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The History Network

The History Network

A fortnightly military history podcast looking at all aspect of war throughout the ages.

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  • 22 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 24 min
  • English

Episodes 22

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  • S39 · E5
    September 20 · 13 min

    3905 James Douglas: The Black Douglas

    In the nurseries of northern England, mothers would hush their crying children with a simple rhyme: "Hush ye, hush ye, little pet ye, the Black Douglas will not get ye." But this was no fairy tale monster - this was a real man, a Scottish knight whose name became a legend of terror across the known world. Dur: 14mins File: .mp3

  • #3904
    September 6 · 29 min

    3904 - Xerxes I of Persia: King of Kings

    The Persian King who invaded Greece in 480 BC is remembered for his defeat at the Battle of Salamis, but he was much more than that. Xerxes was the king of the Persian Empire from 486 until 465 BC. He is remembered in Western scholarship for his defeat by combined Greek forces during his invasion of Greece in 480 and 479 BC. A quick look at his twenty-year reign, however, tells us that his rule must have amounted to more than that. Unfortunately, the best surviving source for him remains Herodotus, the Greek historian from Halicarnassus, who wrote the history of the Persian Wars (from the Greek perspective). Xerxes is, therefore, the villain of the story, full of hubris (because of his eventual defeat) and reduced almost to a caricature of a bad ruler. This episode was written by Murray Dahm. Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written more than 100 articles on various aspects of ancient and medieval military history and other historical topics from all periods. He is the author of Macedonian Phalangite vs Persian Warrior, Athenian Hoplite vs Spartan Hoplite and Leuctra 371 BC, all from Osprey Publishing. He is a regular on the Ancient Warfare Podcast.

  • S39 · E3
    August 2 · 25 min

    3903 The blame game – sources for the battle of Agincourt

    One of the first things to note about our surviving sources for the battle of Agincourt (or Azincourt), fought on October 25th, 1415, is just how many of them there are. In a way, this is unsurprising since it was (and is) one of the most celebrated (and unexpected) victories in English history. And yet, does this plethora of sources actually allow us to get any close to what actually happened at the battle? As historians, we are blessed with a multitude of accounts from differing perspectives on the battle – from eyewitnesses on both sides, writers who were close to the participants of the battle, all the way through to later chroniclers and analysts. Dur: 26mins File: .mp3

  • S39 · E2
    July 5 · 27 min

    3902 Buried Alive: Operation Tracer and the Secret of Gibraltar

    In the Second World War, the Rock of Gibraltar stood like a sentinel at the gateway to the Mediterranean. Whoever held it could open or close the sea lanes to North Africa and beyond. To Britain it was a vital stronghold, but by 1940 it looked vulnerable. Spain was under Franco's rule, sympathetic to Berlin, and German planners drew up schemes to seize the fortress in one swift move. It was in this climate that a plan was conceived that bordered on the unimaginable. A small group of men would vanish from the surface of the Rock and take up residence in a chamber hollowed out within its limestone core. They would not leave again until the war ended. Dur: 29mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E10
    March 29 · 20 min

    3810 The (Second) Battle of Mantinea Part2

    The (second) battle of Mantinea, July 4, 362 BC: the final nail in the coffin of Spartan dominance. At the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, a resurgent Thebes led by its great statesmen and tactician reformers Epaminondas and Pelopidas defeated the army of Sparta. The defeat was one of the greatest shocks Greece had witnessed - not only did the Thebans defeat the Spartans but the Spartans turned and fled from the battlefields - something they had not done before even in the face of defeat. Dur: 20mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E9
    March 8 · 15 min

    3809 The (Second) Battle of Mantinea

    At the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, a resurgent Thebes led by its great statesmen and tactician reformers Epaminondas and Pelopidas defeated the army of Sparta. The defeat was one of the greatest shocks Greece had witnessed - not only did the Thebans defeat the Spartans but the Spartans turned and fled from the battlefields - something they had not done before even in the face of defeat. Dur: 16mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E8
    February 15 · 17 min

    3808 The Battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham 1464 - Part 2

    The Final showdown at Hexham, May 15th, 1464 John Neville probably marched along the north bank of the River Tyne along Carrel Gate. This route put Bywell castle under threat, but we do not hear of Henry leaving (although he must have if this was the line of march – and other alternatives still put Bywell under threat). In his march west, Neville probably crossed the Tyne at Corbridge (or perhaps Bywell – both had extant Roman bridges) and so came upon the Lancastrian camp from the east or northeast. Dur: 18mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E7
    February 1 · 20 min

    3807 The Battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham 1464 - Part 1

    A combination of two battles fought close together in Northumberland in April and May 1464 brought Lancastrian resistance to the Yorkist king Edward IV to an end during the Wars of the Roses until 1469. These battles are of extreme importance but are confused in the primary sources and often elided in modern accounts into a single battle, the last one fought at Hexham on May 15th (although the date of the battle is also unclear). One of the reasons for this confusion is that the battles were fought close together within a very short space of time, only three weeks apart. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E6
    January 18 · 26 min

    3806 - The Shingle Street Invasion That Never Was

    Picture the Suffolk coast on a stormy night in 1940. Waves crash against a bleak shingle bank, the wind howls through the marshes, and blackout shades cover every window in the tiny hamlet of Shingle Street. It was a place where the war felt uncomfortably close. Just across the North Sea lay occupied Europe. German bombers roared overhead almost nightly, and rumours of an imminent invasion travelled faster than the tide. It was here, in this lonely corner of England, that one of the strangest legends of the Second World War was born. Dur: 27mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E5
    January 4 · 25 min

