The summer has arrived with all of its glory and sunshine. Whether it is away on a long holiday or just a brief sun splashed break in the park this is the perfect time to relax and unwind with a good book. For our last broadcast before we go on our summer holidays ‘Talking History’ will look at some of the best history books we would recommend for summer reading.
Opening the show Patrick talks with Timothy W Ryback about his book ‘Hitler’s First Victims: The Quest For Justice’. This book tells the story of German prosecutor Josef Hartinger and his investigation into the murder of four Jews in Dachau, Hitler’s first concentration camp, in 1933. This is the story of the final stage of Germany’s transition into a Nazi dictatorship, as the civil authorities slowly give way to the Nazi party and the SS. Join us as Timothy takes us through Hartinger’s incredible investigation.
Our second book is David M Freedman’s account of Oscar Wilde’s 1882 tour of America, ‘Wilde in America; Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity’. This book follows Wilde as he forges his legacy across the United States, building a cult of celebrity that would be imitated and emulated to this day. Join Patrick as he finds out how Wilde caught the attention of the world by declaring his own genius.
In a change of pace Patrick talks with Ian Ross about life in the waning Roman Empire in his novel, ‘Twilight of Empire: War at the End of the World’. This novel brings the ancient world and Roman Britain to life as we follow Centurion Aurelis Castus across Hadrian’s Wall and into the ‘barbaric’ world of the Picts. Tune in as we discover the fantastic facts that act as the basis for this work of fiction.
We travel from Roman Britain to modern Ireland and a Europe at war when Patrick talks with Stephen Sanderson about ‘Neither Unionist nor Nationalist: the 10th (Irish) Division in the Great War’. The first Irish division created in response to Kitchener’s call to arms the 10th lacked the political nature of the later nationalist 16th (Irish) and loyalist 36th (Ulster) divisions. Stephen and Patrick follow the men of the 10th as they make their way from their homes in Ireland to the shores of Gallipoli and a Europe engulfed in war.
Rounding off the show Patrick takes a look at Britain during the American Revolution with Nick Bunker. Recovering from a war-filled century, facing challenges in Ireland and India, and forced to fight France, Spain, and the Netherlands as well as the thirteen rebellious colonies Britain was, as Nick’s title indicates, ‘An Empire on the Edge’. Join ‘Talking Books’ as Patrick and Nick take a look at the American Revolution from the point of view of the British authorities. What challenges faced Britain at this time? And how did they manage to lose control of the thirteen colonies?
