Podcast Episodes
Back to Search179. The Weird World of War
Season 1 Episode 179
We asked listeners for the most curious roles their grandparents performed during the Second World War. Al Murray and James Holland explore some of the best answers. Plus, which branch of the forces …
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
178. VJ Day and the Atomic Bomb
Season 1 Episode 178
Seventy five years ago the world celebrated Victory over Japan Day as the war in the Pacific finally ended.
Al Murray and James Holland discuss the big decisions taken at the time, most notably the us…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
177. VJ Day special - The Indian Army
Season 1 Episode 177
By 1945 the British Indian Army was the largest volunteer force in history.
Military historian Rob Lyman argues that Indian soldiers were not given enough credit for their efforts in helping beat the …
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
176. VJ Day special - Robin Rowland: Part 2
Season 1 Episode 176
Robin Rowland was an officer in Slim’s Fourteenth Army, fighting at the Battle of the Admin Box and at the Battle of Kohima. In the second part of his conversation with James Holland he describes the…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
175. VJ Day special - Robin Rowland: Part 1
Season 1 Episode 175
Robin Rowland was an officer in Slim’s Fourteenth Army, fighting at the Battle of the Admin Box and at the Battle of Kohima. Here he is in conversation with James Holland. In this first part of their…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
174. VJ Day special - Fighting in the Far East
Season 1 Episode 174
James and Al are joined by the US historian John C. McManus to discuss the final months of fighting in the Far East. John is one of America’s leading military historians and is currently working on a…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
173. Hitler, Sparta and the Roman Empire
Season 1 Episode 173
How great an influence on Nazi ideology did Spartan society exert? Tom Holland joins his brother James and Al Murray to discuss ancient empires and their parallels with Hitler’s Germany.
Independent C…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
172. Battle of Britain - Part 3
Season 1 Episode 172
In the third episode of our trilogy James Holland and Al Murray discuss the merits of grass airfields and German plans for the invasion of Britain.
Plus the boys make three new recommendations for rea…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
171. Sicily ’43
Season 1 Episode 171
In July 1943 the Allies launched Operation Husky. The subsequent thirty-eight-day Battle for Sicily was one of the most dramatic of the entire Second World War.
James Holland reads an exclusive extrac…
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago
170. The Battle of Britain - Part 2
Season 1 Episode 170
What was the civilian experience as the Battle of Britain raged in the skies? And how realistic was the German aim to gain air supremacy? Al Murray and James Holland explore the summer of 1940 in fur…
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago