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Codebreaking at Bletchley Park – Book tour interview with Jan Slimming

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Jan Slimming codebreaker girls

Codebreaking at Bletchley Park – Book tour interview with Jan Slimming

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

Interview Timeline

Jan Slimming is a publishing professional who was six when she first heard of Bletchley Park, but it was decades later that she was compelled to research and write about this little-known part of her mother’s life. We spoke about the book, her mother’s code-breaking career and her father’s WWII captivity. Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park (Pen and Sword Military, 2021)

0:38 – Jan talks about why she wrote about her mom’s WWII work at Bletchley Park.

5:39 – Jan talks about what the book focuses on.

10:44 – Jan talks about everyone at Bletchley Park being billeted nearby.

12:34 – Jan talks about the training or lack of among the Park personnel.

14:35 – Jan talks about how her parents met.

16:46 – Jan talks about the skills they used for code breaking.

20:49 – Jan talks about her mother’s relatives who also worked in code breaking.

23:24 – Jan talks about what her mom did after the war.

24:51 – Jan talks about her mom not talking about working for the India office.

26:49 – Jan talks about how she broke the book down.

28:31 – Jan talks about her research.

31:26 – Jan talks about touring Bletchley Park.

35:18 – Jan talks about going back to England for her research.

38:25 – Jan talks about wanting to know if her mother was assigned to finding the 18th division.

40:23 – Jan talks about her mother going through a nervous breakdown after the war.

45:45 – Jan talks about other people who had relatives at Bletchley Park reach out to her.

52:39 – Jan goes into detail about touring Bletchley Park.

53:54 – Jan talks about security at Bletchley Park.

57:30 – Jan talks about her mother meeting Ian Fleming and knowing Alan Turing.

1:00:21 – Jan is on Pen and Sword and on Facebook at Jan Slimming Author.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3yrIEkM

https://penandswordbooks.com/codebreaker-girls.html#.YQyka0ApCUk

https://www.facebook.com/Codebreakersdaughter

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 Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Jan Slimming

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Pen and Sword, Espionage, WWII, Britain,

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

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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The history of John Browning and his guns with Nathan Gorenstein

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Nathan Gorenstein the guns of john moses browning

The history of John Browning and his guns with Nathan Gorenstein

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2UUJ2Jy

Interview Timeline

Nathan Gorenstein is a former reporter and editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he covered city and state politics. He is also the author of Tommy Gun Winter, the story of a Boston gang from the 1930s that included an MIT graduate, a minister’s daughter, and two of Gorenstein’s own relatives. He recently published a biography of John Moses Browning. We spoke about Browning and the history of firearms. The Guns of John Moses Browning: The Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World (Scribner, 2021)

0:40 – Nathan talks about why he wrote a book on Browning.

3:00 – Nathan talks about having been a reporter.

4:40 – Nathan talks about the gun industry and Browning.

6:47 – Nathan talks about Browning’s early life and education.

11:58 – Nathan talks about the quantities the Browning’s made their guns in and how they ran their business.

14:37 – Nathan talks about why Browning’s designs stood out.

18:14 – Nathan talks about Browning’s competitors.

21:44 – Nathan talks about the popularity of Browning’s guns.

26:41 – Nathan talks about the wars Browning’s guns were used in.

29:45 – Nathan talks about Browning’s guns being adapted for aircraft.

32:21 – Nathan talks about unusual Browning designs.

36:22 – Nathan talked about Browning’s personal interest in shotgun.

37:45 – Nathan talks about the resources he used.

42:47 – Nathan talks about the things that surprised him.

46:00 – Nathan wonders what Browning might think of modern gun use.

47:40 – Nathan talks about Browning’s wife.

48:52 – Nathan talks about Winchester.

55:39 – Nathan can be found at NathanGorenstein.com

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2UUJ2Jy

https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/Author-Nathan-Gorenstein/Imprint-Scribner/_/N-1z0xemrZ1z13w0e/Ne-pgt

http://www.nathangorenstein.com/

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 Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Nathan Gorenstein

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Scribner, American history, WWII,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2UUJ2Jy

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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The fall of the Western Roman Empire and why the Roman military failed – Interview with Michael Kulikowski

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The Tragedy of Empire Michael Kulikowski

The fall of the Western Roman Empire and why the Roman military failed – Interview with Michael Kulikowski

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2Uh27Fu

Interview Timeline

Michael Kulikowski is the author of Rome’s Gothic Wars, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, and The Triumph of Empire. Michael has appeared on a number of shows and writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal and London Review of Books. He is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Classics at Pennsylvania State University. We spoke about his book on the all of the Western Roman Empire and about the state of the Roman military during and after the fall. The Tragedy of Empire: From Constantine to the Destruction of Roman Italy (Belknap Press, 2019)

0:43 – Michael talks about how he got interested in Roman history.

1:40 – Michael talks about what the collapse of Rome meant.

3:23 – Michael talks about how people protected themselves after the fall.

4:32 – Michael goes into detail about Europe after the fall of Rome.

7:05 – Michael talks about what Roman soldiers did after the fall.

8:17 – Michael talks about the Eastern Roman Empire.

9:17 – Michael talks about how the Eastern Roman Empire maintained itself.

11:33 – Michael talks about the details of Tragedy of Empire.

13:39 – Michael talks about the army’s control of the Roman Emperor.

16:02 – Michael talks about the role of the Emperor.

17:27 – Michael talks about religion in Rome.

19:01 – Michael talks about Christianity and the Roman military and society.

20:51 – Michael talks about conversions to Christianity.

22:00 – Michael talks about why people joined the Roman military.

24:39 – Michael talks about regionalism among Romans.

26:07 – Michael talks about the complexity of the Roman military.

27:40 – Michael compares regular soldiers and officers.

28:42 – Michael talks about retirement allotments for soldiers.

29:21 – Michael talks about how Rome went from a well-run military machine into warlordism.

31:14 – Michael talks about the Gothic revolt.

34:48 – Michael talks about reforms in Rome.

36:25 – Michael talks about his research resources.

39:23 – Michael talks about medieval sources of Roman history.

42:08 – Michael talks about archaeological evidence.

42:37 – Michael talks about new discoveries.

44:24 – Michael talks about the Black Sea area and looting there.

46:04 – Michael talks about counterfeiting historical items.

46:43 – Michael talks about the importance of knowing the landscape a historian is writing about.

48:25 – Michael talks about wanting more information on where Slavs come from.

49:30 – Michael talks about the trauma of the collapse.

51:47 – Michael talks about how prevalent slavery was in the late Roman Empire.

54:08 – Michael’s work can be found on the London Review of Books and on amazon.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2Uh27Fu

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674660137

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 Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Michael Kulikowski

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Belknap Press, Ancient history, Ancient war,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2Uh27Fu

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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