Versus History Podcast

The results of the 2019 General Election have just been announced. The Conservative Party - led by Boris Johnson - has just secured a large Parliamentary majority. The Editorial Team offer some early analysis of the 2019 election, linking it to the General Elections of 1945 and 1997. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

In episode #85, our special guest Don N. Hagist - Managing Editor of The Journal of the American Revolution - discusses a range of themes related to the life and times of the British Redcoats in the 1770s and 1780s. Did British soldiers really get thrashed to within an inch of their lives as punishment? Were they forced to serve in the British Army against their will? Were soldiers often drunk whe...

In this episode of the Versus History Podcast, the team explore all things 'Matilda'. Who she was and the things that she did during her exciting, yet turbulent, existence ... all is explored here. She was Empress Matilda - but referred to herself as a female King - during the 12th century. She was undoubtedly a strong female figure during the Middle Ages. Let @VersusHistory guide you through! For...

The Weimar Republic might have been 'borne out of Germany's defeat in WW1', but it had a relatively enlightened, democratic, inclusive and forward-thinking codified constitution. To what extent was this a strength or a weakness? What were its most important terms in the 1920s and early 1930s? Is talk of the constitution being central to the demise of the Weimar Republic overstated? In this Podcast...

Dr. John Woolf (@drjohnwoolf) - the expert in things related to the Victorian Freak Shows and author of the oustanding new book 'The Wonders' - presents a radical new history of the Victorian age. In this episode, we discover the truth behind 'The Greatest Showman' and we meet the forgotten and extraordinary freak performers whose talents and disabilities helped define an era. Dr Woolf discusses J...

Versus History Editors discuss the beginning of a new academic year and their news, views and observations from summer 2019. Welcome back to the Versus History Podcast! Topics include Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Brexit, The Queen, Weather, Soccer and sunken wrecks off the coast of Canada. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Dr David Silkenat (@davidsilkenat) is a Senior Lecturer in American History from the University of Edinburgh and the co-host of The Whisky Rebellion Podcast. He joins the Versus History Podcast this week for a detailed interview about the causes, events, consequences and significance of the American Civil War. The Civil War itself raged from 1861 to 1865 and was fought between the North (Union) an...

Before the United States of America declared its independence on 4 July 1776, the British Government controlled America's trade with the world. In 1773, the Colonists destroyed a quantity of tea owned by the British East India Company, leading to Britain closing off the Port of Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Tea Party is often cited as being one of the key triggers for the American Revolution....

WW2 ended disasterously for both Mussolini and Italy. In this second episode, Dr. Dave Brown takes us through the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, the pathway to global war for Italy in the late 1930s, the relationship between Mussolini and the other Fascist members of the Pact of Steel and much, much more. Dr Brown discusses Mussolini’s war aims, objectives actions and outcomes at length, i...

The Italian ‘Duce’ Benito Mussolini was the first fascist dictator to rise to power in Europe, inspiring others such as Adolf Hitler in Germany and Franco of Spain in the process. Mussolini became the 27th Prime Minister of Italy in October 1922, having undertaken the infamous ‘March on Rome’ that year. The ‘Duce’ of Fascism was a complex character, and his tenure in office was often turbulent. He...

Born in 69BC, Cleopatra VII ruled ancient Egypt for nearly 30 years, before dying in 30BC. Her romantic links and military alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as well as her acclaimed beauty, have helped to ensure that she has not been lost to history. Learn all about her romantic liaisons and ability to speak a variety of different languages! In this episode, Conal (@prohistoricman) fie...

This week concludes the two part 'Question and Answer' session, where the @VersusHistory Editors respond to the questions of the listeners. Check it out! For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com​

This week, the @VersusHistory Editorial team asked for the listeners to submit questions about History, which they would happily answer. In this Podcast, they answer as many of those questions as they can! From the Munich Putsch 1923 to the National Railway Museum in York to Counterfactual History, it's all there. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

The Communist Revolution of 1917 was followed by a period of Civil War in Russia, which lasted until 1921. This further devastated the Russia economy, compounding the pre-existing problems caused by defeat in WW1 and the lack of an industrial revolution along the lines of many countries in western Europe. Between 1921 and 1928, the USSR adopted a largely capitalist economic model, until Stalin lau...

On January 9th 2007, an announcement was made that would revolutionise the technology industry and arguably the way humans interact with one another and the world. In San Francisco California, the CEO of Apple Steve Jobs announced the release of the first iphone which sought to combine 3 functions. It was a mobile phone, an ipod and an internet communication device rolled into one. 146,000 iphones...

Boston is located in Massachusetts, on the East Coast of the United States of America. It has a rich, diverse and varied history. As well as being the most heavily populated City in Massachusetts, it is also one of the oldest, having been founded by Puritans from England in 1630 and named after Boston in Lincolnshire, England. Today, Boston is a hub of higher education and big business. However, l...

On the night of the 25th going into the 26th of April 1986, a chain of events began that would destroy thousands of lives, ruin millions of acres of land and would, in many respects, help catalyst the re-shaping of a world that had been in the grip of the Cold War since 1945. That chain of events would culminate in the nuclear disaster that decimated Reactor 4 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, nea...

Kehinde Andrews (@kehinde_andrews) is the Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. In addition, he is the founder of the Organisation of Black Unity (@OBU_BlackUnity) and co-chair of the Black Studies Association. As well as appearing frequently on national television and radio, his most recent book 'Back to Black: Retelling Black Radicalism for 21st Century' is out now. Professor...

Monasteries would have been a key feature of the English landscape until the late 1530s. They were situated across the length and breadth of England, performing religious as well as social and cultural functions. However, by 1534, King Henry VIII had declared himself Head of the English Church via the Act of Supremacy. In 1536, the Dissolution of the smaller Catholic monasteries begun. By 1541, al...

Dr Carrie Gibson has recently released her new book in hardback in February 2019. These are the words of the New York Times book review: "'El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America' is the book that Americans, Anglo and Hispanic, should read as an education on their own American place or role ... Gibson takes on the task of accounting for the relevant and telling cases of ou...

The 'Great Leap Forward' was an initiative of Chairman Mao in China, which took place between 1958 to 1962. In short, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party aimed to rapidly transform China from an agricultural and agrarian economy into an industrial powerhouse, fit to compete with the Western world. This was to be done through a process of rapid industrialisation and the collectivisation of agricult...

Margaret Thatcher a.k.a the ‘Iron Lady’ was the Conservative Party Prime Minister of Britain between 1979 and 1990. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in the western world and the first female Prime Minister of Britain. Moreover, she is one of the few British politicians to have an ‘ism’ named after her: ‘Thatcherism’. During her tenure, she ushered in a period of privatisatio...

The City of Nottingham is situated in the East Midlands of England. Approximately an hour and twenty minutes north of London by train, the City has much to offer and a rich and vibrant history. With two professional football teams and a cricket team within a short walk of the railway station, it has much to offer on the sporting front. However, what about Robin Hood? Sherwood Forest? The Castle? R...

The period 1918 to 1923 was highly turbulent for the Weimar Republic. Following the armistice at the end of World War One, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. With the Kaiser in exile, Germany experienced democracy for the first time. The new Weimar Government had a reparations bill of 6.6 billion GBP, carried the blame for having signed both the armistice and the Treaty o...

Warfare has been a feature of society for thousands of years. Human beings have been surprisingly adept at inventing new weapons and strategies to help gain an advantage in war throughout the course of history. Since WW1, the landscape of the battlefield has changed dramatically. Tanks, aeroplanes, missiles and drones are just some of the new inventions that have changed warfare in the recent past...