    3805 Valour Lost - Part 3

    In the third of this three part series we conclude our look at the eight recipients of the Victoria Cross who forfeited the award due to their later actions as well as other recipients who fell on hard times, and with particular reference to the case of modern Victoria Cross for Australian recipient Ben-Roberts Smith, accused of murder and war crimes in Afghanistan. Dur: 26mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E4
    Dec 21, 2025 · 20 min

    3804 Valour Lost - Part 2

    In the second of this three part series we continue our look at the eight recipients of the Victoria Cross who forfeited the award due to their later actions as well as other recipients who fell on hard times. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E3
    Dec 7, 2025 · 26 min

    3803 Valour Lost - Part 1

    In this three part series we look at the eight recipients of the Victoria Cross who forfeited the award due to their later actions as well as other recipients who fell on hard times, and with particular reference to the case of modern Victoria Cross for Australian recipient Ben-Roberts Smith, accused of murder and war crimes in Afghanistan. Dur: 27mins File: .mp3

  • S36 · E2
    Nov 23, 2025 · 35 min

    3802 Colenso: Ireland's Forgotten Sacrifice in the Boer War

    Yet another war believed to be over by Christmas. The Second Boer War was fought between the greatest empire the world had ever seen and a nation of farmers with a population fewer than that of Brighton, England. It took the might of the British Empire three years to subdue these farmers who were known as Boers. Dur: 37mins File: .mp3

  • S38 · E1
    Nov 9, 2025 · 28 min

    3801 Alvarado's Leap

    Modern historical scholarship has little lenience for hyperbole and any event that appears exaggerated is heavily scrutinized. The Spanish Conquest of Mexico provides ample folklores for historians to examine. One tale depicts renowned conquistador Pedro de Alvarado vaulting across a canal to escape certain doom. An episode since identified as the Salto de Alvarado (Alvarado's Leap). Historians are now in broad agreement that Alvarado's Leap is but a legend. Alvarado's alleged narrow escape occurred during the Castilian's withdrawal known as the Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows) a crucial, indeed pivotal event in the Conquest of Mexico. However, what happened to the rear guard on that rainy dark night on Calzada de Tlacopan (Tacuba Causeway) remains a mystery. Dur: 28mins File: .mp3

  • S37 · E10
    Sep 14, 2025 · 56 min

    3710 Soccer pitch invasion!: the Vienna battlefield discovery and the battle of Carnuntum, AD 170.

    In late October 2024, under a Vienna sports field (Ostbahn-XI-Platz) on the Danube in the Simmering district, a site of ancient mass burial was discovered. 129 bodies were discovered (intermixed bones may mean there were up to 150 bodies buried), all male, mostly between 20 and 30 years old, all roughly 1.7 metres tall, and many with wounds consistent with ancient battle. Many skeletons had injuries to their skulls, torsos and pelvises. The radiocarbon dating of the remains put them in the range from AD 80-234. Finds included an iron pugio dagger, spear points, scales from suits of scale armour (lorica squamata) and the cheek piece of a helmet. Near the foot of one skeleton, archaeologists discovered shoe nails that came from distinctive Roman legionary caligae. These works were carried out by the Vienna City Archaeology Department in cooperation with the archaeological service provider Novetus GmbH. Initial research results were presented at the Wien Museum in early April 2025. Dur: 57mins File: .mp3

  • S37 · E9
    Aug 24, 2025 · 20 min

    3709 Waterloo and the Irishmen of the 27th: The Inniskillings in the Heart of Battle Part2

    The French infantry passed by the farm at La Haye Saint and advanced up to the ridge where Picton's 5th Brigade were literally lying in wait. Dutch skirmishers retreated back to their parent regiments in Allied lines. The British troops of Picton's 5th Brigade were stationed 100 yards behind the Dutch who were now trading volleys with the ever-advancing wave of French troops. The Dutch could not sustain the defense and reformed with other regiments. The British troops under Picton then formed up 4 men deep (twice as deep as a standard British line) to match the French who had now also formed into battle lines. The contest between the 2 masses of infantry was hotly contested and the Allied centre began to falter. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3

  • S37 · E7
    Jul 6, 2025 · 15 min

    3707 The Battle Of The Wabash

    "American Indian Wars" in the modern perspective focuses mostly on the American West in the second half of the 19th century with cowboys, Custer and the calvary, but the worst defeat of an American Army in the Indian Wars happened over eighty years earlier when George Washington was president. Dur: 16mins File: .mp3

  • S37 · E6
    Jun 15, 2025 · 21 min

    3706 I sing of (Welsh) arms and the man: the battles of Taliesin - Part 2

    Another poem, "Gwaith Argoed Llwyfain", refers to another campaign against the Angles of Bernicia. It also provides remarkable insights. Here, the leader of the Angles is named as Fflamddwyn – perhaps meaning "flamebearer" or "flamboyant one." It may refer to Theodoric of Bernicia (r. ca. 584-591) whose reign coincides with Urien's. The idea that it refers to Ida, the first king of Bernicia (r. 547-559), is probably too early to correspond to Urien and Owain's dates (although there is some crossover with the earliest dates of Urien's reign). Dur 22mins File: .mp3

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