Podcasts about first world war

In our first episode of Season 9, we walk the northern part of the Somme battlefield from Foncquevillers out to the ground before Gommecourt, and examine the attack here by the 46th (North Midland) Division on 1st July 1916. We examine the Court of Enquiry, the roles of the commanders Major-General Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley and Lieutenant General Sir Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and hear the voices of the ordinary soldiers who fought and fell at Gommecourt on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme.Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.Send us a textSupport the show

After endeavouring to wreak their revenge on Serbia, what would be the greatest hammer blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War? With Leviv having fallen apocalyptically to the Russian hordes, what had gone so wrong? How might the war have been brought to an end before Christmas of 1914? And, with the darkness gathering around the Austrian defences, could the great fortress of Przemyśl hold out against the Russian barrage for a second time…? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian advance, on the brutal Eastern front, as the first year of the First World War grinds bloodily on… Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

rWotD Episode 3049: Hermann Baranowski Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Monday, 8 September 2025, is Hermann Baranowski.Hermann Baranowski (11 June 1884 in Schwerin – 5 February 1940 in Aue) was a German politician and military figure. A member of the Nazi Party, he is best known as the commandant of two German concentration camps of the SS Death's Head unit. In April 1900, at the age of fifteen, he volunteered for the navy and fought in the First World War, serving aboard the SMS Moltke. In 1912 he married August Dibbern with whom he had two children, a boy and a girl. In 1930 he was discharged as a lieutenant and then worked first as an office clerk in Kiel and later as a sales representative in Hamburg.Baranowski joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) in 1930. The following year he signed up for the SS (SS #24009). His first appointment was as the leader of the 4th SS Standarte in Hamburg-Altona. In March 1936 Himmler appointed him commandant of the Lichtenburg concentration camp. However, he was soon removed, demoted and sent as a Lagerführer (compound leader) at Dachau concentration camp.However, in 1938 he was promoted to Schutzhaftlagerführer at Dachau concentration camp. He served as the commandant (SS-Oberführer) of Sachsenhausen concentration camp from May 1938 until September 1939. He died at Aue in 1940.He was noted to be especially sadistic. However, Rudolf Höss, commandant at Auschwitz, described Baranowski as: very strict and hard, but of a scrupulous sense of fair play and fanatical sense of duty. As a very old SS leader and National Socialist he became my role model. I constantly saw in him a grander reflection of myself. He also had movements where his good nature, his soft heart revealed themselves, and yet he was hard and uncompromisingly strict in all matters of duty. So he constantly brought home to me how the hard 'must' demanded by the SS had to silence all soft stirrings.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:10 UTC on Monday, 8 September 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Hermann Baranowski on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm long-form Ruth.

FASCISM...FRANCE. Two words/ideas that scholars have spent much time and energy debating in relationship to one another. Chris Millington's A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front (Bloomsbury, 2019) is a work of synthesis that also draws on the author's own research for key examples and evidence to support its narrative and claims. Moving chronologically, the book's chapters take the reader from the impact of the First World War right up to the contemporary period in French politics, culture, and society. A narrative and analysis focused on the French context, the book situates France within a broader European frame. Engaging the complex historiographic battles surrounding French fascism in ways that will be helpful to non-specialists, and especially to student readers, the book condenses decades of previous scholarship while delving into concrete cases and moments that help to illustrate the stakes of this historical and political field. Examining movements like the Croix-de-Feu, Faisceau, Jeunesses Patriotes, Partie Social Français, and the Cagoulards within the broader interwar landscape of right-wing thought and politics, the book goes on to consider the Vichy period and the emergence of the National Front after the Second World War. *Special note: Chris and I ran out of time before I could ask him about what he's been working on since the publication of A History of Fascism in France. Readers may also be interested in his most recent book, France in the Second World War: Collaboration, Resistance, Holocaust, Empire (Bloomsbury, 2020). Roxanne Panchasi is an Associate Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century France and its empire. If you have a recent title to suggest for the podcast, please send her an email (panchasi@sfu.ca). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

fWotD Episode 3047: HMS Queen Mary Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Sunday, 7 September 2025, is HMS Queen Mary.HMS Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before the First World War. The sole member of her class, Queen Mary shared many features with the Lion-class battlecruisers, including her eight 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns. She was completed in 1913 and participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of the Grand Fleet in 1914. Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, the ship never left the North Sea during the war. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, Queen Mary attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. The ship was refitting in early 1915 and missed the Battle of Dogger Bank in January, but participated in the largest fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser Derfflinger during the early part of the battle and her magazines exploded shortly afterwards, sinking her with the loss of more than 98 percent of the ship's complement.Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests in pieces, some of which are upside down, on the floor of the North Sea. Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 as it is the grave of 1,266 officers and ratings.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:30 UTC on Sunday, 7 September 2025.For the full current version of the article, see HMS Queen Mary on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Salli.

In the mud and chaos of the First World War, soldiers knew the trenches held every kind of danger. But sometimes, the worst terrors aren't the ones wearing another army's uniform. In this week's episode of Drew Blood's Dark Tales, we present Jack Finn's chilling story “No Man's Land.” Step into the cratered wastelands of Flanders, where a handful of weary men find themselves cut off, surrounded by shadows that refuse to stay still. As night falls and the fog begins to stir, they'll discover that survival may demand more than grit and gunpowder—it may require facing horrors no human was ever meant to see. To watch the podcast on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/ChillingEntertainmentYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/DrewBlood⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/DrewBlood⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

St Maxim was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1888. At this time all Orthodox Churches had been captured and subjected to the "Unia," by which, though keeping the Orthodox liturgical rites, they were united to the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the Carpatho-Russian people were ignorant of the change and what it meant; others were unhappy with it but, in their subject condition, saw no alternative. Maxim's farmer parents, at great personal sacrifice, obtained an education for him that enabled him to study for the priesthood at the Basilian seminary in Krakow. Here he discerned the un-Orthodox nature of the "Greek Catholic" training there and traveled to Russia, where he became a novice at the Great Lavra of Pochaev and met Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), who encouraged him in his quest for Orthodoxy. (Archbishop Anthony, after the Russian Revolution, became the first Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad). He entered seminary in Russia in 1905 and was ordained to the Priesthood in 1911.Metropolitan Anthony, knowing the hardships and persecutions that awaited any Orthodox priest in Austro-Hungary, offered to find Maxim a parish in Russia. But Maxim was already aware of the hunger for Orthodoxy among many of the Carpatho-Russian people; several people from his village had travelled to America and while there had attended Orthodox Churches and confessed to Orthodox priests. They begged him to return to his country and establish an Orthodox parish there.   When he returned to his native village of Zhdynia, the polish authorities, seeing him in the riassa, beard and uncut hair of an Orthodox priest, mocked him, saying "Look, Saint Nicholas has come to the Carpathians!" But the people of nearby Hrab sent a delegation asking him to set up an Orthodox parish in their village. This he did, setting up a house-church in the residence that the people gave him. Almost immediately, he and his people began to be harassed and persecuted, first at the instigation of "Greek Catholic" priests, then of the government. His rectory/church was closed, and he and several of his parishioners were repeatedly jailed, sometimes on trumped-up charges of sedition. (The Carpatho-Russian people were always suspected of pro-Russian political sympathies by the Austrian and Polish authorities).   Despite these persecutions, through Fr Maxim's labors a wave of desire for Orthodoxy spread through the region, with many Carpatho-Russians openly identifying themselves as Orthodox. The government issued orders to regional mayors to forbid those who had identified themselves as Orthodox to gather and, in 1913, appointed a special commissioner whose task was to force the people to return to Catholicism.   In 1914, war broke out between Russia and Austro-Hungary. Despite lack of any evidence that Fr Maxim had engaged in pro-Russian political activity — he once said "My only politics is the Gospel" — he was arrested and executed on September 6 by the Papal calendar, August 24 by the Church Calendar. He was denied any form of Church burial, and his father buried him with his own hands.   Following the First World War, Orthodoxy became legal in the new Polish Republic, and a monument was placed over Fr Maxim's grave in his home town of Zhdynia. In 1994, the Orthodox Church of Poland officially glorified St Maxim.

