Tag: military

WWII military history book – “Night of the Assassins” (Harper, 2020) – Howard Blum interview

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Howard Blum has been a successful reporter for many years and has written numerous books on war subjects. He recently [published] released a book about a German attempt to assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin during WWII. We spoke about the subject and writing the book.

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0:41 – Howard talks about [how he] what inspired him to write about the attempted assassination of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin.

3:18 – Howard talks about 31 year old Mike Reilly was put in charge of protecting FDR shortly after Pearl Harbor.

4:44 – Howard talks about the German planning for the assassination.

7:06 – Howard talks about the situation in Iran at the time of the assassination attempt and why this Allied meeting occurred there.

11:35 – Howard talks about trying to keep the meeting in Tehran a secret.

14:37 – Howard talks about how the Germans paid forged money to a spy.

15:16 – Howard talks about the training and preparation of the a special SS action group and the rescue of Mussolini.

20:26 – Howard talks about who in the German high command planned this operation.

22:23 – Howard talks about FDR sneaking to Tehran.

25:55 – Howard talks about the archives he used. He describes the poor security for Churchill in Tehran.

30:10 – Howard talks about previous assassination attempts against Churchill, Stalin, and FDR.

31:40 – Howard talks about the Russian records he used.

34:08 – Howard talks about how close this impossible mission came to success.

35:38 – Howard talks about why Stalin was willing to meet in Tehran but not other areas.

36:40 – Howard talks about Otto Skorzeny.

38:04 – Howard talks about Mike Reilly’s commitment to protecting FDR.

39:31 – Howard talks about Allied security within Tehran.

40:52 – Howard talks about the information on the heads of the British security team.

44:08 – Howard talks about his approach to developing a new book.

48:04 – Howard talks about his previous works on war subjects.

50:21 – Howard can be found at author Howard Blum on facebook, @howardblum on twitter and on howardblum.com

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3k8zaE6

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/night-of-the-assassins-howard-blum?variant=32128658898978

https://www.howardblum.com/

https://twitter.com/howardblum

https://www.facebook.com/TheAuthorHowardBlum/

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Howard Blum

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, WWII, world war two, Tehran, FDR, Roosevelt, Stalin, embassy, Churchill, commandos, SVR, Mike Reilly, Germany, section six, United Kingdom, D-Day, Nazi, walk-in, Mussolini, gliders, typhoid, USS Iowa, Leslie Howard, tunnels, birthday, Pulitzer prize, Otto Skorzeny

 

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How Poland was torn in half in 1939 – Interview with military history author Roger Moorhouse

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How Poland was torn in half in 1939 – Interview with military history author Roger Moorhouse

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3eXW7Gp

Interview Timeline

Roger Moorhouse has been a historian for the Third Reich, Poland, and WWII for many years and has written many books on the subject. He recently published a book on the German and Soviet invasions of Poland in 1939 and we spoke about the book and this military event. Poland 1939 (Basic Books, 2020)

0:39 – Roger talks about how he got into studying Poland and WWII.

2:14 – Roger talks about the strength of the German military in 1939 and the propaganda narrative.

5:52 – Roger talks about the scope of the book from tactical to a wider scope.

8:00 – Roger talks about the reasons for Germany’s early setbacks.

11:16 – Roger talks about the terrain and weather of Poland in 1939.

13:52 – Roger talks about German General Guderian reminiscing about his ancestral lands in Poland.

15:39 – Roger compares German tactics in Poland versus the French campaign and the massacres of POWs and civilians.

19:13 – Roger talks about ethnic German attacks against Poles.

22:08 – Roger talks about German propaganda and Goebbels.

27:01 – Roger talks about a battle with a German Panzer army.

28:22 – Roger talks about the Soviet invasion of Poland.

32:12 – Roger talks about Soviet propaganda about its invasion of Poland.

34:06 – Roger discusses Soviet atrocities against upper class and middle class Poles.

36:13 – Roger talks about the Polish death toll in WWII.

