I’ve posted the youtube version of my podcast interview with Howard Blum.
Category: Germany
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.
(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)
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://www.harpercollins.com/products/night-of-the-assassins-howard-blum?variant=32128658898978
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
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3k8zaE6
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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://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
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