In our third and final Bonus Episode that brings Season 8 to a close, we have a live recording from the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, recorded while out leading a battlefield tour a few weeks ago. We reflect on the subjects we have covered on the podcast, on what the Menin Gate means to us, and how the whole subject of the Great War continues to develop. Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.Send us a textSupport the show

While the Western front was raging following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, what was unfolding on the Eastern Front? Why was it an even bloodier and more brutal arena than the West? As Austria took on its great antagonist - the spark of the entire war - Serbia, why were its early campaigns constantly blighted by disaster? What terrible mistake did Russia, with its behemoth of an army, make? How would its dramatic war with Germany unfold? And, would this be the beginning of the end of the Habsburg Empire? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the outbreak of the First World War on the Eastern Front, and its early clashes. _____ Try Adobe Express for free now at https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/spotlight/designwithexpress?sdid=HM85WZZV&mv=display&mv2=ctv or by searching in the app store. Learn more at https://uber.com/onourway Explore the world's most loved stories in their most beautiful form - only at https://www.foliosociety.com. _____ Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The definition of “blowback” is the negative repercussions affecting a country whose government has undertaken a usually clandestine intelligence operation in a foreign country. The situation in Gaza is the embodiment of this concept, and the focal point of the world's attention right now. Is the trigger for World War Three being slowly squeezed by the psychopaths in Washington DC & Tel Aviv? How will the mutual defense agreements of regional powers impact the size and scope of this potential war? The entanglements in the Middle East are strangely reminiscent of the leadup to the First World War, which will not come as much comfort to those paying attention. Financial blowback hits just as hard, maybe even harder. Was COVID not a clandestine intelligence operation? The amount of dollars created during the plandemic was staggering, even by psychopathic central banker standards. The Octopus of Global Control Audiobook: https://amzn.to/3xu0rMm Hypocrazy Audiobook: https://amzn.to/4aogwms Website: www.Macroaggressions.io Activist Post: www.activistpost.com Sponsors: Chemical Free Body: https://www.chemicalfreebody.com Promo Code: MACRO C60 Purple Power: https://c60purplepower.com/ Promo Code: MACRO Wise Wolf Gold & Silver: www.Macroaggressions.gold LegalShield: www.DontGetPushedAround.com EMP Shield: www.EMPShield.com Promo Code: MACROChristian Yordanov's Health Program: www.livelongerformula.com/macro Above Phone: abovephone.com/macro Promo Code: MACRO Van Man: https://vanman.shop/?ref=MACRO Promo Code: MACRO Activist Post: www.ActivistPost.com Natural Blaze: www.NaturalBlaze.com Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/macroaggressionspodcast

What happened at the crucial, bloody, Battle of Ypres in October 1914? How did the battle come about? Why did the Germans and the British fight each other so brutally and for so long to take Ypres? What made the fighting so particularly violent? How were the British able to repel the relentless German onslaught time after time? What was the famous “Kindermord” - “the Massacre of the Innocents” - in the German army, and how true was it? And, what would be the outcome of this almighty clash? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the terrible Battle of Ypres; its significance to the First World War overall, and its consequences for the rise of Hitler in Germany later on…. ______ Try Adobe Express for free now at https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/spotlight/designwithexpress or by searching in the app store. Explore the world's most loved stories in their most beautiful form - only at https://www.foliosociety.com/. Learn more at https://uber.com/onourway ______ Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode we explore how early histories of the First World War were shaped. We're marching into the Official Histories and Britain's “Battle of the Memoirs,” where footnotes became artillery, reputations the high ground, and truth the most contested trench! We examine how controversies and mud slinging that shaped the way we understand the war on the western Front. Join Our Community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://not-so-quiet.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Use our code: Dugout and get one month free as a Captain. Support via Paypal:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq-paypal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! E-Mail: ⁠nsq@battleguide.co.uk⁠ Battle Guide YouTube Channel:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Our WW2 Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://battleguide.co.uk/bsow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: @historian1914 @DanHillHistory @BattleguideVT Credits: - Host: Dr. Spencer Jones & Dan Hill - Production: Linus Klaßen - Editing: Hunter Christensen & Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What extraordinary events saw the French - already on the brink of defeat - take on the formerly formidable German army in a remarkable counter-offensive on the 4th of September, in France, in a clash that would later become known as the Miracle on the Marne? Why was this such a decisive moment in the events of the First World War How did it relate to the famous Schlieffen plan? Did it really see the French charging into battle in Renault taxis? And, why did it become one of the most legendary moments in all of French history? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss one of the most astounding clashes of the First World War: the Battle of the Marne. Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Go to https://www.surfshark.com/TRIH or use code TRIH at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Try Adobe Express for free now at https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/spotlight/designwithexpress or by searching in the app store. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FASCISM...FRANCE. Two words/ideas that scholars have spent much time and energy debating in relationship to one another. Chris Millington's A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front (Bloomsbury, 2019) is a work of synthesis that also draws on the author's own research for key examples and evidence to support its narrative and claims. Moving chronologically, the book's chapters take the reader from the impact of the First World War right up to the contemporary period in French politics, culture, and society. A narrative and analysis focused on the French context, the book situates France within a broader European frame. Engaging the complex historiographic battles surrounding French fascism in ways that will be helpful to non-specialists, and especially to student readers, the book condenses decades of previous scholarship while delving into concrete cases and moments that help to illustrate the stakes of this historical and political field. Examining movements like the Croix-de-Feu, Faisceau, Jeunesses Patriotes, Partie Social Français, and the Cagoulards within the broader interwar landscape of right-wing thought and politics, the book goes on to consider the Vichy period and the emergence of the National Front after the Second World War. *Special note: Chris and I ran out of time before I could ask him about what he's been working on since the publication of A History of Fascism in France. Readers may also be interested in his most recent book, France in the Second World War: Collaboration, Resistance, Holocaust, Empire (Bloomsbury, 2020). Roxanne Panchasi is an Associate Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century France and its empire. If you have a recent title to suggest for the podcast, please send her an email (panchasi@sfu.ca). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

