19th and 20th Century warfare history book – “Ethiopian Warriorhood” (Boydell & Brewer, 2018) – Tsehai Berhane interview

Tsehai Berhane has studied and written on Ethiopia and military history for many years.  We discuss her latest book on Ethiopian warriors from the 1800s to 1900s.

0:58 – Tsehai talks about how she got into studying Ethiopian warrior culture.

2:09 – Tsehai talks about what the book covers and Ethiopian history.

3:50 – Tsehai mentions Ethiopian children wargames.

7:41 – Tsehai talks about how information was shared among Ethiopian warriors.

11:29 – Tsehai talks about militia arsenals.

19:10 – Tsehai talks about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

24:18 – Many Ethiopian warriors did not have any idea what mechanized weapons were at the time of the Italian invasion.

31:59 – Tsehai talks about the resources she sued for her research.

34:17 – Tsehai talks about where she found documents for her research.

36:06 – Tsehai talks about why she started the book at 1800.

42:26 – Tsehai found it most difficult to work with militia warriors in rural Ethiopia.

45:00 – Tsehai talks about a sad story during the invasion period involving tanks. Another involves a massacre of Ethiopians.

51:00 – Tsehai talks about how she and other academics were expelled from the country.

54:28 – Tsehai is still looking for information on Ethiopian experiences.

Links of interest

https://boydellandbrewer.com/ethiopian-warriorhood-hb.html

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: Tsehai Berhane

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Africa, Ethiopia, warriors, Italy, invasion, kings, Arabs

Renaissance warfare history book – “Renaissance Mass Murder” (Oxford University Press, 2019) – Stephen Bowd interview

Dr. Stephen Bowd studied and Medieval and Renaissance studies now teaches at the University of Edinburgh.  We talked about his latest book on military mass murders committed during the Italian Wars of the early 16th century.

0:46 – Stephen talks about how he got into writing on massacres during the italian Wars.

2:25 – The book covers the years 1494 to about 1530.

3:18 – The book is broken into sections on mass murder events, what the soldiers thought of murders, what the civilian thought, theories behind mass murder in war, and comparisons to other mass murders.

6:37 – Stephen talks about massacres associated with military activity and those that were between military activities.

9:05 – Stephen talks about the attitudes of soldiers towards civilians.

11:15 – Stephen talks about the nationalities of the various armies involved in these massacres.

13:45 – Stephen talks about the plunder taken in towns during these wars.

15:00 – Stephen talks about the sack of Rome.

16:19 – Stephen talks about the levels of lawlessness in these massacres and seiges.  But there also sometimes plans drawn up for these massacres.

19:30 – Some soldiers feared that peace talks would lead to less plunder for them after the siege or battle ends.

21:47 – Stephen talks about what weapons were used for these massacres.

23:38 – Stephen talks about the numbers of people massacred.

26:30 – Stephen talks about women who trained in arms to defend their towns.

41:00 – Stephen talks about Machiavelli’s views on the murder of civilians.

45:52 – Stephen talks about Protestant-Catholic divisions and these massacres.

48:27 – Stephen discusses how these massacres shape art and the Renaissance.

55:55 – Stephen’s work can be found by googling “Shadow Agents of War.”

 Links of interest

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/renaissance-mass-murder-9780198832614?cc=us&lang=en&
https://www.ed.ac.uk/history-classics-archaeology/about-us/staff-profiles/profile_tab1_academic.php?uun=sbowd

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: Stephen Bowd

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, German landsknechts, italian wars, massacres, soldiers, French, Barbarians, Spanish,

Institute of Historical research, Hugo Grotius, Machiavelli, Rome, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci

Ancient warfare military history book – “Soldier, Priest, and God” (Oxford University Press, 2018) – Fred Naiden interview

Dr. Fred Naiden studies ancient Greek law, religion, and warfare, including Near-Eastern parallels.  He teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and we spoke about his latest book on Alexander the Great.

0:52 – Fred talks about how he became interested in writing on this.

3:15 – Fred talks about how the book is laid out.  It covers Alexander’s military career from start to finish.

6:56 – Fred talks about how the Egyptians and Persians viewed the Greeks and Macedonians. 

11:33 – Fred talks about Alexander’s upbringing. He also touches on Alexander’s relationship with Aristotle.

15:21 – Fred talks about Alexander’s effects on native religions.

19:48 – Fred talks about how Alexander performed religious ceremonies.

22:09 – Fred talks about Alexander in India.

25:05 – Fred talks about Alexander as a man on a mission to learn about different cultures and with an ambitious curiosity.

34:00 – Fred talks about the resources he used for his research.

53:46 – Fred has a page on the University of North Carolina website.

Links of interest

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/soldier-priest-and-god-9780190875343?cc=us&lang=en&

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: Fred Naiden

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Alexander the Great, Egypt, Persia, Islam, Quran, Hebrews, Macedonia, Greece, Muslims, India, Afghanistan