New Books Network
Military History
General History January 19, 2022

Quagmire in Civil War

Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In Quagmire in Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Dr. Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl provides the first treatment of quagmire in civil war, moving beyond the notion that quagmire is intrinsic to …

Military History

Subscribe:

Interviews with scholars of military history about their new books.

Asian Review of Books January 13, 2022

Kashmir at the Crossroads

Inside a 21st-Century Conflict

Sumantra Bose

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
“Kashmir” carries the burden of being known as one of the world’s biggest flashpoints. If a novel, TV show, or video game wants an easy international crisis, there’s a good …
Military History January 6, 2022

Fighting for Time

Rhodesia's Military and Zimbabwe’s Independence

Charles Melson

Hosted by Boris Karpa
From the 1960s through 1970s there were a series of conflicts in Africa involving Rhodesia, South Africa, and Portugal in conflict with the so-called Frontline States. There was an international …
Grinnell College: Authors and Artists January 3, 2022

Spectacle of Grief

Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era

Sarah J. Purcell

Hosted by Marshall Poe
Spectacle of Grief: Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era (UNC Press, 2022) examines how the public funerals of major figures from the Civil War era shaped public memories …
General History December 27, 2021

The Cause

The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783

Joseph J. Ellis

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
In one of the most “exciting and engaging” (Gordon S. Wood) histories of the American founding in decades, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Joseph J. Ellis offers an epic account of the …
Genocide Studies December 24, 2021

The Crime of Aggression

The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats

Noah Weisbord

Hosted by Jeff Bachman
On July 17, 2018, starting an unjust war became a prosecutable international crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead of collective state responsibility, our leaders are now …
British Studies December 22, 2021

Britain at Bay

The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941

Alan Allport

Hosted by Mark Klobas
Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions …
African Studies December 21, 2021

Apartheid's Black Soldiers

Unnational Wars and Militaries in Southern Africa

Lennart Bolliger

Hosted by Ari Barbalat
New oral histories from Black Namibian and Angolan troops who fought in apartheid South Africa’s security forces reveal their involvement, and its impact on their lives, to be far more …
General History December 16, 2021

The Long Vacation

A Memoir

Alex Panasenko

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
NB: This interview contains material about wartime experiences that may be upsetting to some listeners.  When Alex Panasenko was born in 1933, his native Ukraine was devastated by Stalin’s program …
Middle Eastern Studies January 12, 2022

The Egyptian Labor Corps

Race, Space, and Place in the First World War

Kyle J. Anderson

Hosted by Christopher Rose
During World War I, the British Empire enlisted half a million young men, predominantly from the countryside of Egypt, in the Egyptian Labor Corps (ELC) and put them to work …
Film December 31, 2021

Holocaust Cinema Complete

A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide

Rich Brownstein

Hosted by Joel Tscherne
Holocaust movies have become an important segment of world cinema and the de-facto Holocaust education for many. One quarter of all American-produced Holocaust-related feature films have won or been nominated …
Military History December 23, 2021

Death at the Edges of Empire

Fallen Soldiers, Cultural Memory, and the Making of an American Nation, 1863-1921

Shannon Bontrager

Hosted by Alex Beckstrand
Hundreds of thousands of individuals perished in the epic conflict of the American Civil War. As battles raged and the specter of death and dying hung over the divided nation …
General History December 22, 2021

Governing for Revolution

Statebuilding in Civil War

Megan Stewart

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In Governing for Revolution: Social Transformation in Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2021) Dr. Megan Stewart argues that despite significant risks, some rebels undertake costly governance projects during wartime, to …
Music December 20, 2021

Instruments of Empire

Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music During US Colonization of the Philippines

Mary Talusan

Hosted by Kristen Turner
Instruments of Empire: Filipino Musicians, Black Soldiers, and Military Band Music during US Colonization of the Philippines published in 2021 by the University Press of Mississippi by Mary Talusan focuses on …
Middle Eastern Studies December 20, 2021

Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran-Iraq War

Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh

Hosted by Amir Sayadabdi
Eighteen months after Iran’s Revolution in 1979, hundreds of thousands of the country’s women participated in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) in a variety of capacities. Iran was divided into women …
Asian Review of Books December 16, 2021

War and Resistance in the Philippines 1942-1944

James Kelly Morningstar

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
December 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and the American entry into the Second World War. In fact, this interview was recorded on December 12th: the 80th anniversary …
Law December 14, 2021

The War Lawyers

The United States, Israel, and Juridical Warfare

Craig Jones

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
Over the last 20 years the world's most advanced militaries have invited a small number of military legal professionals into the heart of their targeting operations, spaces which had previously …
Eastern European Studies December 14, 2021

Three Cities After Hitler

Redemptive Reconstruction Across Cold War Borders

Andrew Demshuk

Hosted by Amber Nickell
Three Cities After Hitler: Redemptive Reconstruction Across Cold War Borders (U Pittsburgh Press, 2021) compares how three prewar German cities shared decades of postwar development under three competing post-Nazi regimes …
Political Science December 14, 2021

Divided Armies

Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War

Jason Lyall

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty
Why do some armies fare better than others on the battlefield? In Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War (Princeton UP, 2020), Jason Lyall argues that a state's prewar treatment …
Medicine December 8, 2021

Risk

A User's Guide

Stanley McChrystal and Anna Butrico

Hosted by Colin Miller
Today's guest is former US Army general, Stanley McChrystal. A retired four-star general with 34 years of service, Stanley was the commander of all US and coalition forces in Afghanistan …