FASCISM...FRANCE. Two words/ideas that scholars have spent much time and energy debating in relationship to one another. Chris Millington's A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front (Bloomsbury, 2019) is a work of synthesis that also draws on the author's own research for key examples and evidence to support its narrative and claims. Moving chronologically, the book's chapters take the reader from the impact of the First World War right up to the contemporary period in French politics, culture, and society. A narrative and analysis focused on the French context, the book situates France within a broader European frame. Engaging the complex historiographic battles surrounding French fascism in ways that will be helpful to non-specialists, and especially to student readers, the book condenses decades of previous scholarship while delving into concrete cases and moments that help to illustrate the stakes of this historical and political field. Examining movements like the Croix-de-Feu, Faisceau, Jeunesses Patriotes, Partie Social Français, and the Cagoulards within the broader interwar landscape of right-wing thought and politics, the book goes on to consider the Vichy period and the emergence of the National Front after the Second World War. *Special note: Chris and I ran out of time before I could ask him about what he's been working on since the publication of A History of Fascism in France. Readers may also be interested in his most recent book, France in the Second World War: Collaboration, Resistance, Holocaust, Empire (Bloomsbury, 2020). Roxanne Panchasi is an Associate Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century France and its empire. If you have a recent title to suggest for the podcast, please send her an email (panchasi@sfu.ca). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

FASCISM...FRANCE. Two words/ideas that scholars have spent much time and energy debating in relationship to one another. Chris Millington's A History of Fascism in France: From the First World War to the National Front (Bloomsbury, 2019) is a work of synthesis that also draws on the author's own research for key examples and evidence to support its narrative and claims. Moving chronologically, the book's chapters take the reader from the impact of the First World War right up to the contemporary period in French politics, culture, and society. A narrative and analysis focused on the French context, the book situates France within a broader European frame. Engaging the complex historiographic battles surrounding French fascism in ways that will be helpful to non-specialists, and especially to student readers, the book condenses decades of previous scholarship while delving into concrete cases and moments that help to illustrate the stakes of this historical and political field. Examining movements like the Croix-de-Feu, Faisceau, Jeunesses Patriotes, Partie Social Français, and the Cagoulards within the broader interwar landscape of right-wing thought and politics, the book goes on to consider the Vichy period and the emergence of the National Front after the Second World War. *Special note: Chris and I ran out of time before I could ask him about what he's been working on since the publication of A History of Fascism in France. Readers may also be interested in his most recent book, France in the Second World War: Collaboration, Resistance, Holocaust, Empire (Bloomsbury, 2020). Roxanne Panchasi is an Associate Professor of History at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada who specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century France and its empire. If you have a recent title to suggest for the podcast, please send her an email (panchasi@sfu.ca). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

In this second Bonus Episode to end Season 8 of the podcast we look at the subject of Great War veterans and in particular Malcolm Vyvyan who served as a Siege Battery officer in the Royal Garrison Artillery on the Somme, Arras and Flanders, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.Send us a textSupport the show

fWotD Episode 3037: Harry Crerar Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 28 August 2025, is Harry Crerar.General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar, (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) was a senior officer of the Canadian Army who became the country's senior field commander in the Second World War as commander of the First Canadian Army in the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–1945, having rapidly risen in rank from brigadier in 1939 to full general in 1944.A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston, Ontario, Crerar was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Non-Permanent Active Militia in 1909, serving with the 4th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, which was based in Hamilton, Ontario. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the artillery. He saw action in the First World War, for which he was mentioned in despatches and made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Electing to remain in the army as a professional soldier after the war, he attended the Staff College, Camberley, from 1923 to 1924, and the Imperial Defence College in 1934. He was appointed Director of Military Operations & Military Intelligence in 1935 and Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada in 1939.During the Second World War he became General Officer Commanding the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, which was then stationed in England, in late 1941. He was promoted to lieutenant-general and assumed command of I Canadian Corps, fighting briefly in the Italian campaign in late 1943 and in early 1944. In March 1944 he returned to the United Kingdom where he assumed command of the First Canadian Army which, despite its designation, contained a significant number of British, Polish and Czech troops, including the British I Corps and the Polish 1st Armoured Division.Under Crerar's command, the First Canadian Army fought in the latter stages of the Battle of Normandy in July−August 1944, participating in Operation Totalize, Operation Tractable and the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, before being tasked with clearing the Channel Coast. Crerar was promoted to full general on 16 November 1944, becoming the first Canadian officer to hold that rank in the field. During Operation Veritable, the battle for the Rhineland in 1945, the First Canadian Army controlled nine British divisions. The Army became more Canadian with Operation Goldflake, the redeployment of the I Canadian Corps from Italy, and played a key role in the liberation of the western Netherlands in April 1945, shortly before the end of World War II in Europe.With the war over, Crerar retired from military service in 1946. Canadian military historian J. L. Granatstein wrote of Crerar that: "No other single officer had such impact on the raising, fighting, and eventual disbanding of the greatest army Canada has ever known. Crerar was unquestionably the most important Canadian soldier of the war."This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:43 UTC on Thursday, 28 August 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Harry Crerar on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Raveena.