37:43 – Roger talks about what materials he used to do his research.

40:20 – Roger talks about the lack of access to Soviet materials.

41:54 – Roger talks about having visited some of the battlefields he wrote about.

48:05 – Roger addresses the concentration camps in Poland.

51:39 – Roger talks about the German and Russian use of elite troops to commit atrocities.

57:30 – Roger can be found at www.rogermoorhouse.com and on twitter @roger_moorhouse

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3eXW7Gp

https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/roger-moorhouse/poland-1939/9780465095414/

https://www.rogermoorhouse.com/

https://twitter.com/Roger_Moorhouse

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Roger Moorhouse

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Poland, WWII, Germany, 1939, September campaign, USSR, Great Britain, propaganda, espionage, air power, fortified, blitzkreig, Prussia, Guderian, Austria, liebensraum, France, massacres, Nazi, Goebbels, cavalry, tanks, class war, nationalists, Karte archives, concentration camps, NKVD, SS, Wehrmacht, Ukraine

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3eXW7Gp

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Patricia Norland interview – Vietnam War and Indochina War military history book – “Saigon Sisters” (Cornell University Press, 2020)

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Patricia worked for many years in the US Foreign Service. Before this time, she was with a non-profit organization and met nine women who fought against the French and the Americans in the Vietnam War. Patricia kept in touch with these women and after retiring from the foreign service she wrote a book about these women’s wartime experiences. We spoke about the book, Saigon Sisters, these women, and the Indochina and Vietnam Wars.

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Editor’s note: Patricia Norland sent an email clarifying a statement she made during the Interview: “Separately, I should clarify my statement about “managing” the Fulbright program while serving in HCMC; my job was to manage exchange programs, but Fulbright, wisely, establishes a Commission in each country (with ED) that — while coordinating with others– runs the program.”

0:42 – Patricia talks about why she wrote this book and how she met the women she wrote about.

5:09 – We talk about how these nine women gave up privileged lives to fight the French and Americans in the Indochina Wars.

7:04 – Patricia talks about how she breaks the book into two parts- the lives they had before war to 1950 and then 1954, the war years to post 1975.

13:07 – Patricia reads an excerpt from the book discussing the patriotic zeal of the women the book is about.

15:13 – Patricia talks about the conservative nationalism that motivated the Vietnamese Communist revolution.

16:59 – Patricia shares some of the revolutionary poems that these fighters wrote.

19:51 – Patricia talks about how these teenagers were recruited into the revolution.

23:39 – Patricia reads a passage regarding the Japanese occupation of Vietnam and their misuse of rice by troops.

25:59 – Patricia talks about where these women ended up once they joined up with the revolution.

30:42 – Patricia reads a passage from the first woman in the group who joined the Vietnamese Maquis.

33:14 – Patricia talks about the research she did for the book and the interviews she did.

38:19 – Patricia talks about the personal items from the war that these women showed her.

41:41 – Patricia talks about how these women could have had much easier lives if they had turned away from the war. She also addresses how there is disappointment about what happened after 1975.

44:06 – Patricia talks more about the disillusionment of their struggle.

46:21 – Patricia talks about the American presence in Vietnam.

49:53 – Patricia talks about how these women continued fighting against the Americans once they replaced the French.

51:20 – Patricia talks about gender inequality within the revolutionary ranks.

52:28 – Patricia talks about some moving moments in their story.

1:04:05 – Information on the book can be found on the Cornell University Press website.

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/392NdWN

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501749735/the-saigon-sisters/

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/vietnamese-women-privilege-and-persistence/

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Patricia Norland

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Cornell University Press, Vietnam War, church world service, Saigon, French colonial, black pajamas, French, Saigon, double lives, resistance, maquis, National day of the student, US Navy, International Workers day, Communism, French Lycee, Japan, WWII, Viet Cong, French Army, United States, US Embassy, double agent, Afghanistan, NIU, Ken Burns

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/392NdWN

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.