Category: interview

American Revolution history book – “Valley Forge” (Simon & Schuster, 2018) – Tom Clavin interview

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Tom Clavin is a prolific history writer who’s been on the New York Times Bestsllers list. We talk about his latest book co-authored with Bob Drury, Valley Forge.

0:41 – Tom talks about how he got into co-authoring a book on Valley Forge during the American Revolution.

3:05 – Tom talks about how the book is laid out and describes each of the three parts.

7:51 – Tom talks about the ways Washington was able to keep his troops at Valley Forge.

10:44 – Tom talks about Lafayette and Von Steuben.

14:14 – Tom talks about Washington’s feelings of fatherliness to the men in his army and to the country.

17:02 – Tom talks about the British plans and the effects of winter on campaigning.

19:58 – Tom talks about Washington’s plans for the time at Valley Forge and after. He also describes Von Steuben and what he did for the army.

24:19 – Tom talks about how Washignton managed an army made up of people from all over the country and also of other nationalities. There were also hundreds of black troops in the army.

29:00 – Tom talks about what they used to research the book.

31:55 – Tom talks about visiting the site of Valley Forge.

34:55 – Tom tells the sad story of John Lawrence, one of Washington’s favorites.

38:15 – The Americans deployed an attack submarine during Valley Forge. As wild as that sounds, Tom explains.

39:40 – Tom talks about the effort to usurp Washington.

43:54 – Tom talks about how camp followers were taken care of.

45:29 – Tom talks about the huge population of people at Valley Forge at the time.

47:04 – Tom talks about Washington’s experience in managing this large number of people.

53:45 – He has a website tomclavin.com

Links of interest

http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Valley-Forge/Bob-Drury/9781501152719

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Tom Clavin

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book. George Washington, Lafayette, Von Steuben, Alexander Hamilton, Howe, British, Continental Army, Continental Congress, Franklin, American Revolution

How Soviet Russia prepared for WWII with Mark Harrison

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The Industrialization of Soviet Russia

How Soviet Russia prepared for WWII with Mark Harrison

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

Interview Timeline

Mark Harrison has been a historian studying the Soviet Union and the Soviet economy for many decades. We talked about his latest project, a book about the Soviet economy just prior to WWII which he co-authored. The Industrialization of Soviet Russia Volume 7 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)

0:51 – Mark talks about how he got into studying Soviet history and its economic history and how it pertains to WWII.

3:07 – Mark talks about how the book breaks down the subject and its place in a book series on Soviet history.

10:45 – Mark talks about how few people in the Soviet system wanted to make final decisions.

13:43 – Mark talks about how much control the central authority had over outlying areas of the Soviet Union.

18:45 – Mark talks about how a good harvest in the Soviet Union at this time hurt Stalin’s plans.

21:07 – Mark talks about how the Politburo decided how many armaments to make.

26:15 – Mark talks about how the Soviets were planning for massive future war. Stalin was also very worried about the fifth column and the “unconscious” enemy.

30:09 – Mark talks about Soviet strategy for future war.

34:05 – Mark talks about allied support to the Soviet Union and what the Soviets had expected.

39:15 – Mark talks about the various archives used for the research.

44:09 – Mark talks about Soviet and German record keeping and differences between Hitler’s and Stalin’s leadership styles.

49:18 – Mark talks about the Lithuanian KGB and archives about it.

53:29 – Mark talks about jet propulsion in the 1930s.

1:09:35 – Mark can be found by googling “Mark Harrison Warwick”. He also has a blog which can be found by googling the previous phrase and adding the word “blog.”

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3eIEmvT

Book’s home page – www.palgrave.com/9781137362377

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Mark Harrison

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Soviet Union, Germany, KGB, purges, agriculture, industrialization, WWII, world war two, Stalin, Hitler, Politburo, strategy

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

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How German Nazis made alliances with Americans before WWII with Bradley Hart

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How German Nazis made alliances with Americans before WWII with Bradley Hart

Check out the book here https://amzn.to/3eOf1S3

Interview Timeline

Bradley Hart is an assistant professor at Cal State, Fresno and his research focus is far right extremism in the United States. We discussed his latest book on American support for Nazis prior to WWII. Hitler’s American Friends (Thomas Dunne Books, 2018)

0:47 – Bradley talks about how he got into studying and writing WWII history. Eugenics started in Britain and the US especially in California.

2:27 – Bradley talks about his book and the research. His book focuses on various groups that supported the German Nazi party.

5:30 – Bradley talks about the various open and secret ways in which Germany tried to influence US politics.

7:07 – Bradley talks about anti-Nazi Germans in the US. However a lot of US college administrators supported Nazi discussions on campus to communist support.

11:40 – Bradley talks about religious figures that supported the Nazis.

14:24 – Bradley talks about Nazi-ism and occultism especially among the SS.

15:58 – Bradley talks about US military support for the Nazis.

16:55 – Bradley talks about politics affects on US support for the Nazis.

17:50 – Bradley talks about how he did his research and the diaries he came across. British agents spied on Nazis in the US and helped stop them.

24:34 – Bradley mentions which American cities had the most Nazi support.

27:15 – Bradley mentions Hollywood films and Germany. He also talks about how the British viewed the US and support for Nazis.

31:15 – Bradley was surprised at the bipartisan hatred for FDR that he found. He also talks about American and British authors who supported and opposed Nazi thought.

36:06 – Bradley talked about using FOIA to get some documents.

41:45 – Bradley mentions a Hollywood ant-Nazi league that included Hollywood celebrities and movie people. But this league was also backed by the communists.

51:38 – He’s on twitter @drbhart and he has a website at bradleywhart.com.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3eOf1S3

http://bradleywhart.com/about-me/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Bradley Hart

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, WWII, World War Two, Hitler, Germany, Nazi, FDR, United States

Check out the book here https://amzn.to/3eOf1S3

 

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