What was Britain's first military move following the outbreak of the First World War? Where did the French launch their initial attack on the Germans? Whose army was the biggest and best of all the participants in the war? And, what unfolded at the pivotal Battle of the Ardennes in August 1914, on the frontiers of France, between the Germans and the French, and what would be the consequences of the outcome for the war as a whole? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss, in riveting, unsparing detail, the dramatic early engagements of the First World War, and the bloody Battle of Ardennes. Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com Go to ⁠fuseenergy.com/history⁠ to switch your energy to Fuse and get £20 credit Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com.  For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Secret History of Gold comes out this week. Here for your viewing pleasure is a fim about gold based on the first chapter.“Gold will be slave or master”HoraceIn 2021, a metal detectorist with the eyebrow-raising name of Ole Ginnerup Schytz dug up a hoard of Viking gold in a field in Denmark. The gold was just as it was when it was buried 1,500 years before, if a little dirtier. The same goes for the jewellery unearthed at the Varna Necropolis in Bulgaria in 1972. The beads, bracelets, rings and necklaces are as good as when they were buried 6,700 years ago.In the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, there is a golden tooth bridge — a gold wire used to bind teeth and dental implants — made over 4,000 years ago. It could go in your mouth today.No other substance is as long-lasting as gold — not diamonds, not tungsten carbide, not boron nitride. Gold does not corrode; it does not tarnish or decay; it does not break down over time. This sets it apart from every other substance. Iron rusts, wood rots, silver tarnishes. Gold never changes. Left alone, it stays itself. And it never loses its shine — how about that?Despite its permanence, you can shape this enormously ductile metal into pretty much anything. An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 50 miles long or plate a copper wire 1,000 miles long. It can be beaten into a leaf just one atom thick. Yet there is one thing you cannot do and that is destroy it. Life may be temporary, but gold is permanent. It really is forever.This means that all the gold that has ever been mined, estimated to be 216,000 tonnes, still exists somewhere. Put together it would fit into a cube with 22-metre sides. Visualise a square building seven storeys high — and that would be all the gold ever.With some effort, you can dissolve gold in certain chemical solutions, alloy it with other metals, or even vaporise it. But the gold will always be there. It is theoretically possible to destroy gold through nuclear reactions and other such extreme methods, but in practical terms, gold is indestructible. It is the closest thing we have on earth to immortality.Perhaps that is why almost every ancient culture we know of associated gold with the eternal. The Egyptians believed the flesh of gods was made of gold, and that it gave you safe passage into the afterlife. In Greek myth, the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, which Hercules was sent to retrieve, conferred immortality on whoever ate them. The South Americans saw gold as the link between humanity and the cosmos. They were not far wrong.Gold was present in the dust that formed the solar system. It sits in the earth's crust today, just as it did when our planet was formed some 4.6 billion years ago. That little bit of gold you may be wearing on your finger or around your neck is actually older than the earth itself. In fact, it is older than the solar system. To touch gold is as close as you will ever come to touching eternity.And yet the world's most famous investor is not impressed.‘It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or some place,' said Warren Buffett. ‘Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.'He's right. Gold does nothing. It does not even pay a yield. It just sits there inert. We use other metals to construct things, cut things or conduct things, but gold's industrial uses are minimal. It is a good conductor of electricity, but copper and silver are better and cheaper. It has some use in dentistry, medical applications and nanotechnology. It is finding more and more use in outer space — back whence it came — where it is used to coat spacecraft, astronauts' visors and heat shields. But, in the grand scheme of things, these uses are paltry.Gold's only purpose is to store and display prosperity. It is dense and tangible wealth: pure money.Though you may not realise it, we still use gold as money today. Not so much as a medium to exchange value but store it.In 1970, about 27 per cent of all the gold in the world was in the form of gold coinage and central bank or government reserves. Today, even with the gold standard long since dead, the percentage is about the same.The most powerful nation on earth, the United States, keeps 70 per cent of its foreign exchange holdings in gold. Its great rival, China, is both the world's largest producer and the world's largest importer. It has built up reserves that, as we shall discover, are likely as great as the USA's. If you buying gold or silver coins to protect yourself in these “interesting times” - and I urge you to - as always I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.Ordinary people and institutions the world over use gold to store wealth. Across myriad cultures gold is gifted at landmark life events — births and weddings — because of its intrinsic value.In fact, gold's purchasing power has increased over the millennia, as human beings have grown more productive. The same ounce of gold said by economic historians to have bought King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon 350 loaves of bread could buy you more than 1,000 loaves today. The same gold dinar (roughly 1/7 oz) that, in the time of the Koran in the seventh century, bought you a lamb would buy you three lambs today. Those same four or five aurei (1 oz) which bought you a fine linen tunic in ancient Rome would buy you considerably more clothing today.In 1972, 0.07 ounces of gold would buy you a barrel of oil. Here we are in 2024 and a barrel of oil costs 0.02 ounces of gold — it's significantly cheaper than it was fifty years ago.House prices, too, if you measure them in gold, have stayed constant. It is only when they are measured in fiat currency that they have appreciated so relentlessly (and destructively).In other words, an ounce of gold buys you as much, and sometimes more, food, clothing, energy and shelter as it did ten years ago, a hundred years ago or even thousands of years ago. As gold lasts, so does its purchasing power. You cannot say the same about modern national currencies.Rare and expensive to mine, the supply of gold is constrained. This is in stark contrast to modern money — electronic, debt-based fiat money to give it its full name — the supply of which multiplies every year as governments spend and borrowing balloons.As if by Natural Law, gold supply has increased at the same rate as the global population — roughly 2 per cent per annum. The population of the world has slightly more than doubled since 1850. So has gold supply. The correlation has held for centuries, except for one fifty-year period during the gold rushes of the late nineteenth century, when gold supply per capita increased.Gold has the added attraction of being beautiful. It shines and glistens and sparkles. It captivates and allures. The word ‘gold' derives from the Sanskrit ‘jval', meaning ‘to shine'. That's why we use it as jewellery — to show off our wealth and success, as well as to store it. Indeed, in nomadic prehistory, and still in parts of the world today, carrying your wealth on your person as jewellery was the safest way to keep it.The universe has given us this captivatingly beautiful, dense, inert, malleable, scarce, useless and permanent substance whose only use is to be money. To quote historian Peter Bernstein, ‘nothing is as useless and useful all at the same time'.But after thousands of years of gold being official money, in the early twentieth century there was a seismic shift. Neither the British, German nor French government had enough gold to pay for the First World War. They abandoned gold backing to print the money they needed. In the inter-war years, nations briefly attempted a return to gold standards, but they failed. The two prevailing monetary theories clashed: gold-backed versus state-issued currency. Gold standard advocates, such as Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England, considered gold to be one of the key pillars of a free society along with property rights and habeas corpus. ‘We have gold because we cannot trust governments,' said President Herbert Hoover in 1933. This was a sentiment echoed by one of the founders of the London School of Economics, George Bernard Shaw — to whom I am grateful for demonstrating that it is possible to have a career as both a comedian and a financial writer. ‘You have to choose (as a voter),' he said, ‘between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government… I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.'On the other hand, many, such as economist John Maynard Keynes, advocated the idea of fiat currency to give government greater control over the economy and the ability to manipulate the money supply. Keynes put fixation with gold in the Freudian realms of sex and religion. The gold standard, he famously said after the First World War — and rightly, as it turned out — was ‘already a barbarous relic'. Freud himself related fascination with gold to the erotic fantasies and interests of early childhood.Needless to say, Keynes and fiat money prevailed. By the end of the 1930s, most of Europe had left the gold standard. The US followed, but not completely until 1971, in order to meet the ballooning costs of its welfare system and its war in Vietnam.But compare both gold's universality (everyone everywhere knows gold has value) and its purchasing power to national currencies and you have to wonder why we don't use it officially today. There is a very good reason: power.Sticking to the discipline of the gold standard means governments can't just create money or run deficits to the same extent. Instead, they have to rein in their spending, which they are not prepared to do, especially in the twenty-first century, when they make so many promises to win elections. Balanced books, let alone independent money, have become an impossibility. If you seek an answer as to why the state has grown so large in the West, look no further than our system of money. When one body in a society has the power to create money at no cost to itself, it is inevitable that that body will grow disproportionately large. So it is in the twenty-first century, where state spending in many social democracies is now not far off 50 per cent of GDP, sometimes higher.Many arguments about gold will quickly slide into a political argument about the role of government. It is a deeply political metal. Those who favour gold tend to favour small government, free markets and individual responsibility. I count myself in that camp. Those who dismiss it tend to favour large government and state planning.I have argued many times that money is the blood of a society. It must be healthy. So much starts with money: values, morals, behaviour, ambitions, manners, even family size. Money must be sound and true. At the moment it is neither. Gold, however, is both. ‘Because gold is honest money it is disliked by dishonest men,' said former Republican Congressman Ron Paul. As Dorothy is advised in The Wizard of Oz (which was, as we shall discover, part allegory), maybe the time has come to once again ‘follow the yellow brick road'.On the other hand, maybe the twilight of gold has arrived, as Niall Ferguson argued in his history of debt and money, The Cash Nexus. Gold's future, he said, is ‘mainly as jewellery' or ‘in parts of the world with primitive or unstable monetary and financial systems'. Gold may have been money for 5,000 years, or even 10,000 years, but so was the horse a means of transport, and then along came the motor car.A history of gold is inevitably a history of money, but it is also a history of greed, obsession and ambition. Gold is beautiful. Gold is compelling. It is wealth in its purest, most distilled form. ‘Gold is a child of Zeus,' runs the ancient Greek lyric. ‘Neither moth nor rust devoureth it; but the mind of man is devoured by this supreme possession.' Perhaps that's why Thomas Edison said gold was ‘an invention of Satan'. Wealth, and all the emotions that come with it, can do strange things to people.Gold has led people to do the most brilliant, the most brave, the most inventive, the most innovative and the most terrible things. ‘More men have been knocked off balance by gold than by love,' runs the saying, usually attributed to Benjamin Disraeli. Where gold is concerned, emotion, not logic, prevails. Even in today's markets it is a speculative asset whose price is driven by greed and fear, not by fundamental production numbers.Its gleam has drawn man across oceans, across continents and into the unknown. It lured Jason and the Argonauts, Alexander the Great, numerous Caesars, da Gama, Cortés, Pizarro and Raleigh. Brilliant new civilisations have emerged as a result of the quest for gold, yet so have slavery, war, deceit, death and devastation. Describing the gold mines of ancient Egypt, the historian Diodorus Siculus wrote, ‘there is absolutely no consideration nor relaxation for sick or maimed, for aged man or weak woman. All are forced to labour at their tasks until they die, worn out by misery amid their toil.' His description could apply to many an illegal mine in Africa today.The English critic John Ruskin told a story of a man who boarded a ship with all his money: a bag of gold coins. Several days into the voyage a terrible storm blew up. ‘Abandon ship!' came the cry. The man strapped his bag around his waist and jumped overboard, only to sink to the bottom of the sea. ‘Now,' asked Ruskin, ‘as he was sinking — had he the gold? Or had the gold him?'As the Chinese proverb goes, ‘The miser does not own the gold; the gold owns the miser.'Gold may be a dead metal. Inert, unchanging and lifeless. But its hold over humanity never relents. It has adorned us since before the dawn of civilisation and, as money, underpinned economies ever since. Desire for it has driven mankind forwards, the prime impulse for quest and conquest, for exploration and discovery. From its origins in the hearts of dying stars to its quiet presence today beneath the machinery of modern finance, gold has seen it all. How many secrets does this silent witness keep? This book tells the story of gold. It unveils the schemes, intrigues and forces that have shaped our world in the relentless pursuit of this ancient asset, which, even in this digital age, still wields immense power.That was Chapter One of The Secret History of Gold The Secret History of Gold is available to pre-order at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops. I hear the audiobook, read by me, is excellent. The book comes out on August 28.Hurry! Amazon is currently offering 20% off.Until next time,Dominic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

