberation tells the remarkable story of how the two German states persecuted gay men – and how those men slowly, over the course of decades, won new rights and created new opportunities for themselves in the heart of Cold War Europe. Relying on untapped archives in Germany and the United States as well as oral histories with witnesses and survivors, Huneke reveals that communist East Germany was in many ways far more progressive on queer issues than democratic West Germany.

For this episode of the Versus History Podcast, we are fortunate enough to be joined by Historian Bernd von Kostka, discussing Berlin during the Cold War and the book that he has co-authored, entitled ‘Capital of Spies: Intelligence Agencies in Berlin During the Cold War'. We cover lots of ground during the discussion, including legacies of the Cold War, Berlin's geostrategic position during the conflict and the little-known ‘spy tunnel' and lots more besides. The description of the fascinating book ‘Capital of Spies' is as follows:‘For almost half a century, the hottest front in the Cold War was right across Berlin. From summer 1945 until 1990, the secret services of NATO and the Warsaw Pact fought an ongoing duel in the dark. Throughout the Cold War, espionage was part of everyday life in both East and West Berlin, with German spies playing a crucial part of operations on both sides: Erich Mielke's Stasi and Reinhard Gehlen's Federal Intelligence Service, for example.The construction of the wall in 1961 changed the political situation and the environment for espionage—the invisible front was now concreted and unmistakable. But the fundamentals had not changed: Berlin was and would remain the capital of spies until the fall of the Berlin Wall, a fact which makes it all the more surprising that there are hardly any books about the work of the secret services in Berlin during the Cold War. Journalist Sven Felix Kellerhoff and historian Bernd von Kostka describe the spectacular successes and failures of the various secret services based in the city.'For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In this intriguing episode of the Versus History Podcast, we interviewed historical novelist Nina de Gramont about her truly captivating new book ‘The Christie Affair'. Agatha Christie needs little introduction as a figure of historical significance. The book itself was an Amazon Best Book of February 2022 and has been acclaimed around the world. Amazon Editor Seira Wilson de Gramont's new novel as: ‘Blending fact and fiction, The Christie Affair is a wonderfully clever take on Agatha Christie's mysterious real-life disappearance in 1926. The novel's narrator is Nan O'Dea—Agatha's husband's mistress—and over the course of 11 days, Nan and Agatha become entwined in each other's lives in ways neither expected. The story unfolds as if it were one of Christie's mysteries, rewarding the reader with the thrill of discovery over and over as de Gramont adds one silken thread at a time to her intricate web of love and revenge, agency and betrayal, murder and justice. And in true Agatha Christie fashion, when all is finally revealed and the full picture comes into focus, the result is unexpected, exhilarating, and enormously satisfying.'

This week we were delighted to be joined by DJ Dribbler (@dribbler23), the former tour DJ for Orbital, who has written the acclaimed novel, 'Harry's Kebab House'. Harry`s Kebabs follows five people who are all inter-connected through the 90s rave scene and its peripheral subcultures. A pool hustler, a photographic memory, a beggar by choice and a psychopathic erstwhile seaman are brought together by a former pirate radio mastermind to teach the Maltese a lesson in how to be a Londoner.To follow DJ Dribbler, please click here.To check out the book, please click here.To read a fascinating interview with DJ Dribbler, please click here.