Cold War military history book – “Rough Draft” (Cornell University Press, 2019) – Amy Rutenberg interview

Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

Dr. Amy Rutenberg studies gender history. Her first book is about the US draft during the Cold War, especially during the Vietnam War. We discussed the book.

0:56 – Amy talks about how she got into writing on the US draft of the early 20th century.

2:08 – Amy talks about the focus of the book on why it became socially acceptable for men to avoid the Vietnam War.

4:01 – Amy talks about how the draft was applied to various social classes in the US.

10:26 – Amy talks about what the active duty thought about DoD draft policies.

13:42 – Amy talks about when the draft was in place and when it was used.

14:30 – Amy talks about how the book is broken down. It goes chronologically starting with WWII.

15:32 – Amy talks about the idea of masculinity and the draft and enlistment.

18:35 – Amy talks about protests against the Vietnam War and draft changes.

19:51 – Amy talks about the ideas of nuclear war and the strategic goals of the draft.

22:27 – Amy goes into detail about the Selective Service Boards.

23:40 – Amy explains the interaction between the Selective Service and the draft.

26:20 – Amy talks the use of soldiers in testing nuclear weapons.

27:31 – Amy describes how the services requested draftees.

29:06 – Amy talks about the pros and cons versus being drafted versus enlisting.

31:49 – Amy talks about how she researched the book. She also goes into detail about

draft counseling and conscientious objection.

37:03 – Amy talks about the tension between supporting wars but not volunteering to go.

38:10 – Amy talks about new things she discovered about the draft during WWII and how people approached it.

40:22 – Amy talks about deferments.

43:02 – Amy discusses some of the issues women faced with the draft.

45:00 – Amy goes into details about conscientious objector deferments.

47:20 – Amy discusses who were getting these deferments created and changed.

55:57 – Amy can be found on twitter @amyjay401.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501739583/rough-draft/#bookTabs=1

https://twitter.com/amyjay401

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 | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Amy Rutenberg

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, gender, world war two, WWII, draft, deferment, STEM, McNamara, cold war, vietnam war, project one hundred thousand, infantry, selective service, US Congress, conscription, Carter, Afghanistan, National Archives, draft counseling, Lewis Hershey

Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3dHHiZ6

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Spanish Civil War military history book – “The People’s Army in the Spanish Civil War” (Pen & Sword Books, 2020) – Alex Clifford interview

Check out the book here https://amzn.to/3bxeXn6

Alexander Clifford is a history teacher and has a passion for study of the world wars. He delved into the Spanish Civil War and wrote a book about the Republican Army. We spoke about his new book. Check out the book here https://amzn.to/3bxeXn6

1:09 – Alex discusses how it got into studying and writing on the Spanish Civil War.

3:45 – Alex talks about the levels of hatred and killing during this war.

6:07 – Alex talks about how he breaks the book down. The focus is mainly on military history and the Republican military.

9:02 – Alex talks about the make up of both armies.

19:30 – Alex talks about what the Soviets took from the Republicans and what they gave in return.

23:45 – Alex talks about Soviet goals during the war and how the fighting was going in 1937. He also discusses the French-Soviet alliance.

32:24 – Alex talks about the communist element in the war.

39:38 – Alex talks about urban warfare and where the Republicans did best such as at Madrid.

42:52 – Alex talks about where the International Brigades came from and did.

45:16 – Alex talks about how the Republicans managed the foreign fighters.

47:12 – Alex talks about the make-up of the International Brigades.

51:31 – Alex talks about how black Americans commanded white Americans in this war.

54:13 – Alex talks about the sources for his research starting with the International Brigade literature. He took a more military history angle when looking at them.

1:00:39 – Alex talks about German and Russian documents about the war..

1:03:07 – Alex talks about the honesty of the reports he read.

1:06:14 – Alex talks about Spanish afternoon naps during the war.

1:09:00 – Alex talks about trying to assess the people’s army overall.

1:19:30 – Alex can be found on twitter @historysmost and he has a podcast titled “History’s Most.”

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3bxeXn6

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Peoples-Army-in-the-Spanish-Civil-War-Hardback/p/17104

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1482668168

https://twitter.com/HistorysMost

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 | Stitcher | Spotify

Guest: Alexander Clifford

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, inter-war period, spanish civil war, world war one, WWII, Guernica, Picasso, facsism, communism, democracy, hitler, hemmingway, orwell, stalin, mussolini, ideological conflict, colonial warfare, russian civil war, international brigades, guerilla warfare, for whom the bell tolls, pan’s labyrinth, moroccan, morroco, spanish foreign legion, condor legion, messerschmit, stuka, blitzkreig, militia, WW1, t-26, poland, monarchy, republican, POUM, trotsky, may day, catalan, madrid, barcelona, artillery, felicia brown, clive of india, african-americans, oliver law, berkley, merriman, el campesino, comintern, soviet union, poland, red army, ww1

Check out the book here https://amzn.to/3bxeXn6

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

How did the Dambuster’s Raid wreak unexpected havoc with Sir Max Hastings

Check the book out here: https://amzn.to/3aQGcbV

Sir Max Hastings has written extensively on military history, especially on World War II. He has a storied career as a newspaper writer and editor and now applies his skills to the writing of history. We spoke about his latest book, Operation Chastise (HarperCollins, 2020)

1:08 – Sir Max talks about what prompted his interest in writing about Operation Chastise.

3:13 – Sir Max talks about what public opinion was about the civilian casualties resulting from the operation.

12:06 – Sir Max talks about the idea of military theater with this operation.

14:31 – Sir Max talks about the American in the RAF, Joe McCarthy, who was part of the operation.

18:44 – Sir Max talks about Churchill’s involvement (or non-involvement) with the operation.

21:41 – Sir Max talks about the technical side of the operation and the bombs.

25:22 – Sir Max talks the pilots’ feelings about the operation.

31:19 – Sir Max talks about the losses sustained because of the operation.

33:17 – Sir Max talks about the torpedo netting the Germans used to protect the dams.

36:45 – Sir Max talks about British technology during WWII.

38:16 – Sir Max talks about the research for the book.

41:01 – Sir Max talks about the letters and diaries he used for his research.

44:56 – Sir Max talks about the speed with which the operation was put together but how young the bomber pilots were.

49:02 – Sir Max talks the life of the squadron after the operation.

52:00 – Sir Max talks about what he hopes the book will do for readers.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3aQGcbV

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062953636/operation-chastise/

https://www.maxhastings.com/

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 | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Sir Max Hastings

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, HarperCollins, WWII, Germany, Britain, podcast,

Check the book out here: https://amzn.to/3aQGcbV

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.