Military History

Military History

episodes

Interviews with scholars of military history about their new books.

Andrew Thomas Park, "Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite: The Turbulent History of a Democratic Alternative to War" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

April 7, 2026

Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite

Andrew Thomas Park
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Sarah Wambaugh and the Plebiscite: The Turbulent History of a Democratic Alternative to War (Cambridge UP, 2026) Dr. Andrew Park tells the story of…

Hilary Matfess, "After Liberation: Women and the Politics of Expectations in Rebel-to-Party Transitions" (Stanford UP, 2026)

April 5, 2026

After Liberation

Hilary Matfess
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

War offers opportunities for women to liberate their communities and build a better life for themselves. When women join rebel groups, they often take…

Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, "The Surgeon's Battle: How Medicine Won the Vicksburg Campaign and Changed the Civil War" (UNC Press, 2025)

April 4, 2026

The Surgeon's Battle

Lindsay Rae Smith Privette
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Between May 1 and May 22, 1863, Union soldiers marched nearly 200 miles through the hot, humid countryside to assault and capture the fortified city o…

Isabelle Held, "Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies" (Duke UP, 2026)

April 3, 2026

Atomic Bombshells

Isabelle Held
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Bullet bras, bazookas, bombshells, bikinis. In Atomic Bombshells: How Plastics Shaped Postwar Bodies (Duke UP, 2026), Dr. Isabelle Held challenges the…

Robert Cribb and Sandra Wilson, "Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away" (U Hawaiʻi Press, 2026)

April 1, 2026

Twelve Japanese War Criminals and One Who Got Away

Robert Cribb and Sandra Wilson
Hosted by Patrick Jory

“Japanese war crimes are notorious. During the Second World War, as Japanese forces overran Southeast Asia and the Pacific, they massacred, murdered, …

Thorsten Gromes, "Sustaining Peace After Civil War: Insights from 48 Recent Cases" (Springer, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Sustaining Peace After Civil War

Thorsten Gromes
Hosted by Sidney Michelini

Sustaining Peace After Civil War: Insights from 48 Recent Cases (Springer, 2026) examines one of the most important questions in peace research: What …

Arthur W. Gullachsen, "The Defeat and Attrition of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend: Volume II: Operations Martlet, Epsom, Windsor and Charnwood 11 June-12 July 1944" (Casemate, 2026)

March 31, 2026

The Defeat and Attrition of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend

Arthur W. Gullachsen
Hosted by Boris Karpa

Following the Normandy landings, Rommel rushed Heeresgruppe B reserves towards the coast in order to crush the bridgehead and drive the Allied forces …

Peter Mauch, "Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Most Controversial World War II General" (Harvard UP, 2026)

March 31, 2026

Tojo

Peter Mauch
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The military general who became Emperor Hirohito’s prime minister, Tojo Hideki is most often remembered as an iron-fisted leader who dragged Japan int…

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, "The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 26, 2026

The Battle of Manila

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

On Feb. 6, 1945, just three days after the U.S. army started to fight the Japanese in the city of Manila, General Douglas MacArthur declared that “Man…

Susanne Vees-Gulani, 'Icon Dresden: Baroque City, Air War Symbol, Political Token" (U Michigan Press, 2026)

March 23, 2026

Icon Dresden

Susanne Vees-Gulani
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Icon Dresden: Baroque City, Air War Symbol, Political Token (University of Michigan Press, 2026) by Dr. Susanne Vees-Gulani explores how memory and po…

Sidra Hamidi, "After Fission: Recognition and Contestation in the Atomic Age" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

March 21, 2026

After Fission

Sidra Hamidi
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Nuclear status is typically treated as a stable feature of a state's capacity to possess, use, or build nuclear weapons. Challenging this view, After …

Timothy Manion, "Why Barbarossa Failed: Germany and Russia in the Second World War" (Helion, 2026)

March 20, 2026

Why Barbarossa Failed

Timothy Manion

Why did Operation Barbarossa fail? For more than eight decades, historians have offered one dominant answer: Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Uni…

Our Age of War: A Discussion with Author Robert Pape

March 18, 2026

Our Age of War

Robert Pape
Hosted by Paul Starobin

Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, has been writing about war for decades, including in his book Bombing to Win: Air Pow…

Gudrun Persson, "Russian Military Thought: The Evolution of Strategy Since the Crimean War" (Georgetown UP, 2025)

March 15, 2026

Russian Military Thought

Gudrun Persson

The development of the Russian military's strategic thought is an understudied and thus misunderstood subject in the West. Strategy in Russia encompas…

Foster Chamberlin, "Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War" (Louisiana State UP, 2025)

March 15, 2026

Uncivil Guard

Foster Chamberlin
Hosted by Reuben Silverman

In Uncivil Guard: Policing, Military Culture, and the Coming of the Spanish Civil War (Louisiana State UP, 2025), Foster Chamberlin evaluates the role…

Jeff Knopf et al., "Coercing Syria on Chemical Weapons" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 14, 2026

Coercing Syria on Chemical Weapons

Matthew Moran, Wyn Q. Bowen, and Jeffrey W. Knopf

In 2012, US President Barack Obama stated that the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons on its population would cross a red line that would req…

Understanding Iran Under Attack: A Discussion with Author Vali Nasr

March 12, 2026

Understanding Iran Under Attack

Vali Nasr
Hosted by Paul Starobin

Eleven days into the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel, starting on Feb. 28, 2026, I speak with Vali Nasr, a renowned analyst of Iran. He…

Patrick Chung, "Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2026)

March 6, 2026

Standardizing Empire

Patrick Chung
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism (U Pennsylvania Press, 2026) by Dr. Patrick Chung trac…

Rosella Cappella Zielinski and Paul Poast, "Wheat at War: Allied Economic Cooperation in the Great War" (Oxford UP, 2025)

March 3, 2026

Wheat at War

Rosella Cappella Zielinski and Paul Poast
Hosted by Jobie Turner

The battlefields were not the only places that threatened death during World War I. As conflict raged on and supply lines tightened, the allied powers…

James Giesler, "Francisco de Saavedra's American Revolutionary War, The Spanish Contribution to the Battle of Yorktown" (James Giesler, 2025)

March 1, 2026

Francisco de Saavedra's American Revolutionary War, The Spanish Contribution to the Battle of Yorktown

James Giesler
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Francisco de Saavedra’s American Revolutionary War: The Spanish Contribution to the Battle of Yorktown (James Giesler, 2025) by James Giesler is the s…