Perspectives in History

A shroud of uncertainty descends upon Florence following the untimely death of Lorenzo de Medici. Meanwhile, Savonarola's predictions grow increasingly bolder, as developments to the north threaten to turn his prophecies into reality. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Bartlett, Kenneth. Florence in the...

After failing to make inroads with the people of Florence, Savonarola spends the next few years wandering across northern Italy, honing his preaching skills and building a reputation for himself. Half a decade later, he is invited to return at the behest of the city's de-facto ruler, Lorenzo de Medici. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page...

Against the wishes of his parents, a young man from Ferrara named Girolamo Savonarola leaves his home to join the Order of the Dominicans. Thanks to the influence of his austere grandfather, Savonarola begins to grow disillusioned with the Catholic Church and its worldly ways. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibli...

Emperor Julian marches east to make war against Rome's traditional rivals- the Persians. When he meets an untimely fate on a Mesopotamian battlefield, with him dies the final hope of Rome's remaining pagans. Email me Follow me on Twitter Like the show on Facebook Watch the show on YouTube Visit the eBay store Support the show on Patreon Bibliography: Bowersock, G.W. Julian the Apostate. Harvard Un...

Declared as Emperor by his soldiers, Julian prepares to go to war against his cousin, Constantius II. When events leave Julian as the sole ruler of Rome, he begins the Herculean task of reinstating paganism as the religion of the empire. Email me Follow me on Twitter Like the show on Facebook Watch the show on YouTube Visit the eBay store Support the show on Patreon Bibliography: Bowersock, G.W. J...

Julian is unexpectedly christened as junior co-emperor by his cousin Constantius II and dispatched to Gaul to halt a barbarian invasion and restore stability to the troubled province. Forced to adapt to the unfamiliar lifestyle of a Roman soldier, Julian proves himself eminently capable of performing the tasks before him. Email me Follow me on Twitter Like the show on Facebook Watch the show on Yo...

When Emperor Constantius II has his relatives massacred to secure power, only his young cousins Julian and Gallus are spared. When the two brothers are finally released from captivity, they soon discover that the Emperor has made their freedom conditional. Support the victims of the attack at Michigan State Email me Follow me on Twitter Like the show on Facebook Watch the show on YouTube Visit the...

The Imperial government moves to suppress the Satsuma Rebellion- the desperate last stand of the former samurai class against the forces of modernization. With the deaths of the last mastermind of the restoration, a new generation takes charge of events in Japan. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Beasl...

The newly victorious Imperial restoration government continues its work of reforming Japan's culture, society, and politics. As these changes begin to alienate some of the Emperor's former supporters, the specter of rebellion begins to haunt the nation once again. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Beas...

The civil war between the supporters of the Emperor and the Shogun rages on as both sides seek the support of the western powers. Meanwhile, the young Emperor Meiji takes the first steps towards reforming Japan into a modern, centralized nation-state. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Beasley, W. G. Th...

After months of scheming, a faction of imperial loyalists embark on their plan to restore the authority of the Emperor, resulting in the outbreak of armed conflict between the Shogunate and Imperial forces at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Beasley, W. G. The Meiji Restora...

The various political factions in Japan struggle to enact the agenda of "enriching the country and strengthening the army." Meanwhile, events push the rival domains of Chōshū and Satsuma closer toward an alliance against the Tokugawa Shogunate. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Beasley, W. G. The Meiji...

Tensions between the Shogun, the Emperor, and their respective supporters continue to escalate as these factions debate how best to respond to the threat posed by the Western powers. Meanwhile, a bloody confrontation between a British merchant and a Japanese samurai leads to the brink of full-blown war. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Pag...

When an American naval squadron arrives in Edo Bay on July 8th, 1853, the Japanese nation is gripped by panic. Having previously been isolated from the rest of the world, the ‘opening’ of Japan was certain to have grave political and social consequences that would be felt for decades to come. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some...

As Huey Long prepares to challenge Franklin D. Roosevelt for the presidency of the United States, he faces mounting opposition in his home state of Louisiana that threatened to put an end to his lofty ambitions once and for all. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Hair, William. The Kingfish and his Real...

After ensuring his control over the Louisiana state government, Huey Long takes his seat in the United States Senate and utilizes his new national platform to advocate for radical new policies amidst the outbreak of the Great Depression. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Hair, William. The Kingfish and...

Growing bolder after narrowly surviving an impeachment attempt, Huey's authoritarian tendencies begin to come to the fore. Before the conclusion of his term as governor, Huey seizes on an opportunity that will allow him to continue on the path to greater political power. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliograph...

Newly-inaugurated governor of Louisiana Huey Long works to consolidate his control over the state government and to enact his progressive agenda. Meanwhile, his political opponents conspire to have him removed from office. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Hair, William. The Kingfish and his Realm: The...

In 1928, a former traveling salesman named Huey Long was elected as the governor of Louisiana. Coming from humble origins, Huey's populist rhetoric had enabled him to win this election, but it had also earned him a fair share of enemies. Email me:  perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Hair, William. The Kingfish and...

The Ukrainian nationalists under Symon Petliura are forced to make unlikely alliances in order to withstand a renewed Soviet invasion of Ukraine. Although the nationalists were ultimately vanquished, the ideal of independent Ukrainian statehood would live on and manifest itself in unexpected ways in the future. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Faceb...

The Directory's tenuous hold on power continues to slip away as it faces off against an array of hostile powers in every direction. Meanwhile, the ideological divides within Ukraine itself become increasingly apparent. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books Bibliography: Doroshenko, Dmytro. A Survey of Ukrainian History....

In early 1919, the unification of Ukraine, the dream of Ukrainian nationalists for centuries, had finally been achieved. In the midst of the wider conflict that was engulfing eastern Europe at that time, internal divisions and external pressures would once again threaten the unity of Ukraine. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some U...

The German high command, losing patience with the intransigence of the Central Rada, has it overthrown and replaced by a new government under Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky. However, as Germany's fortunes in the First World War began to wane, so too did the Hetman's control over Ukraine. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy Some Used Books B...

The beleaguered Ukrainian People's Republic concludes a peace treaty with the Central Powers just as Soviet forces approach Kyiv. But while this action may have secured Ukraine's freedom from Bolshevik domination, it begins to appear as though the Ukrainians had exchanged one conqueror for another. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Page Buy...

In 1917, war breaks out between Russia's new Soviet government and the newly independent Ukrainian People's Republic. But as the armies of the Central Powers close in, and anti-Bolshevik opposition grows throughout the former empire, Ukraine is positioned to become a battleground in a much wider conflict. Email me: perspectivesinhistorypod@gmail.com Podcast Website Follow me on Twitter Facebook Pa...