With special guest: Dr Will Davies… in conversation with Bill Kable The battlefields of World War 1 are now mostly beautiful green fields with some still hiding bullets and ordinance from over 100 years ago. To fully appreciate the sacrifices made in the First World War by young Australians from “the Golden Generation” you have to know what you are looking at when you see these fields more than 100 years after the shots were fired. Our guest today Dr Will Davies can help visitors get the most out of a visit. After hearing the stories from Will, names like Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Fromelles and Ypres will never seem the same. There are extraordinary monuments representing the countries that participated in the war to end all wars. These include the English, the American, the Canadian, even one from Newfoundland. And there is the Australian monument at Villers-Bretonneux. Podcast (mp3)

Today we talk about a little remember battle that could have been a turning point in the First World War - a battle between the German High Seas fleet and the Russian Baltic fleet in the Gulf of Riga.

Exploiting intercepted Russian radio messages, which had not been encrypted, the Germans were able to anticipate the Russians' movements and concentrate their forces effectively. By 30 August,  Russian resistance ...

How can Nato make itself future-ready? What are the biggest threats facing Western democracy? And what black swan event helped change the course of the First World War?To find out, Venetia chats to Dr Gabriele Rizzo, a defence futurist and foresight strategist whose job is to imagine different possibilities and help his clients prepare for them. He has years of experience working with the US Space Force, NATO, the Italian Government, the European Defense Agency, and the United Nations.In 2022, UNESCO elected Dr. Rizzo as a UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies and Foresight, making him the youngest recipient ever. He is also in the process of writing the Handbook of Foresight, Strategy, and Futures Studies for Defense and Security, which looks at how foresight strategies can be used in government and policy.Listen to our mini series on the rise of China's military: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/08/battle-lines-podcast-inside-the-rise-of-chinas-military/https://linktr.ee/BattleLinesContact us with feedback or ideas:battlelines@telegraph.co.uk@venetiarainey@RolandOliphant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the declaration of war in 1914, how did the outbreak of the First World War unfold? What were the earliest military engagements of this terrible, totemic event? Who were its key political players and how did they respond? What was the attitude to the war in Germany? Were the allies unified from this early stage, or were they suspicious and frozen by indecision? And, how did the Germans, with the mightiest army in all the world, make its move on “plucky little” Belgium? Join Dominic and Tom as they launch into one of the most consequential events of all time: the outbreak of the First World War.  Visit store.steampowered.com and search for ‘Total War Rome' to buy now. Go to ⁠fuseenergy.com/history⁠ to switch your energy to Fuse and get £20 credit Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first of three Bonus Episodes of the podcast to end Season 8, we travel to Fricourt on the Somme and examine the journey to unveil a memorial to the 17th (Northern) Division in the church there in July 1938, just over a year before the outbreak of a Second World War. Who made that pilgrimage to Picardy, and what does it tell us about the experience of the Great War? The image used for this episode shows men of the 17th (Northern) Division on the steps of a captured German dugout at Fricourt in July 1916. The image was taken by Ernest Brookes. (IWM Q 814).Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.We now have a shop for Old Front Line Merch: Old Front Line shop.Send us a textSupport the show

