Military history audio

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  William Wallace’s rising and execution, and Edward I’s conquest of Scotland

  The period of crisis in Scotland following the death of Alexander III, and leading to the eventual conquest by Edward I, still excites controversy and discussion, not least about the role of William Wallace. During work on an AHRC-funded project ...

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  The Journey’s End Battalion: The 9th East Surrey and R C Sherriff in the Great War

  ‘Journey’s End’ is a well-known play about the Great War. The author, R C Sherriff, saw all his front line service with 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment. The podcast explores in particular Sherriff’s experiences with the battalion and his reactions ...

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  The post-Restoration army: 1660-1714

  We follow the history of the army from its inception as a standing force after the overthrow of the English republic and the restoration of the House of Stuart, through its increasing professionalisation during the War of the Spanish Succession ...

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  Stalingrad and Berlin: researching the reality of war

  Antony Beevor is an author whose books include ‘Stalingrad’ (Samuel Johnson, Wolfson and Hawthornden Prizes); ‘Berlin The Downfall’; ‘The Battle for Spain’ (Premio La Vanguardia); ‘D-Day – The Battle for Normandy’ (RUSI Westminster Medal and Prix Henry Malherbe), and most ...

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  An Embarrassing Question: Opium, Britain and China 1856-1860

  The war between Britain and China from 1856 to 1860 became widely known as the Second Opium War, but what part did opium play in the conflict? Using a variety of records in The National Archives, online resources and published ...

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  The Final Whistle: the Great War in 15 players – a London rugby club at war 1914-1918

  A missing war memorial first inspired a quest to discover club members who fell in the Great War. 85 names have now been identified. Some remarkable stories paint a miniature portrait of the whole war – every service, arm, theatre ...

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  Tracing battalions or regiments of the British Army during the Great War

  This podcast gives you an introduction to the various records at The National Archives that can be used to trace the experiences of individual battalions or regiments during The Great War. These include unit war diaries, trench maps, Prisoner of ...

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  Hunting for Spies in The National Archives

  In our first Writer of the Month talk, Times journalist Ben Macintyre talks about his latest book Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies (Bloomsbury, 2012) and how he turned his research into a published work. Ben Macintyre ...

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  A Brilliant Little Operation: The full story of how the Cockleshell Heroes mounted the greatest raid of WW2

  This podcast is delivered by Lord Ashdown, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and UN High Commissioner for Bosnia, and author of ‘A Brilliant Little Operation: The full story of how the Cockleshell Heroes mounted the greatest raid of ...

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  Geography, art and the sinking of the Mary Rose

  King Henry VIII watched as the Mary Rose, pride of his Navy, suddenly capsized and sank whilst engaging a French invasion fleet off Portsmouth. This talk brings together Tudor art, geography, history and archaeology to better understand a few desperate ...

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  Adlestrop: railways, poetry and the myths of 1914

  Adlestrop by Edward Thomas is one of the nation’s favourite poems. Written in the heat of battle by an officer who was doomed not to survive the war, Adlestrop idealises the stillness of a railway station in an English country ...

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  Marjorie’s War: four families and the Great War

  This podcast is based on the recently published book which tells the story of the author’s grandmother and nine young men from the four families. They were all served as junior officers and between them fought in all the major ...

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  The War of 1812: from the British side

  The War of 1812 features prominently in the history of the United States, especially in this bi-centenary year. But it is much less well-known here, overshadowed by events closer to home. In the US, the Federation of Genealogical Societies and ...

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  The Battle of the Somme: fallen comrades

  The clip starts with a title and sequence showing British tommies rescuing a fallen comrade who later died. We then see the famous shot of a soldier carrying his fallen comrade. The action then shifts to more shots of wounded ...

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  The life of Philip d’Auvergne RN; officer, prisoner and prince

  Philip d’Auvergne’s career in the Royal Navy spans an exciting era of world history, from the American war of independence to the fall of Napoleon. This podcast follows his story through official records during this key period in the history ...

• Latest media

  • William Wallace’s rising and execution, and Edward I’s conquest of Scotland

    24 May 2013

  • Foreign Office and Cabinet Office file release: May 2013

    22 May 2013

  • 

    Australia in War and Peace, 1914-19

    10 May 2013

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• Authors

  Select Author... Abi Hussainy Adele Chaplin Adrian Jobson Alan Bowgen Alex Ritchie Alexs Drozdov Alistair Owens Andrew Janes Ann Morton Anthony Adolph Anthony Beevor Audrey Collins Ben Macintyre Briony Paxman Bruno Derrick Bruno Pappalardo Caroline Dawson Caroline Kimbell Caroline Williams Charles Fair Charles Tattersall Charles Tripp Chistopher May Chris Barnes Chris Cooper Chris Heather Chris Pomery Christine Gifford Daniel Gilfoyle Dave Annal David Flanders David Green David Langrish David Thomas Doctor David Cox Dr Adrian Ailes Dr Alison Wiggins Dr Andrew Foster Dr Bruce Durie Dr David Clarke Dinah Eastop Dr Dominic Fontana Dr Gus Casely Hayford Dr Hester Vaizey Dr James Ross Dr Jane McDermid Dr John Law Dr John Shaw Dr Julie Anderson Dr Kathleen Chater Dr Katy Mair Dr Louise Chambers Pippa Virdee Dr Tony Wakeford Dr. Matt Cook Dr. Tracey Sowerby dwilliams Ed Hampshire Ed King Ela Kaczmarska Elizabeth Crawford Else Churchill Gary Sheffield Geoff Stewart Gerry Toop Gill Bennett Grace Ioppolo Hamish Maxwell-Stewart Helen Rappaport hhargreaves Jack Adams James Cronan James Davis James Taylor James Travers Jane Stevenson Janet Dempsey Jatinder Mann Jeff James Jenni Orme Jenny Bunn Jessamy Sykes John Guy John Reuben Davies John Sheridan John Welshman Jonathan Sumption Joy Palmer Jules Stewart Julie Halls Karim Hussain Kate Colquhoun Kate Jarman Keith Mitchell Kwaku Kwaku Lianne Smith Lord Ashdown Mahesh Gami Mandy Banton Mark Dunton Mark Pearsall Mark Stevens Michael Leclerc Michael Lucas Michael Moss Mike Pidd Neil Cobbett Nick Pope Nick Stanhope Nigel Taylor Oliver Morley Owen Stephens Past Masters Patricia Methven Patrick Chaplin Paul Carlyle Paul Carter Pauline Croft Peter Bance Peter Boyd-Smith Peter John Philippa Glanville Professor Barry Coward Professor Barry Godfrey Professor Christopher Andrew Professor David Edgerton Professor David Stephenson Professor Laurence Brockliss Professor M R D Foot Professor Maria Hayward Professor Maxine Berg Professor Peter Hennessy Ralph Thompson Richard Deswarte Richard Wallis Robert Daoust Roger Kershaw Rudi Newman Sarah Cox Sarah Hutton Sean Creighton Sean Cunningham Sharon Hintze Simon Fowler Stephen Cable Stephen Cooper Stephen Harwood Steve Hindle Sue Lumas Terry Jones The Central Office of Information The National Archives Tony Stockwell Vanessa Carr Voices of the Armistice War on Film William Spencer

• Tags

  ancestors archives Cold war family history First world war Focus on film Focus on film: Cold War Focus on film: Second World War genealogy history Public Information Films 1945‑1951 records second world war World War Two series WW1