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Warsaw: a city at war, 1939-45
For a mere 21 years, Warsaw thrived as the proud capital of an independent Poland, only to be betrayed when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939. Yet the heart of the city, its people, refused to surrender. This fascinating history illuminates how Warsaw’s centuries-old fight for identity shaped the course of its wartime experience.
Warsaw: a city at war, 1939-45
Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor
Osprey, hbk, 416pp (£30)
ISBN 978-1472873514
Frenchman Flat: the rise and fall of atomic bombs
Jon Else recounts the science, politics, and human experience of those who developed nuclear weapons, suffered the consequences, and fought for and against arms control. The throughline of this vast story is a 37-kiloton atomic bomb dubbed ‘Priscilla’ that exploded above a custom-built mini-civilisation at Frenchman Flat, Nevada, in 1957.
Frenchman Flat: the rise and fall of atomic bombs
Jon Else
Harvard University Press, hbk, 464pp (£24.95)
ISBN 978-0674300354
Collapse: a global history of the Second World War, 1931-1941
Between 1931 and 1949, a series of crises threatened the world order and the very functioning of states, as well as destroying or changing millions of ordinary people’s lives. At the heart of these upheavals was an all encompassing war that was a watershed moment in modern history. Collapse is the first volume of a new global trilogy from Jonathan Fennell.
Collapse: a global history of the Second World War, 1931-1941
Jonathan Fennell
Viking, hbk, 752pp (£30)
ISBN 978-0241753507
Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution
The American Revolution was not only fought on battlefields, but also by pen and in print. Drawing on contemporary accounts, letters, and publications, Goodwin demonstrates how liberty and authority were contested through ideas, images, and rhetoric: 250 years on, the Revolution is shown to have been America’s first great media war.
Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution
George GoodwinYale University Press,
hbk, 416pp (£25)
ISBN 978-0300263251
Dad’s Army: the glorious true story of the home guard
With the threat of invasion from Hitler’s forces looming in 1940, men of all ages and backgrounds assembled under the banner of the Home Guard. Many women took part, too, including in the Women’s Home Defence Force. Sinclair McKay tells the remarkable story of these courageous, highly trained, and often pioneering volunteers who assembled to defend the kingdom.
Dad’s Army: the glorious true story of the home guard
Sinclair McKay
Viking, hbk, 432pp (£22)
ISBN 9780241772324
Castles: a fortified history of the world
Castles explores how humans came to build fortifications and how they expanded to capture our imagination. Dan Jones leads readers on a journey through history, as each castle tells a unique story of power, politics, and survival, revealing the shifting tides of warfare, the rise and fall of empires, the resilience of people under siege, and the flourishing of new ideas.
Castles: a fortified history of the world
Dan Jones
Apollo, hbk, 480pp (£30)
ISBN 978-1035911974
PODCASTS
Not Just the Tudors
In this popular podcast, produced by History Hit, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks about everything from the Aztecs to witches, Velázquez to Shakespeare, Mughal India to the Mayflower. In other words, not just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors. In a new series on the French Revolution, Suzannah is joined by Dr Charles Walton to discuss the slow burning crisis that transformed frustration into revolt in 1789. Other episodes explore how guns changed the world, the rise and fall of James IV of Scotland, the ‘spy-thriller life’ of Henry Wotton (1568-1639), and the Spanish Armada in Ireland, among a wide variety of other topics.
Not Just the Tudors
Suzannah Lipscomb
https://shows.acast.com/not-just-the-tudors
Founding Fathers: an American dream
This new show from the Noiser Podcast Network, hosted by Clarke Peters, tells the tale of the birth of the United States of America. Using the most famous Founding Fathers as his guides, Clarke takes listeners from the stirrings of revolution in Boston, through eight years of brutal conflict, and into the tense, exciting years of the early American republic, when the USA teetered on the brink of civil war. This isn’t just the story of a few prominent men: the series also introduces rousing religious preachers, Native leaders intent on saving their communities, and the thousands of women without whom the American Revolution would never have happened.
Founding Fathers: an American dream
Clarke Peters
www.noiser.com/founding-fathers-an-american-dream