Welcome to the fifth series in the annual podcast programme from Academic Archers, bringing you papers from our 2024 conference.This episode shares the three papers from the session The Men of Ambridge, exploring fathers and sons, brothers, and shifting ideas of masculinity in the village.He's his father's son – in word or deed? - Katharine Hoskyn & Deborah Miller“Every father should remember one day his son will follow his example, not his advice,” said Charles F. Kettering. This paper considers how far that holds true in Ambridge. It explores patterns of behaviour across three generations of male Archers and Grundys, focusing on Ben and Josh Archer, Tom Archer, and George Grundy.While much academic work highlights similarities between mothers and daughters, this research asks whether father–son connections in Ambridge are stronger than we might assume.Katharine Hoskyn lives in rural New Zealand and manages research at Auckland University of Technology. Her academic background spans social science, business and sport, with a focus on community issues. A listener since 1968, she is also part of the Archers Cats online community.Deborah Miller is based in the North East of England and works in the health sector, having previously worked in local government. With a background in history, politics and leadership studies, she has listened to The Archers since 1978.‘A man had two sons': A sort of sermon on Luke 15v11 - Jonathan HustlerSibling rivalry is a theme running through myths, scripture, and The Archers alike. From Kenton and David to Rex and Toby, the storylines echo biblical and cultural archetypes that raise questions of fairness and loyalty.Drawing on the Prodigal Son parable and Genesis narratives, this paper reflects on how rivalries in Ambridge invite listeners to take sides while leaving space for unresolved endings, just as the Bible's stories do.Jonathan Hustler is a Methodist Minister who has taught Church History and Practical Theology. He currently serves as Secretary of The Methodist Conference.The Playboy, the Father, the Scholar and the Brute: Ambridge Masculinities in Historical Perspective - Jessica MeyerRecent storylines have brought masculinity in Ambridge under scrutiny, with George Grundy's behaviour framed as toxic and Ben Archer's breakdown raising questions of fragility. But crises of masculinity are not new.This paper situates these characters, alongside Freddie Pargeter and Brad Horrobin, within a longer history of social anxiety about manhood, from post-war Britain to modern cultural debates. Using historical and sociological theory, it argues that Ambridge's young men may be more complex than the labels suggest.Jessica Meyer is Professor of British Social and Cultural History at the University of Leeds. She specialises in the gender history of the First World War and has published extensively on masculinity, history and popular culture. She also co-presents Oh! What a Lovely Podcast.If you enjoy our work and would like to support Academic Archers, you can Buy Us a Coffee - buymeacoffee.com/academicarchers. 

In the final episode of our Air War series we travel across the landscape of the First World War and discover what we can find that connects us to the story of the Royal Flying Corps and RAF in WW1, from memorials to cemeteries and sites of former aerodromes. Along the way we examine the stories of some of the Aces from James McCudden VC to Manfred Von Richthofen - The Red Baron - to Bob Little from Australia and Major Lanoe Hawker VC, before seeing the battlefields where Albert Ball VC's war ended and the fields where Mick Mannock VC crashed in 1918. We end at the Air Services Memorial at Arras which commemorates nearly a thousand British and Commonwealth aviators of the First World War.Mike O'Connor 'Airfields and Airmen' books published by Pen & Sword:Airfields & Airmen: Arras (2004)Airfields & Airmen: Cambrai (2007)Airfields & Airmen: Channel Coast (2007)Airfields & Airmen: Somme (2001)Airfields & Airmen: Ypres (2000)Sign up for the free podcast newsletter here: Old Front Line Bulletin.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.Send us a textSupport the show

Violence against women is out of control. Conviction rates for rape are so low that most survivors think it pointless to report, or later regret doing so. Ruthless trafficking gangs run the sex trade. Women have no confidence in the Metropolitan Police. The year is 1914. As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement's pioneers included a militant suffragette who'd spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. In Controlling Women: The Untold Story of Britain's First Female Police Force (Hurst, 2025) Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling turns. Controlling Women is a vivid snapshot of rapid national change, and a rich tapestry of ethics and emotions among its fascinating characters. Reconciling political ideals with institutional compromise, these bold, complex women made history, despite establishment opposition and destructive infighting. They show us just how far we have to go in the fight for women's justice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Violence against women is out of control. Conviction rates for rape are so low that most survivors think it pointless to report, or later regret doing so. Ruthless trafficking gangs run the sex trade. Women have no confidence in the Metropolitan Police. The year is 1914. As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement's pioneers included a militant suffragette who'd spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. In Controlling Women: The Untold Story of Britain's First Female Police Force (Hurst, 2025) Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling turns. Controlling Women is a vivid snapshot of rapid national change, and a rich tapestry of ethics and emotions among its fascinating characters. Reconciling political ideals with institutional compromise, these bold, complex women made history, despite establishment opposition and destructive infighting. They show us just how far we have to go in the fight for women's justice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Violence against women is out of control. Conviction rates for rape are so low that most survivors think it pointless to report, or later regret doing so. Ruthless trafficking gangs run the sex trade. Women have no confidence in the Metropolitan Police. The year is 1914. As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement's pioneers included a militant suffragette who'd spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. In Controlling Women: The Untold Story of Britain's First Female Police Force (Hurst, 2025) Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling turns. Controlling Women is a vivid snapshot of rapid national change, and a rich tapestry of ethics and emotions among its fascinating characters. Reconciling political ideals with institutional compromise, these bold, complex women made history, despite establishment opposition and destructive infighting. They show us just how far we have to go in the fight for women's justice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Violence against women is out of control. Conviction rates for rape are so low that most survivors think it pointless to report, or later regret doing so. Ruthless trafficking gangs run the sex trade. Women have no confidence in the Metropolitan Police. The year is 1914. As the First World War began, a group of British campaigners founded the Women Police Volunteers, hoping to protect the vulnerable both from crime and from patriarchal policing and justice. The movement's pioneers included a militant suffragette who'd spent time behind bars, a moral purity activist, a blue-blooded radical, and a court reporter born in the workhouse to a single mother. In Controlling Women: The Untold Story of Britain's First Female Police Force (Hurst, 2025) Sandra Hempel follows their astonishing journey, through all of its troubling turns. Controlling Women is a vivid snapshot of rapid national change, and a rich tapestry of ethics and emotions among its fascinating characters. Reconciling political ideals with institutional compromise, these bold, complex women made history, despite establishment opposition and destructive infighting. They show us just how far we have to go in the fight for women's justice. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter would like to know why Britain slept walk in to the First World War and what our country might look like if we'd never stumbled into that national tragedy.Elsewhere, Sarah and Peter pore over our bag of electronic mail and ruminate on everything from the benefits of counselling (Sarah is for it, Peter less so), how to write a novel – not that either have – the power of Billy Wilder's The Apartment and how Peter never actually ran with a motorcycle gang and why he'll never wear a leather jacket again. The world couldn't bear the fall out.On our reading and watch list this week: · Germany's Aims in the First World War – Fritz Fischer· The Guns Of August - Barbara W. Tuchman· Covenant With Death – John Harris· The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Age - Juliet Nicolson· Bodyline – TV Series· Army Of Shadows – Dir: Jean-Pierre MelvillePlease do get in touch, email: alas@mailonline.co.uk, you can leave a comment on Spotify or even send us a voice note on Whatsapp – on 07796 657512, start your message with the word ‘alas'.Presenters: Sarah Vine & Peter HitchensProducer: Philip WildingEditor: Chelsey MooreProduction Manager: Vittoria CecchiniExecutive Producer: Jamie EastA Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special and extended QnA Episode we look at Parachutes in the Air Services in WW1, the Ground Crew who kept the planes in the air, what are the best RFC/RAF memoirs of WW1, how the filming of the Red Baron's funeral was received, and how men applied for transfers to the Air Services and what was the selection process for Pilots and Observers.Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.We now have a shop for Old Front Line Merch: Old Front Line shop.Send us a textSupport the show

When we talk about the Second Front, most of us think of the Allied invasion of Northwest Europe—D-Day, June 1944. But in his new book, Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign, historian Professor Marc Milner offers a different perspective. What if the real second front wasn't in Normandy, but in Washington? Milner argues that while Britain fought alongside the United States on the battlefields of Europe, it was also engaged in a very different kind of struggle across the Atlantic: a political and diplomatic battle to retain its influence over an increasingly dominant America. By the time Allied troops landed in France, the United States had not only become the senior partner in the alliance but had begun reshaping the postwar world, often at the expense of British interests.  But as we'll hear, this wasn't just about wartime politics or military planning. The roots of Anglo-American rivalry ran much deeper, stretching back to the way each nation remembered the First World War. Joining me to discuss all this is Professor Marc Milner.

