New Books Network
Military History
Central Asian Studies March 2, 2021

The Russian Conquest of Central Asia

A Study in Imperial Expansion, 1814–1914

Alexander Morrison

Hosted by Nicholas Seay
Alexander Morrison’s study of the conquest of Central Asia offers new perspectives on a topic long obscured by misleading grand narratives. Based on years of research in several countries, The Russian …

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Military History March 2, 2021

Robert E. Lee and Me

A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause

Ty Seidule

Hosted by Bob Wintermute
Almost right after the guns fell silent, a counter-factual and ultimately pernicious narrative of the Civil War took shape that proved to be one of the longest lasting and most …
Christian Studies March 2, 2021

Duty and Destiny

The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill

Gary Scott Smith

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
Though Churchill harbored intellectual doubts about Christianity throughout his life, he nevertheless valued it greatly and drew on its resources, especially in the crucible of war. In Duty and Destiny …
German Studies February 23, 2021

Diagnosing Dissent

Hysterics, Deserters, and Conscientious Objectors in Germany During World War One

Rebecca Ayako Bennette

Hosted by Michael O'Sullivan
Although physicians during World War I, and scholars since, have addressed the idea of disorders such as shell shock as inchoate flights into sickness by men unwilling to cope with …
Russian and Eurasian Studies February 22, 2021

The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917

Roger R. Reese

Hosted by Aaron Weinacht
Roger Reese’s recent book, The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917 (University of Kansas, 2019), takes a deep dive into the internal workings of the Russian army …
Chinese Studies February 19, 2021

Forgotten Ally

China's World War II, 1937–1945

Rana Mitter

Hosted by Keith Krueger
If we wish to understand the role of China in today’s global society, we would do well to remind ourselves of the tragic, titanic struggle which that country waged in …
East Asian Studies February 17, 2021

Comfort Women Activism

Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State

Eika Tai

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Eika Tai’s Comfort Women Activism: Critical Voices from the Perpetrator State (Hong Kong University Press, 2020) tackles the complex histories of Japanese “military sexual violence” and the activism by women …
History February 11, 2021

Inca Apocalypse

The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World

R. Alan Covey

Hosted by Mark Klobas
The arrival in 1532 of a small group of Spanish conquistadores at the Andean town of Cajamarca launched one of the most dramatic – and often misunderstood – events in …
History February 10, 2021

The Indomitable Florence Finch

The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs

Robert J. Mrazek

Hosted by Ian Drake
Robert J. Mrazek, an author of eleven books and former congressman from New York, has written a gripping account of one the most determine heroines of World War II: The Indomitable …
History February 9, 2021

War Fever

Boston, Baseball, and America in the Shadow of the Great War

Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith

Hosted by Zachary McCulley
In the fall of 1918, a fever gripped Boston. The streets emptied as paranoia about the deadly Spanish flu spread. Newspapermen and vigilante investigators aggressively sought to discredit anyone who …
Music February 8, 2021

Resonant Recoveries

French Music and Trauma Between the World Wars

Jillian C. Rogers

Hosted by Kristen Turner
Understanding how people cope with large-scale traumatic events has become more urgent as we continue to cope with the effects of the pandemic. In Resonant Recoveries: French Music and Trauma …
Military History February 4, 2021

The Compleat Victory

Saratoga and the American Revolution

Kevin Weddle

Hosted by Scott Lipkowitz
British hopes that the American War for Independence would be brought to a swift conclusion began to wane in the early months of 1777. Despite brilliant victories over Washington and …
Southeast Asian Studies February 1, 2021

Making Two Vietnams

War and Youth Identities, 1965-1975

Olga Dror

Hosted by Patrick Jory
We are familiar with the history of the division of Vietnam in 1954 into two states, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the north and the Republic of Vietnam in …
Environmental Studies January 25, 2021

Scorched Earth

Environmental Warfare as a Crime Against Humanity and Nature

Emmanuel Kreike

Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi
In Scorched Earth: Environmental Warfare as a Crime Against Humanity and Nature (Princeton UP, 2021), Emmanuel Kreike offers a global history of environmental warfare and makes the case for why it should …
Dan Hill's EQ Spotlight January 21, 2021

The Saddest Words

William Faulkner's Civil War

Michael Gorra

Hosted by Dan Hill
Today I talked to Michael Gorra about his new book The Saddest Words: William Faulkner's Civil War (Liveright, 2020). This episode touches on two of William Faulkner’s novels in particular: The Sound and …
Military History January 18, 2021

Britain's War

A New World, 1942-1947

Daniel Todman

Hosted by Bob Wintermute
The second of Daniel Todman's two sweeping volumes on Great Britain and World War II, Britain's War: A New World, 1942-1947 (Oxford UP, 2020), begins with the event Winston Churchill called …
Military History January 8, 2021

Adaptation Under Fire

How Militaries Change in Wartime

David Barno and Nora Bensahel

Hosted by Scott Lipkowitz
Few human enterprises are as complex, dynamic, and unpredictable as war. Armed conflict substitutes the relatively ordered reality of peace with the undeniably chaotic reality of combat. Militaries, by design …
History January 6, 2021

A History of the Second World War in 100 Maps

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The First World War was marked by an exceptional expansion in the use and production of military cartography. But World War II took things even further, employing maps, charts, reconnaissance …
East Asian Studies December 30, 2020

China's Muslims and Japan's Empire

Centering Islam in World War II

Kelly A. Hammond

Hosted by Ed Pulford
The 1930s-40s expansion of the Japanese empire was marked by significant interest among Japan-based scholars and policy-makers in China’s Muslim population and how best to write them into a new …
British Studies December 28, 2020

Occupied America

British Military Rule and the Experience of Revolution

Donald F. Johnson

Hosted by Charles Prior
When we read the Declaration of Independence, what tends to jump off the page are the lofty propositions concerning natural rights. Yet over a third of the brief document is …