Tag: podcast

Apache Wars history book – “The Black Legend: George Bascom, Cochise, and the Start of the Apache Wars” (TwoDot, 2018) – Doug Hocking interview

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Doug Hocking has lived in the American Southwest for much of his life. He’s written lots of western historical fiction and non-fiction. We discussed his latest book on Cochise and the Apache War of 1861.

0:50 – Doug talks about how he got into studying the Apache Wars. He grew up on the Jicarilla Apache reservation. He got into studying the Bascom and Cochise affair and found many discrepancies in the accepted story.

6:32 – Doug talks about how he starts the story in 1856. He then gets into how the Apache War started.

13:57 – Doug talks about the differences between US Army and Native American tactics.

He talks about terrain and weapons. He also talks about rations and food for each side.

19:00 – Doug talks about why he considers Cochise the best Apache leader in history.

22:32 – Doug talks about the relationships between the area tribes. He also talks about how the Apache Indians learned how to raid for spoils.

25:16 – Doug talks about how various groups in the area were armed.

29:08 – Doug talks about Apache clothing and how it was affected by combat. He also talks about clothing worn by US soldiers.

37:01 – Doug talks about the US Army were supplied in the area.

39:28 – Doug talks about who had to serve out in this area.

44:04 – Doug talks about what the forts were like in the area.

47:37 – Doug talks about the newspapers and other resources he used. He also mentions some Mexican records hat are useful to this research.

54:40 – Doug came to dislike Rueben Bernard.

58:07 – He’s on DougHocking.com and his books are there as well as on Amazon.

Links of interest

http://doughocking.com/

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: Doug Hocking

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, California, Texas, US Civil War, Bascome, Cochise, Apaches, dragoons, Utes, Embudo mountains, Fort Union, Fort Buchanan, Santa fe, General Buell, West Point, Fort Massachusetts, Fort Defiance, Fort Cummings, Army posts, adobe, jachal, Tucson

US Civil War history book – “Meade The Price of Command” (Kent State University Press, 2018) – John Selby interview

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Dr. John Selby is a professor of history at Roanoke College. His concentrations are American 19th century history, the US Civil War, and he Vietnam War as well as American history in general. We discussed his latest book on General Meade.

0:50 – John talks about how he got into writing about the US Civil War. His first study was on the lives of seven Confederate soldiers. He then co-edited a volume on Confederate papers.

4:16 – John talks about the theme of this book.

8:01 – John talks about the Meade memorial in Washington, D.C.

12:34 – John mentions Meade’s work on lighthouses.

22:33 – John talks about the two people who caused Meade the most problems.

23:04 – John talks about general Sickles and his problems with General Meade.

30:38 – John talks more about why Meade doesn’t get credit for the victory at Gettysburg.

36:57 – John talks about the resources he used for his research. It included Meade’s voluminous number of letters.

45:55 – John talks about two questions he grappled with while doing his research.

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: John Selby

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, US Civil War, George Meade, Robert E. Lee, Army of the Northern Virginia, Army of the Potomac, leadership, Union, Confederate

Vietnam War history book – “Vietnam An Epic Tragedy: 1945-1975” (Harper, 2018) – Sir Max Hastings interview

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Sir Max Hastings reported on the Vietnam War early in his prolific career as a journalist. He’s been a BBC correspondent, editor-in-chief of The Daily Telegraph, and editor of The Evening Standard. He’s written numerous books on military matters and has won numerous awards. We spoke about his most recent book on the Vietnam War.

1:01 – Sir Max explains how he got into writing on the Vietnam War. When he first reported on the war he didn’t think he’d end up writing a book on the war.

4:30 – Sir Max wants to make sure that readers understand the atrocities that the North Vietnam was inflicting on people that were hidden from view during the war.

6:39 – Sir Max discusses the problems with South Vietnam leadership.

9:00 – Sir Max talks about how Ho Chi Minh was able to control the situation in Vietnam. He also talks about the mistakes the French made in Vietnam.

12:43 – Sir Max talks about what he chose to tell in this 30 year story. He talks about he drove around the US to interview people who had been in the war, both veterans and Vietnamese.

15:01 – Sir Max talks about interviewing former Air Force navigator and Vietnam POW Norm McDaniel. He also discusses the touching reminisces of a nurse who was in Vietnam.

18:02 – Sir Max talks about the main themes of the book. He believes in the use of force to protect national interest but cultural and social links are needed between the US and the place they are operating in.

20:33 – Sir Max talked to retired Marine General Walt Boomer who provided Sir Max with important thoughts on Vietnam.

22:44 – Sir Max talks about the problems with sustaining public support for the Vietnam War.

24:42 – Sir Max compares British support for the Falklands Islands War to American support for Vietnam.

27:24 – Sir Max talks about the research he did. He used the Marine Corps and the Army historical archives. He also consulted with a retired CIA officer and Vietnamese linguist who has been translating Vietnamese documents, North and South, on the war for decades. Sir Max talks about Vietnamese information he got on a disastrous Marine battle at Di-do. He also came across a North Vietnam novel which was a thinly veiled history of the war from the North Vietnamese side.

31:38 – Sir Max has included material on what was going on in North Vietnam too. All the North Vietnamese thought about was food since they had so many problems with getting it.

33:10 – Sir Max also interviewed Doug Ramsey who was a Vietnam POW for seven years. Despite the ordeal, Doug had a couple of amusing anecdotes about his time.

35:14 – His favorite part of the research was talking to people.

36:48 – Sir Max talks about an interview he did with a former corpsman who often goes to the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, DC.

40:18 – Sir Max mentions having a good interpreter in Hanoi when he did research there.

42:24 – Sir Max mentions a sobering talk with a Holocaust victim.

45:00 – The Chinese and Soviets wanted out of Vietnam almost as much as the US did.

46:53 – Both North and South Vietnam became police states.

49:22 – Sir Max talks about how the media was handled during the war.

50:27 – Sir Max talks about the time he saw a dead soldier’s guts spilling out and how it affected him.

55:23 – Sir Max talks about the Troubles in Ireland which he covered extensively as a journalist. He mentions how US troops had not been taught street fighting even though they ended up having to do it.

1:02:45 – Sir Max had help from a Russian translator who helped with getting information on Russian air defense units in Vietnam.

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: Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, vietnam war, ho chi minh, france, United States, Irleand, the Troubles, POWs