The shadow of the First World War hung over the world. The victors were exhausted and the vanquished wanted revenge. We discuss the death of European democracies, the global origins of WWII, and America's reluctant journey to war. -Support the Showhttps://buymeacoffee.com/amhistoryremix-Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/road-to-war-In this episode we cover….Introduction [0:00-02:41]World War I [02:41-07:04]US Returns to Isolationism [07:04-09:15]Italy & the Rise of Mussolini [09:15-11:19]The Philosophy of Fascism [11:19-13:30]Germany's Defeat [13:30-15:29]The Nazi Party [15:29-18:00]The Weimar Republic [18:00-19:51]Failed Nazi Coup [19:51-21:49]Manchuria [21:49-26:40]Nazi Breakthrough [26:40-30:25]Ethiopia [30:25-31:55]American Neutrality [31:55-33:10]The Spanish Civil War & Neutrality [33:10-37:04]Japanese in China [37:04-39:45]German Rearmament & the Rhineland [39:45-41:35] Austria & Czechoslovakia [41:35-45:27]Nazi-Soviet Pact [45:27-46:59]American Response to War [46:59-48:24]Germany Takes Europe [48:24-51:39]Jewish Refugees [51:39-55:19]US Aid to Britain [55:19-57:33]Roosevelt & Third Term [57:33-59:54]Battle of Britain & Destroyer Deal [59:54-01:02:52]America Initiates Draft [01:02:52-01:04:19]Lend-Lease & Atlantic Charter [01:04:19-01:06:40]Germany Invades Soviet Union [01:06:40-01:09:30]Conflict in the Pacific [01:09:30-01:12:31]Roosevelt & Japan [01:12:31-01:15:01]Pearl Harbor [01:15:01-01:16:47]Conclusion [01:16:47-01:19:11]-To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):Jane Caplan, ed. Nazi Germany.https://tinyurl.com/Caplan-Nazi-GermanyJustus D. Doenecke and John Edward Wilz, From Isolation to War, 1931-1941.https://tinyurl.com/Doenecke-and-WilzTimothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. https://tinyurl.com/Snyder-BloodlandsDavid M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945. https://tinyurl.com/Kennedy-Freedom-from-FearJohn Merriman, A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present.https://tinyurl.com/Merriman-A-History-Support the showSupport the Show https://buymeacoffee.com/amhistoryremix

From the assassination that sparked the First World War to the covert drone strikes of today, targeted killing has been used to shape history and shift the balance of power for generations. Today in The Bunker, Seth Thévoz is joined by Simon Ball, professor of international history and politics at the University of Leeds and author of Death to Order: A Modern History of Assassination, to explore the long, shadowy history of assassination as a political tool. Buy Death to Order: A Modern History of Assassination through our affiliate bookshop and you'll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org's fees help support independent bookshops too. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.   www.patreon.com/bunkercast  Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social  Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've entered a new era of geopolitics. From globalization and free trade stabilized by American soft power, we're now in a more transactional period characterized by nation states weaponizing their economies with tariffs, a global leadership vacuum and greater competition among the superpowers. So should this affect cross-border investment strategies? And can earlier periods in history teach us lessons about what to expect in future? Yes to both, says Jonathan Boff, who may be the perfect person to turn for guidance. Boff has a CV that straddles the domains of business and history, as a former investment banker who is now a professor of military history at the University of Birmingham. “My instinct is that we need to be aware of over-catastrophizing too soon,” says Boff in conversation with AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson. Boff suggests looking for lessons in the period immediately after the First World War, when the world transitioned from global free trade to another era of tariffs and trade barriers. In addition, Boff and Branson discuss the dangers represented by a weaker, more politically-beholden Federal Reserve, the need for more positive economic strategies; and the ways investors can prepare for highly unpredictable global events. LINKS Jonathan Boff's book, Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=9780199670475&i=stripbooks&linkCode=qs Take the AFIRE H2 2025 investor survey https://www.afire.org/survey/h22025invite/ Register for the AFIRE Annual Member Meeting https://www.afire.org/events/amm25/ Watch the AFIRE POV series of investor interviews https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOrtO-j6M9aS8Hr7DHeg562A8-HQrxi8o Read the latest articles from Summit Journal Issue #18 https://www.afire.org/summit/ Access the episode webpage featuring links to audio-only platforms here: https://www.afire.org/podcast/202512cast/ KEY MOMENTS 00:00 AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson intro 00:53 Meet Jonathan Boff, Professor of Military History, University of Birmingham 01:46 What should investors focus on amid global conflicts? 05:11 How do we connect politics and global economic interests? 15:34 What can we expect from US-implemented tariffs? 20:38 What should investors know about unpredictable international markets? 26:35 How should investors go about trusting the Fed? 32:43 What most get wrong about military conflicts' economic impact

The bombardment of the city's ring of forts by Germany's 'Big Bertha' howitzer caused extensive damage, and one by one, the forts were rendered inoperable. By 16 August, the forts had ...

This episode explores the fascinating story of the German Atlantic expedition of 1925, in which the survey ship Meteor spent two years mapping the seafloor of the Atlantic as well as making other scientific discoveries which fundamentally changed the way that we think about the world. It's a hugely important moment in oceanography and science as well as in the history of Europe - when Germany was trying desperately to recover from the economic disaster it faced in the aftermath of the First World War. German scientists crossed the Atlantic no fewer than fourteen times using the very latest echo-sounding technology to demonstrate that there was a ridge running top to bottom right down the centre of the Atlantic - which confirmed suspicions about how our world was formed via plate tectonics. The episode comes from the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven where a new exhibition on the Meteor expedition has just been launched. The exhibition cleverly places the scientific discoveries in a broad and dynamic context of political and economic strife, looking at the people involved in great detail as well as the scientific breakthroughs that they made. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Isabella Hodgson, curator of the new exhibition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of our special interviews for the War in the Air series, we are joined by historian and broadcaster Josh Levine to discuss the war in the air in WW1, based on his best-selling book On A Wing and A Prayer.Josh's book 'On A Wing and A Prayer' is now published in paperback at Fighter Heroes of WW1 ( Harper Collins 2011)Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.We now have a shop for Old Front Line Merch: Old Front Line shop.Send us a textSupport the show

