Battles of the First World War Podcast

The Battles of the First World War Podcast is a podcast that goes in-depth into the battles of the Great War of 1914-1918. The goal is to really go into the details of how and why these battles unfolded and happened as they did. In telling the narrative of these clashes we can revisit some of the stories of the men and women who lived, fought, and died during the first titanic struggle of the 20th Century, for these people have stories that deserve to be told.

“Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867” with David Borys 12/10/2024

“Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867” with David Borys Author David Borys comes on the podcast to discuss his book “Punching Above Our Weight: The Canadian Military at War Since 1867,” which takes readers on a riveting exploration spanning one hundred and fifty years of Canadian forces. “Punching Above Our Weight" is a photograph-rich history of 150 years of the Canadian military traces the evolution of the country’s armed forces from a small, underfunded, poorly trained militia to the modern, effective military it is today. From the Red River Resistance and the Boer War through the world wars to modern peacekeeping and the long war in Afghanistan, David A. Borys details the conflicts and operations that Canadian soldiers have served in. He highlights the key battles, among them Amiens, the Scheldt Estuary, and Operation Medusa; the significant people, including Louis Riel, Arthur Currie, and Guy Simonds; and the decisive moments, such as the passing of conscription in August 1917, Canada’s declaration of war in 1939, and the peacekeeping crises of the 1990s, that came to define the scope of Canada’s participation in international conflicts and cement its global reputation. Borys also explores the challenges that the Canadian nation and its military have faced over those years, including major cultural and demographic shifts, a continual struggle for resources from generally disinterested governments, battlefield failures, and notorious and shocking scandals, along with ever-changing global threats. Punching Above Our Weight brings to light a new perspective on the Canadian military and its place in the world. Where to buy “Punching Above Our Weight:” The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast. Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. /episode/index/show/firstworldwarpodcast/id/34329035

“Serpents of War:” A Discussion with Drs. Steven Trout & Ian Isherwood 12/06/2024

“Serpents of War:” A Discussion with Drs. Steven Trout & Ian Isherwood From University Press of Kansas: “Serpents of War” is the memoir of Pennsylvanian Major Harry Dravo Parkin, is a rare account of World War I as seen from the perspective of a battalion commander. As a mid-level officer responsible for the lives and welfare of over a thousand men, Parkin conveys the stress of command at a time when one innocent blunder could cost an officer his combat assignment, brings the inferno of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to life in terrifying, gory detail, and recounts being taken prisoner by the Imperial German Army—a rare experience among American soldiers in 1918. In addition, Parkin provides a detailed account of the 79th Division’s attack on Mountfaucon, a military action that remains controversial to this day. This is a book by a brave soldier, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism on the battlefield, and a gifted writer. “Serpents of War" is an abridged edition of a nearly 200,000-word World War I memoir that resides in Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library, enhanced by the contributions of two scholars of World War I and memory. Written in an unassuming but eloquent style, Parkin’s narrative seldom strains for effect. It possesses a strong sense of setting, a knack for capturing the chaos and strange exhilaration of battle, and a sharp eye for the interpersonal, social dynamics of military life—the personality clashes and simmering feuds, as well as the moments of comradeship and accord. “Serpents of War” is an absorbing memoir that holds the reader’s attention from beginning to end. Dr. Trout’s Travels in Harry Parkin’s footsteps - Where to buy “Serpents of War: An American Officer's Story of World War I Combat and Captivity” - The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast. Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. /episode/index/show/firstworldwarpodcast/id/34275780

Ors Communal Cemetery - Wilfred Owen’s Grave 12/01/2024

Jake’s Pilgrimage & Lost Battalion Tours 11/27/2024

“The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer” with Philipp Cross 11/22/2024

“Never Home - Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned” with Richard Sherman 11/15/2024

Verdun - The Defence of Retranchement R1 11/01/2024

“Under Foreign Flags:” Tennessee Volunteers in WW1 with Historian Pat Gang 10/20/2024

We Are So Close: Help Award a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls 10/10/2024

