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About Miranda Melcher

I completed my PhD in Defense Studies at King's College London, where I researched how to negotiate and implement peace treaties. My book is forthcoming in 2024 from Bloomsbury: Securing Peace in Angola and Mozambique.

I have interviewed over 300 authors for the New Books Network. I tend to interview authors of books that seek to interrogate and subvert preconceptions about elements of history that have either been neglected in scholarship, or through a novel lens.

Miranda Melcher (Ph.D., Defense Studies, Kings College, London) studies post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with deep analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.

Miranda's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Miranda:

Canadian Studies December 9, 2023

The Ends of Research

Indigenous and Settler Science After the War in the Woods

Tom Özden-Schilling

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In The Ends of Research: Indigenous and Settler Science after the War in the Woods (Duke University Press, 2023) by Dr. Tom Özden-Schilling explores the afterlives of several research initiatives …
Caribbean Studies December 8, 2023

An American Icon in Puerto Rico

Barbie, Girlhood, and Colonialism at Play

Emily R. Aguiló-Pérez

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has transcended boundaries and transformed into a global symbol of femininity, capturing the imaginations of girls all around the world. An American Icon in …
Political Science December 8, 2023

Support the Troops

Military Obligation, Gender, and the Making of Political Community

Katharine M. Millar

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In the past, it was assumed that men, as good citizens, would serve in the armed forces in wartime. In the present, however, liberal democratic states increasingly rely on small …
British Studies December 7, 2023

In the Service of Empire

Domestic Service and Mastery in Metropole and Colony

Fae Dussart

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Despite recent research, the 19th-century history of domestic service in empire and its wider implications is underexplored. In the Service of Empire: Domestic Service and Mastery in Metropole and Colony …
General History December 6, 2023

Pockets

An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close

Hannah Carlson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
It’s a subject that stirs up plenty of passion: Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? In her captivating book Pockets: An Intimate History of …
Popular Culture December 5, 2023

Ballroom

A People’s History of Dancing

Hilary French

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In the early twentieth century, American ragtime and the Parisian tango fuelled a dancing craze in Britain. Public ballrooms were built throughout the country, providing a glamorous setting for dancing …
British Studies December 5, 2023

Salt

Scotland's Newest Oldest Industry

Christopher A. Whatley and Joanna Hambly

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Salt is a vital commodity. For many centuries it sustained life for Scots as seasoning for a diet dominated by grains (mainly oats), and for preservation of fish and cheese …
African Studies December 3, 2023

Bottled

How Coca-Cola Became African

Sara Byala

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Travel to virtually any African country and you are likely to find a Coca-Cola, often a cold one at that. Bottled asks how this carbonated drink became ubiquitous across the …
Animal Studies December 2, 2023

Meat, Mercy, Morality

Animals and Humanitarianism in Colonial Bengal, 1850-1920

Samiparna Samanta

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Meat, Mercy, and Morality: Animals and Humanitarianism in Colonial Bengal, 1850-1920 (Oxford University Press, 2023) by Dr. Samiparna Samanta disentangles complex discourses around humanitarianism to understand the nature of British …
Military History December 1, 2023

The Book at War

Libraries and Readers in an Age of Conflict

Andrew Pettegree

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
Chairman Mao was a librarian. Stalin was a published poet. Evelyn Waugh served as a commando - before leaving to write Brideshead Revisited. Since the advent of modern warfare, books …
Media December 1, 2023

The Gutenberg Parenthesis

The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet

Jeff Jarvis

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
The age of print is a grand exception in history. For five centuries it fostered what some call print culture – a worldview shaped by the completeness, permanence, and authority …
American Studies December 1, 2023

Hidden in Plain Sight

Concealing Enslavement in American Visual Culture

Rachel Stephens

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
In the decades leading up to the Civil War, abolitionists crafted a variety of visual messages about the plight of enslaved people, portraying the violence, familial separation, and dehumanisation that …
Science, Technology, and Society December 1, 2023

Transparency

The Material History of an Idea

Daniel Jütte

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
Transparency is a mantra of our day. It is key to the Western understanding of a liberal society. We expect transparency from, for instance, political institutions, corporations, and the media …
World Affairs November 30, 2023

Reluctance in World Politics

Why States Fail to Act Decisively

Sandra Destradi

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
Why do international actors, including powerful states, often fail to develop clear foreign policies and instead adopt indecisive, ‘muddling-through’ approaches? In Reluctance in World Politics: Why States Fail to Act …
Medieval History November 30, 2023

The Power of Protocol

Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600

D. L. d'Avray

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
The Power of Protocol: Diplomatics and the Dynamics of Papal Government, c. 400 – c.1600 (Cambridge University Press, 2023) by Dr. David d’Avray asks: How did the papacy govern European …
French Studies November 30, 2023

Creative Histories of Witchcraft

France, 1790–1940

Poppy Corbett, Anna Kisby Compton, and William G. Pooley

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
How can researchers study magic without destroying its mystery? Drawing on a collaborative project between the playwright Dr. Poppy Corbett, the poet Anna Kisby Compton, and the historian Dr. William …
British Studies November 29, 2023

Shakespeare’s House

A Window onto his Life and Legacy

Richard Schoch

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In the wide realm of Shakespeare worship, the house in Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare was born in 1564 – known colloquially as the 'Birthplace' – remains the chief shrine. It's …
World Affairs November 29, 2023

The Project-State and Its Rivals

A New History of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Charles S. Maier

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
We thought we knew the story of the twentieth century. For many in the West, after the two world conflicts and the long cold war, the verdict was clear: democratic …
General History November 28, 2023

The Pirates’ Code

Laws and Life Aboard Ship

Rebecca Simon

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
In The Pirate's Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship (Reaktion, 2023), Dr. Rebecca Simon presents a rollicking account of pirates’ codes, the strict rules essential for survival at sea. Pirates …
Middle Eastern Studies November 28, 2023

Waiting for the Revolution to End

Syrian Displacement, Time and Subjectivity

Charlotte Al-Khalili

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Listen:
Waiting for the Revolution to End: Syrian Displacement, Time and Subjectivity (UCL Press, 2023) by Dr. Charlotte Al-Khalili explores the Syrian revolution through the experiences of citizens in exile. Based on …
Military History November 27, 2023

The War for England's Shores

S-Boats and the Fight Against British Coastal Convoys

G. H. Bennett

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
The War for England's Shores: S-Boats and the Fight Against British Coastal Convoys (US Naval Institute Press, 2023) by Dr. G. H. Bennett examines the Kriegsmarine's S-Boat offensive along the …
General History November 27, 2023

The Globemakers

The Curious Story of an Ancient Craft

Peter Bellerby

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Peter Bellerby is the founder of Bellerby & Co. Globemakers, the world's only truly bespoke makers of globes. His team of skilled craftspeople make exquisite terrestrial, celestial and planetary globes …
Anthropology November 27, 2023

‘Ritual Litter' Redressed

Ceri Houlbrook

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Ritual deposition is not an activity that many people in the Western world would consider themselves participants of. The enigmatic beliefs and magical thinking that led to the deposition of …
Medieval History November 26, 2023

Radegund

The Trials and Triumphs of a Merovingian Queen

E. T. Dailey

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
A princess born to the Thuringian royal house. A captive in war, forced to marry the Frankish king who killed her family. A queen, who renounced her position, received consecration …