Empire, Republic and Shadow Wars

Send us Fan Mail Today I'm talking to Peter Shae, the author of the fantastic book  In the Arena .  profiles 34 American leaders who captured their party’s nomination for the presidency but never reached the Oval Office. Author Peter Shea chronicles the rise, early careers, campaigns, and later achievements of historical giants like Aaron Burr through modern candidates like Hillary Clinton. H...

Send us Fan Mail Today we have a special treat. Author Eric Dolan joins the show to discuss his recently released book, Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution. This is a book I think you will love, especially as it covers a very little known portion of the war. You can get yourself a copy of this fantastic book here. Huge thanks to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore spons...

Send us Fan Mail Today we have another one of our on going author interview episodes. Historian Neil Lanctot joins the show to discuss his book, The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams, and Their Clash Over America's Future. This is a fascinating look at three of the major figures from the Progressive Era. Get yourself a copy by following this link . I know you will love this book. H...

Send us Fan Mail Today we have a fantastic interview with historian Deborah Cohen about her new book "Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War."  Dr. Cohen is Richard W. Leopold Professor of History and Department Chair (2020-2023) at Northwestern University, specializing in the history of modern Britain and Europe. You can obtain a copy of this exemplary...

Send us Fan Mail Last time we finally delved into the Southwest Pacific Theater, taking at look at the Philippines and General Douglas MacArthur. It is once again early 1942, but this time we focus more on the British in Malay and Singapore. This episode is sponsored by Smile Brilliant's Dental Probiotics. For a limited time use AMERICAN for 20% OFF Smile Brilliants Dental Probiotics and thei...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s show is going to see us backtrack a tad. We haven’t really discussed the Philippines and General MacArthur’s area of responsibility, so it’s time to make that correction to the narrative.  First, we will look at the Philippines and General Douglas MacArthur. You might be surprised to learn he wasn’t all that popular with his men in early 1942 and we will discuss the reason...

Send us Fan Mail In our last episode, we started to talk about how the United States ramped up war production. Or at least began the process of ramping up said production. This episode will take us deeper into that story. And what a story it is. Honestly, we could have spent many more than just two episodes detailing the way the US ramped up the war effort. But, the reality is, we don’t need that...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we bust a few myths and talk about the ramping up of the war effort. As you probably know, American industry switched over from consumer goods to producing war material. It is pretty remarkable what they were able to do and how quickly they did it. Fable Beard Company is the official beard products company of the American history podcast. For great oils, beard balm...

Send us Fan Mail Today we talk about the U.S. Navy and their desire to hit back at the Japanese in the early weeks of 1942. Fable Beard Company is the official beard products company of the American history podcast. For great oils, beard balms and butters as well as beard wash and conditioner check out the link below. Use the coupon code: Shawn15 at checkout so you can receive 15% off all orders....

Send us Fan Mail In this special, bonus episode, I discuss the history of the relationship between the United States and Russia. We focus on the deterioration, starting with the idea that the US betrayed a promise to Gorbachev and the Soviets. Was a promise made? We look at the documentary evidence. From there we move on and look at the expansion of NATO and it's effect on how Russia views th...

Send us Fan Mail I'm very excited to release this episode to the world. Originally it was supposed to focus on the men who eventually were promoted to 5 star admiral during the war. However, as I started writing it changed and thus so did the focus. Instead I decided to focus on one of the men, Fleet Admiral King, someone the average American is probably not familiar with. So enjoy! Today&apo...

Send us Fan Mail Today we take a look at the immediate aftermath of the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. Remember, the official beard products company of the show is Fable Beard Company. They have amazing products for great prices. Get a 15% discount on ALL orders when you use coupon code: Shawn15 at check out. You can also follow the link below: https://fablebeardco.com/discount/SHAWN15 Su...

Send us Fan Mail I recorded this episode with Scott Horton just a few days ago. We delve deep into Afghanistan and all sort of foreign policy issues. Enjoy! Huge thanks to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore sponsorship opportunities and start monetizing your podcast by signing up here: https://podcorn.com/podcasters/ Remember, the official beard products company of the show is Fable Bear...

Send us Fan Mail This is part of the episode I recorded for the Patreon only series "1983: The Year the World Almost Ended." It was orginally about 50 minutes long, but for public consumption I cut it down to far shorter. I hope you all enjoy this look at the Cold War in the 1960s. Huge thanks to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore sponsorship opportunities and start monetizing...

Send us Fan Mail On this, the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, we discuss the lead up to the Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy at Pearl. This episode is sponsored by Smile Brilliant. Looking to whiten your teeth for far less than what you will be charged at the dentist? Smile Brilliant has an amazing Cyber Monday sale that lasts until Christmas 2021. Head over to www.smilebrilliant.com and take ad...

Send us Fan Mail Finally we get to the end of our contextualizing episodes! I know, it's been a bit of a long road. This episode features a look at Europe. I know the season is about the Pacific, but we really need to at least address Europe so that's what we do here. This episode is sponsored by Smile Brilliant. Looking to whiten your teeth for far less than what you will be charged at...

Send us Fan Mail Today we continue discussing the road to war for the United States. This episode is sponsored by Politics and War. Politics & War is a free to play browser based persistent massively multi-player online game where you create your own nation and rule it. Check it out at www.politicsandwar.com  This episode is sponsored by Beacon, the Navigation sharing app that allows you to sh...

Send us Fan Mail Today we finally start delving into the context to WWII from the American point of view. It's been a long road getting here, but finally we can put the American history back into the podcast. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Today we look jump back into the Second Sino-Japanese War as we wrap up our exploration of events in Asia and prepare to look at the US in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor. Huge thanks to King of the World for sponsoring this episode. Check out this amazing 7 part podcast series at:  King of the World Podcast. Today's show is sponsored by Unidragon Wooden puzzles. These a...

Send us Fan Mail Today's episode is the last of our two which take a look at the early years of the Chinese Republic and focus on the rise of Chiang and Mao's rise in the communist party. Huge thanks to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore sponsorship opportunities and start monetizing your podcast by signing up here: https://podcorn.com/podcasters/ Today's show is sponsored...

Send us Fan Mail Today we discuss two of the most important figures in the 20th century: Chiang Kai-she and Mao Tse-dong. This is patron of two fairly long episodes discussing these two pivotal figures. Huge thanks to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore sponsorship opportunities and start monetizing your podcast by signing up here: https://podcorn.com/podcasters/ Remember, the official be...

Send us Fan Mail Today we begin a 3 episode look at China in the early 20th century. The second two episodes of this 3 set miniseries within season 4 will look at Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-dong.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Today we begin a series of episodes on the Sino Japanese War and early 20th Century Chinese history.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Today we will take a look at the rise of "militant" Japan. Obviously this is quite important to the story as we go forward.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Today we take a short walk through Japanese history in the early 20th Century. This is a fascinating time period as it is somewhat contradictory. Slowly but surely an authoritarian state is being created, but for a moment there is a bit of liberalism. Sadly that will be crushed in the 1920s as Japan puts itself on a path toward imperialism and conquest in Asia. Fable Beard Company...