How WWII hung in the balance in the Mediterranean Sea – Interview with Sir Max Hastings

Sir Max Hastings Operation Pedestal

How WWII hung in the balance in the Mediterranean Sea – Interview with Sir Max Hastings

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3p5MJHk

Interview Timeline

Sir Max Hastings is the author of twenty-six books, most about conflict, and between 1986 and 2002 served as editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph, then editor of the Evening Standard. He has won prizes for journalism and his books. He has recently published a history of WWII Operation Pedestal. We spoke about the book and the operation.  Operation Pedestal: The Fleet That Battled to Malta, 1942 (Harper, 2021)

1:22 – Sir Max explains why he wrote about Operation Pedestal.

3:29 – Sir Max talks about Churchill’s thinking about Malta and Operation Pedestal.

6:45 – Sir Max discusses operations in the Mediterranean.

8:26 – Sir Max talks about the first few days of the Operation.

8:55 – Sir Max talks about how he balances the book between the Axis and Allies actions.

12:07 – Sir Max talks about Hitler’s thinking in regards to Malta.

14:55 – Sir Max talks about British successes early in the operation.

15:54 – Sir Max talks about the constant threats the British were facing each day of the operation.

21:40 – Sir Max talks about a dangerous sunset Italian and German air attack.

22:22 – Sir Max talks about how quickly the events in the operation got back to world leaders.

27:59 – Sir Max talks about the difficulties of being a ship captain.

31:46 – Sir Max talks about the civilians participating in the convoy operation.

33:31 – Sir Max talks about the Ohio and the attacks it endured.

37:10 – Sir Max talks about how mad the Royal Navy was at the Royal Air Force.

38:27 – Sir Max talks about how he got some of his information.

42:20 – Sir Max talks about the Arctic convoy.

43:19 – Sir Max talks about the sheer exhaustion of the men who were part of the operation.

46:02 – Sir Max talks about the risks taken in the operation as far as the amount of resources used.

47:47 – Sir Max talks about the emotional aspect of the burials at sea during the operation.

49:59 – Sir Max talks about the civilian burial practices and how the civilian crews acted.

52:33 – Sir Max talks about having visited Malta and their courage during the war.

54:00 – Sir Max talks about the war scars still left at Malta.

55:12 – Sir Max talks about how pivotal the few weeks of Pedestal were.

56:45 – Sir Max talks about the importance of willpower in the war.

59:22 – Sir Max talks about how little known this operation is despite its importance.

1:00:04 – Sir Max talks about his next project being about the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1:01:20 – Sir Max talks about his excitement in studying history,

1:02:35 – Sir Max talks about the importance of the story of Pedestal.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3p5MJHk

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/operation-pedestal-max-hastings?variant=32306180489250

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: Sir Max Hastings

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Harper, WWII, Naval Warfare, United States, Germany, Britain,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3p5MJHk

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How was a successful Marine Corps strategy in Vietnam implemented and then shot down – Interview with Ted Easterling

Ted Easterling war in the villages

How was a successful Marine Corps strategy in Vietnam implemented and then shot down – Interview with Ted Easterling

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3fh5Las

Interview Timeline

Ted Easterling served as a U.S. Marine combat engineer in the Vietnam War. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Akron, where he taught history. He studied and wrote a book about USMC Combat Action Platoons in Vietnam. We spoke about these units and the Vietnam War. War in the Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons in the Vietnam War (University of North Texas Press, 2021)

0:42 – Ted talks about his experiences as a Marine in Vietnam and why he wrote this book.

3:04 – Ted talks about being a combat engineer in Vietnam.

4:37 – ed talks about when he got his PhD.

5:48 – Ted talks about how he broke the parts of the book.

15:27 – Ted talks about the strategy of attrition versus an enclave strategy.

19:13 – Ted describes what the Marine CAPs were like.

20:20 – Ted talks about the size of the villages and the CAPs that were in them.

21:58 – Ted goes into detail about the Popular Forces.

22:42 – Ted discusses the interactions between the CAPs and PFs.

23:59 – Ted discusses the volunteer aspect of the CAPs.

25:44 – Ted talks about the support the CAPs had.

27:05 – Ted talks about the bases for the CAPs.

28:39 – Ted talks about how support for CAPs began to increase.

35:02 – Ted talks about the dangers the CAPs faced.

41:53 – Ted talks about the resources he used for his research.

42:37 – Ted talks about the evolution of the CAPs

50:27 – Ted talks about Lt Col Corson.

54:45 – Ted talks about the three American leaders who fascinated him the most.

58:22- More information about the book can be found at the North Texas Press website.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3fh5Las

https://untpress.unt.edu/catalog/3918

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: Ted N. Easterling

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, University of North Texas Press, Modern War, United States, Vietnam, Vietnam War,

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3fh5Las

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Why the US Army charged into Mexico and found itself in trouble in 1916 – Interview with Jeff Guinn

Why the US Army charged into Mexico and found itself in trouble in 1916 – Interview with Jeff Guinn

Jeff Guinn has written numerous best-selling history books and he is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He recetly wrote a book on the US Army’s punitive expedition against Pancho Villa in 1916. We spoke about the topic and US-Mexican relations over the last two centuries. War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers, and an American Invasion (Simon & Schuster, 2021)

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, videos, Simon and Schuster, American history, American Politics, United States, Germany,

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