Category: interview

WWII history book – “They Fought Alone” (Penguin Press, 2018) – Charles Glass interview

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Charles Glass is a broadcaster, journalist and writer. Early in his career he worked in the ABC News Beirut bureau with Peter Jennings. He covered the October Arab-Israeli War on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts and the civil war in Lebanon. He was ABC News Chief Middle East correspondent from 1983 to 1993. He’s been a freelance writer since then covering hot spots around the world. He spoke to me about his latest book on two British spies who operated in WWII France.

1:11 – Charles Glass talks about how he got into writing about special operations in WWII Europe. He started by studying Tony Brooks, an agent during WWII.

2:30 – Charles talks about the book and the Starr brothers and how they joined the British Special Operations Executive. A lot of the book is about how they evaded capture while conducting operations.

6:15 – Charles talks about his previous books about WWII.

10:04 – Charles talks about how the brothers maintained security.

11:38 – Charles talks about how French spy networks were created.

17:10 – Charles talks about how the SOE interacted with their agents in France.

19:04 – Charles talks about how the SOE was run.

30:25 – Charles talks about the inefficiencies of the hundreds of resistance groups during the war.

33:00 – De Gaulle was very tough on SOE agents after the war.

43:15 – His website is www.charlesglass.net

Links of interest

www.charlesglass.net

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: Charles Glass

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Britain, France, germany, Nazis, special operations executive, SOE, occupied France, French Resistance, D-Day, Starr brothers, spies

Modern warfare history book – “Tools of War, Tools of State” (SUNY Press, 2018) – Robert Tynes interview

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Robert Tynes is a former journalist and an academic who has studied African politics and the use of child soldiers by various groups. I spoke to him about his new book on the subject.

1:20 – Robert Tynes talks about how he got into the study of child soldiers. He lived in Kenya for a few months and became interested in African politics.

4:21 – Robert talks about what is considered a child and what is considered a soldier for this study.

10:00 – Robert talks about the book and what it discusses.

13:02 – Robert talks about Mao’s ideas of protracted war and how it connects to child soldiers.

14:30 – He mentions the Hitler Youth groups and how that connects to protracted war.

19:40 – Robert talks about how ISIS, Al-Shabab, and Boko Haram use child soldiers.

28:46 – Robert talks about how he collected his data for the research.

39:20 – Robert talks about Libyan training camps for children.

49:00 – We talk about science fiction looks at how children are used in war.

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: Robert Tynes

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Africa, Lords resistance Army, RUF, ISIS, Al-Shabab, Boko Harum, children, Hitler Youth, Mao, tactics

18th and 19th C US Army history book – “The Soldiers of Fort Mackinac” (Michigan State University Press, 2018) – Phil Porter interview

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Phil Porter is director of Mackinac State Historic Parks and has studied the Mackinac area extensively. We talk about his latest book on the soldiers of Fort Mackinac.

1:49 – Phil talks about how he got into Mackinac history 46 years ago. He’s written about US military authority after the American Revolution and he’s written another book on Fort Mackinac history.

5:27 – The book is a collection of images of soldiers who served at Fort Mackinac but also discusses the life of these soldiers and why they were at the Fort.

8:30 – Phil talks about some of the history of the British retaking of the fort in the War of 1812.

11:00 – Phil talks about the importance of the fort in the region.

18:05 – Phil talks about images of soldiers at the fort during the pre-War of 1812 period.

20:00 – We talk about uniform variations among soldiers at the Fort from the rest of the US Army.

23:31 – Phil talks about famed medical Dr. Beaumont who was a pioneer on digestive processes.

29:30 – Phil talks about relations between Native American and he soldiers of the fort over time.

31:07 – Phil talks about Civil War soldiers who had served at Fort Mackinac. One was Confederate officer John Pemberton.

36:00 – Phil talks about a soldier that served in the First Barbary War.

37:30 – Phil talks about three wealthy Confederates who were imprisoned at Fort Mackinac for a few months.

45:55 – Getting permissions to use images was a long and tedious process.

47:20 – They found a photo of soldiers playing baseball at the fort. They still play baseball at the fort at the same field.

54:43 – The parks’ books can be found on Amazon and on their website mackinacparks.com.

55:35 – Phil explains why the spelling is Mackinac but is pronounced Mackinaw.

Links of interest

Mackinac State Historic Parks

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: Phil Porter

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, US Civil War, Mexican-American War, Native American, british, militia, First Barbary War, military prison, Michigan history