World War 1 - Coalition Warfare & Command Challenges 10/01/2024

Arras & Cambrai 1918: Canadian WW1 History, a Discussion with Michel Gravel 09/15/2024

Lost Battalion Tours 2024 Tour & France-Belgium Trip Recap 09/01/2024

Liny-devant-Dun - Thoughts on a German Cemetery 08/04/2024

“Agent of the Iron Cross: The Race to Capture German Saboteur-Assassin Lothar Witzke during World War I” with Author Bill Mills 07/15/2024

Meuse Argonne - Assessment 07/01/2024

My Great Grandfather’s War: AEF 30th Division and 119th Infantry Regiment with David Brady 06/16/2024

Tannenberg - Complete Destruction 06/01/2024

AEF 2nd Corps, 27th & 30th Divisions with Historian Pat Gang 05/19/2024

Ann Hood’s “The Stolen Child:” A Short Review 05/05/2024

Tannenberg - Flank and Collision 05/01/2024

The New Ypres League with Roger Steward & Prof Mark Connelly 04/28/2024

A Review of “Pershing’s Tankers: Personal Accounts of the AEF Tank Corps in World War I,” edited by Lawrence M. Kaplan 04/14/2024

Tannenberg - Stallupönen and Gumbinnen 04/01/2024

Tannenberg - Eastern Promises 03/10/2024

Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials, a Discussion with Dr. Allison Finkelstein 02/19/2024

Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials, a Discussion with Dr. Allison Finkelstein Author and historian Dr. Allison Finkelstein comes on the podcast to discuss her book, Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917-1945. From Dr. Finkelstein’s website: In Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917–1945, Allison S. Finkelstein argues that American women activists considered their own community service and veteran advocacy to be forms of commemoration just as significant and effective as other, more traditional forms of commemoration such as memorials. Finkelstein employs the term “veteranism” to describe these women’s overarching philosophy that supporting, aiding, and caring for those who serve needed to be a chief concern of American citizens, civic groups, and the government in the war’s aftermath. However, these women did not express their views solely through their support for veterans of a military service narrowly defined as a group predominantly composed of men and just a few women. Rather, they defined anyone who served or sacrificed during the war, including women like themselves, as veterans. These women veteranists believed that memorialization projects that centered on the people who served and sacrificed was the most appropriate type of postwar commemoration. They passionately advocated for memorials that could help living veterans and the families of deceased service members at a time when postwar monument construction surged at home and abroad. Finkelstein argues that by rejecting or adapting traditional monuments or by embracing aspects of the living memorial building movement, female veteranists placed the plight of all veterans at the center of their commemoration efforts. Their projects included diverse acts of service and advocacy on behalf of people they considered veterans and their families as they pushed to infuse American memorial traditions with their philosophy. In doing so, these women pioneered a relatively new form of commemoration that impacted American practices of remembrance, encouraging Americans to rethink their approach and provided new definitions of what constitutes a memorial. In the process, they shifted the course of American practices, even though their memorialization methods did not achieve the widespread acceptance they had hoped it would. Meticulously researched, Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials utilizes little-studied sources and reinterprets more familiar ones. In addition to the words and records of the women themselves, Finkelstein analyzes cultural landscapes and ephemeral projects to reconstruct the evidence of their influence. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how American women supported the military from outside its ranks before they could fully serve from within, principally through action-based methods of commemoration that remain all the more relevant today. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) awarded this book the 2022 Arline Custer Memorial Award for the best book written in the Mid-Atlantic region. We have a promo code exclusively for BFWWP listeners! Use BATTLE24 to unlock a 30% discount on either format of the book when ordering directly from our website at: The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast. Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. /episode/index/show/firstworldwarpodcast/id/29944088

The French Army in the First World War, a Discussion: Pt 4 02/01/2024

2024 Meuse-Argonne Tour Dates are Here 01/12/2024

Fismes and Fismette - House to House in the Great War 12/18/2023

Support a Congressional Gold Medal for the WWI Hello Girls 12/08/2023

“The Hello Girls: America’s First Women Soldiers,” a Discussion with Elizabeth Cobbs 12/01/2023

Battles of the First World War Podcast

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