New Books Network
Military History
History April 15, 2021

The Siege of Shkodra

Albania's Courageous Stand Against Ottoman Conquest, 1478

David Hosaflook (trans.)

Hosted by Krzysztof Odyniec
Mehmet the Conqueror shook Europe to its foundations when he captured Constantinople in 1453 and, over the next decades, the Ottoman sultan continued his westward advance through the Balkans and …

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History April 14, 2021

Britain and Italy in the Era of the First World War

Defending and Forging Empires

Stefano Marcuzzi

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
This is a reassessment of British and Italian grand strategies during the First World War. Dr. Stefano Marcuzzi, Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, tries to shed new …
Military History April 9, 2021

The Last Platoon

A Novel of the Afghanistan War

Bing West

Hosted by Jeffrey Bristol
The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War (Bombardier Books, 2020) is a riveting book of infantry ground combat. As a work of fiction it is superb, showing the …
Military History March 31, 2021

War of Shadows

Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East

Gershom Gorenberg

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
As World War II raged in North Africa, General Erwin Rommel was guided by an uncanny sense of his enemies' plans and weaknesses. In the summer of 1942, he led …
History March 24, 2021

Roosevelt's and Churchill's Atlantic Charter

A Risky Meeting at Sea that Saved Democracy

Michael Kluger and Richard Evans

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Winston Churchill was no stranger to storms. They had engulfed him in various ways throughout his long career and he had always turned to face them with jutting jaw and …
East Asian Studies March 24, 2021

Prisoners of the Empire

Inside Japanese POW Camps

Sarah Kovner

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Sarah Kovner’s Prisoners of the Empire: Inside Japanese POW Camps (Harvard UP, 2020) is a nuanced look at the experiences, narratives―and the popular/historical memories of those experiences and narratives―of World …
History March 23, 2021

New York's War of 1812

Politics, Society, and Combat

Richard V. Barbuto

Hosted by Mark Klobas
From its use as a staging ground for invasions of Canada to the blockading of its ports, New York found itself at the forefront of America’s war with Great Britain …
Middle Eastern Studies March 23, 2021

How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs

The Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of Its Historic Liberal-Islamic Alliance

Elizabeth F. Thompson

Hosted by Zalman Newfield
When Europe’s Great War engulfed the Ottoman Empire, Arab nationalists rose in revolt against their Turkish rulers and allied with the British on the promise of an independent Arab state …
Medicine March 23, 2021

Medicine Is War

The Martial Metaphor in Victorian Literature and Culture

Lorenzo Servitje

Hosted by Claire Clark
Medicine is most often understood through the metaphor of war. We encounter phrases such as “the war against the coronavirus,” “the front lines of the Ebola crisis,” “a new weapon …
History March 10, 2021

You Don't Belong Here

How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War

Elizabeth Becker

Hosted by Michael Vann
Who were your heroes during your formative years? As a child of the 1970s, many of mine were journalists, especially those reporting on war and revolution in Southeast Asia and …
National Security March 3, 2021

A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy

James R. Holmes

Hosted by Jeffrey Bristol
A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy (US Naval Institute Press, 2019), is a readable introduction to the world of maritime strategy. While Prof Holmes bases his narrative on the writings …
Military History March 3, 2021

Forging the Trident

Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy

John B. Hattendorf and William P. Leeman

Hosted by Scott Lipkowitz
Theodore Roosevelt was a titan of American politics, society, and culture. Rarely soft spoken, always eager to brandish a big stick, and animated by an inexhaustible energy, Roosevelt used his …
Central Asian Studies March 2, 2021

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia

A Study in Imperial Expansion, 1814–1914

Alexander Morrison

Hosted by Nicholas Seay
Alexander Morrison’s study of the conquest of Central Asia offers new perspectives on a topic long obscured by misleading grand narratives. Based on years of research in several countries, The Russian …
Military History March 2, 2021

Robert E. Lee and Me

A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause

Ty Seidule

Hosted by Bob Wintermute
Almost right after the guns fell silent, a counter-factual and ultimately pernicious narrative of the Civil War took shape that proved to be one of the longest lasting and most …
Christian Studies March 2, 2021

Duty and Destiny

The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill

Gary Scott Smith

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
Though Churchill harbored intellectual doubts about Christianity throughout his life, he nevertheless valued it greatly and drew on its resources, especially in the crucible of war. In Duty and Destiny …
German Studies February 23, 2021

Diagnosing Dissent

Hysterics, Deserters, and Conscientious Objectors in Germany During World War One

Rebecca Ayako Bennette

Hosted by Michael O'Sullivan
Although physicians during World War I, and scholars since, have addressed the idea of disorders such as shell shock as inchoate flights into sickness by men unwilling to cope with …
Russian and Eurasian Studies February 22, 2021

The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917

Roger R. Reese

Hosted by Aaron Weinacht
Roger Reese’s recent book, The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917 (University of Kansas, 2019), takes a deep dive into the internal workings of the Russian army …
Chinese Studies February 19, 2021

Forgotten Ally

China's World War II, 1937–1945

Rana Mitter

Hosted by Keith Krueger
If we wish to understand the role of China in today’s global society, we would do well to remind ourselves of the tragic, titanic struggle which that country waged in …
East Asian Studies February 17, 2021

Comfort Women Activism

Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State

Eika Tai

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Eika Tai’s Comfort Women Activism: Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State (Hong Kong University Press, 2020) tackles the complex histories of Japanese “military sexual violence” and the activism by women …
History February 11, 2021

Inca Apocalypse

The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World

R. Alan Covey

Hosted by Mark Klobas
The arrival in 1532 of a small group of Spanish conquistadores at the Andean town of Cajamarca launched one of the most dramatic – and often misunderstood – events in …