For our 250th episode of the podcast, and as part of our continuing Air War series, we are joined by aviation historian and author Andy Saunders to look at the life, and death, of Edward 'Mick' Mannock VC DSO & Two Bars, MC & Bar and the search for his potential burial place on the Western Front. Is the grave of an Unknown Aviator at Laventie British Cemetery Mick Mannock's final resting place?Andy's book: Mannock: The Life and Death of Major Edward Mannock VC, DSO, MC, RAF by Frank, Norman and Saunders, Andy. (Grub Street 2008)Got a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.We now have a shop for Old Front Line Merch: Old Front Line shop.Send us a textSupport the show

A letter arrives—calm in tone, almost conversational. But beneath its surface, something unsettles. A favour once done, a house long locked, a memory that won't quite settle. There are impressions that can't be explained, and a sense—quiet, persistent—that something was not as it should have been. The Clock first appeared in W. F. Harvey's 1928 collection The Beast with Five Fingers, published by J. M. Dent & Sons. It has since been reprinted in several major ghost story anthologies. William Fryer Harvey (1885–1937) was a Yorkshire-born writer and Quaker, best known for his concise and unsettling tales of the supernatural. A former naval surgeon, he was awarded the Albert Medal for Lifesaving during the First World War.

Daniel Kraus has never lacked for ambition in his fiction – but Angel Down may be the most audacious horror book of the year. It's the story of broken men and a fallen angel in the trenches of the First World War.   Oh … and it's told in one long 300 page sentence. Cos Daniel can. It's not a gimmick, nor pretentiousness. No, this week, you'll hear how the medium is very much the message. As well as our conversation about angels in horror, capturing the particular nightmare of 1914, and all the practical challenge that come with this single-sentence attempt.     It's an inspiring episode.   Enjoy!   Other books mentioned: Whalefall (2023), by Daniel Kraus Blood Sugar (2019), by Daniel Kraus The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch: Volume One (2015), by Daniel Kraus Ducks, Newburyport (2019), by Lucy Ellman Hurricane Season (2017), by Fernanda Melchor Wolf at the Table (2024), by Adam Rapp The Remembered Soldier (2025), by Anjet Daanje From Under the Truck (2024), by Josh Brolin Support Talking Scared on Patreon   Check out the Talking Scared Merch line – at VoidMerch   Come talk books on Bluesky @talkscaredpod.bsky.social  on Instagram/Threads, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, I am joined by Professor James Crossland to discuss the extraordinary life of Robert Bruce Lockhart — a British diplomat, journalist, author, and secret agent. Though not a household name, Lockhart was a key figure behind the scenes of 20th-century history. His career began before the First World War and took him from revolutionary Russia to wartime Britain, often placing him near the centre of power and influence. During the Second World War, he served as Director-General of the Political Warfare Executive, the organisation responsible for coordinating all British propaganda efforts against the Axis powers. Lockhart's life reads like a spy thriller, full of intrigue, diplomacy, and covert operations. James Crossland, author of Rogue Agent: From Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare – The Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart, sheds light on the man whose influence was far greater than his fame.   patreon.com/ww2podcast  

Who was Nettie Honeyball? Why was the First World War a golden age for female factory teams? And why did the English Football Association move heaven and Earth to stamp them out? Speaking to Spencer Mizen as the women's Euros grips viewers, Jean Williams answers the big questions on the rollercoaster history of women's football - and female players' long battle for recognition. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who was Sir Henry Wilson, and how was he shockingly murdered in 1922? Who ordered it? What was his attitude to the question of Irish Home Rule? Why has death been compared to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose death triggered the First World War? How did he garner the undying enmity of British Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith? What was Wilson's reputation in Ireland then, and how has it endured to this day? And, how did Wilson's unexpected death impact the future of Irish independence?  In this week's episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Ronan McGreevy, to discuss the pivotal assassination of Sir Henry Wilson, whose death launched the tumultuous Irish Civil War. *Hearing the wrong audio for this episode on Apple Podcasts?*  Please “Remove Download” using the 3 dots in the top right corner of your screen, and then “Download Episode” again. Email us at TheRestIsHistory@goalhanger.com for more support.  The Rest Is History Club: Become a member for exclusive bonus content, early access to full series and live show tickets, ad-free listening, our exclusive newsletter, discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, and our members' chatroom on Discord. Just head to therestishistory.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestishistory. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wilfred Owen is considered one of the most important English-language poets of World War I. His work also part of a shift in how many British poets were writing about war. Research: Bonellie, Janet. “A Portrait of Robert Ross.” Canada’s History. 6/12/2019. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/arts-culture-society/a-portrait-of-robert-ross British Broadcasting Corporation. “Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale.” 2007. Cannon, Jean. “Censorship in Surprising Places: Uncovering the Letters of Wilfred Owen.” Not Even Past. Ransom Center. 4/21/2014. https://notevenpast.org/censorship/ Crossman, AM. “THE HYDRA, Captain AJ Brock and the Treatment of Shell-shocked in Edinburgh.” J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2003; 33:119–123. Earlam, R. “Shell-shock: A history of the changing attitude to war neurosis.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 316,7145 (1998): 1683A. doi:10.1136/bmj.316.7145.1683a Hibberd, Dominic. “Wilfred Owen.” Weidenfeld & Nicholson. 2002. Imperial War Museums. “British Field Service Postcard, First World War.” https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205131476 Jones, Edgar. “Shell Shocked.” American Psychological Association. Vol. 43, No. 6. June 2012. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/06/shell-shocked Jones, Nigel. "Anthem for groomed youth: Wilfred Owen's troubling obsession." Spectator, vol. 336, no. 9880, 6 Jan. 2018, p. 12. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A524739265/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=62e62ece. Accessed 11 June 2025. Lee, Stuart. “The Last Days of Wilfred Owen.” Oxford News Blog. 10/23/2018. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/arts-blog/last-days-wilfred-owen Onion, Amanda. “Poet Wilfred Owen killed in action.” History.com. 1/30/2025. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-4/poet-wilfred-owen-killed-in-action Poetry Foundation. “Wilfred Owen.” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wilfred-owen Stallworthy, Jon. "Owen, Wilfred Edward Salter (1893–1918), poet." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. September 01, 2017. Oxford University Press. Date of access 11 Jun. 2025, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37828 Van Mierlo, Wim. “Wilfred Owen 100 years on: poet gave voice to a generation of doomed youth.” The Conversation. 11/4/2018. https://theconversation.com/wilfred-owen-100-years-on-poet-gave-voice-to-a-generation-of-doomed-youth-106014 Webb, Thomas E F. “'Dottyville'--Craiglockhart War Hospital and shell-shock treatment in the First World War.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine vol. 99,7 (2006): 342-6. doi:10.1177/014107680609900716 "Wilfred Owen." Poetry Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 102, Gale, 2010. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CYPYNF967921623/LitRC?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=cb1d6e7f. Accessed 27 May 2025. "Wilfred Owen." World War I Reference Library, edited by Sara Pendergast, et al., vol. 2: Biographies, UXL, 2002, pp. 111-117. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3411700047/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=c3bea6b3. Accessed 27 May 2025. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.