Wartime Christmas
Mark looks at some examples of how Christmas was observed during wartime over the last three centuries. Merciful nurses making wounded and sick soldiers more comfortable with what limited means they had, ersatz reindeer in the Civil War, and how a grant for leave could be the greatest Christmas gift a soldier could hope to...
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Jefferson Davis: His Final Days and Passing in New Orleans
Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, died in New Orleans on December 6, 1889. Nearing the anniversary of his death, Mark talks with Mrs. Gladys LeBreton, whose grandfather was a friend of Davis’. As a child, Mrs. LeBreton’s mother lived in the Garden District home where Davis stayed and was there when he passed away. Mrs. LeBreton...
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Predicting Pearl Harbor
As the 78th anniversary of Pearl Harbor nears, December 7, Mark revisits his interview with historian Ron Drez. They discuss his book, Predicting Pearl Harbor: Billy Mitchell and the Path to War. Gen. Billy Mitchell recognized the signs and foresaw the eventual showdown between the two nations―eighteen years before the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. Yet...
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Conspiracy Theories: JFK and Pearl Harbor
As the 78th anniversary of Pearl Harbor nears, December 7, Mark revisits his interview with historian Marty Morgan on “Conspiracy theories: JFK and Pearl Harbor.” They discuss Lee Harvey Oswald, the new JFK documents that have been released and conspiracy theories that have revolved around the Pearl Harbor attack. Photo: The USS Arizona burning after the...
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The Civil War’s Environmental Impact
What was the environmental impact of the Civil War? Considering that a battle was a major man-made disaster, someone had to take care of the biological mess that resulted. Countless dead bodies of men, horses and mules and amputated limbs were left behind. Whole armies encamped and left spills of gunpowder, lead and other substances....
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First World War with Gary Sheffield – Part II
As the anniversary of the end of WWI nears, Professor Gary Sheffield, one of Britain’s foremost experts on WWI, returns to offer insightful analysis of the conclusion of the War to End All Wars. Mark and Professor Sheffield discuss America’s participation in the Great War, the end of hostilities, the Armistice of 11 November 1918...
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First World War with Gary Sheffield – Part I
WWI ended November 11, 1918. Reflecting on this anniversary, Mark reprises his discussion with Professor Gary Sheffield, one of Britain’s foremost experts on WWI, who wrote the book, The First World War, published in association with the Imperial War Museum. Mark and Professor Sheffield review the War up until the end and American involvement in...
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Hood’s Texas Brigade
Shortly after organizing on October 22, 1861, John Bell Hood took command of the Texas Brigade. By the end of the Civil War, this unit had fought in all the battles engaged in by the Army of Northern Virginia except Chancellorsville. Mark and Susannah J. Ural, a professor of history at the University of Southern...
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Beyond the Beach: The Allied War Against France
Mark’s guest is Steve Bourque, whose book, Beyond the Beach: The Allied War Against France, takes on a subject often ignored in historical accounts. Bourque explores the effects of Allied air attacks on French towns and infrastructure in 1944 as part of the D-Day Invasion and war with Nazi Germany. In discussing the book, they...
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Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis
Mark returns to a discussion of the Cold War and the origins of the conflict between superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He pays special attention to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. This was the two-week confrontation that kept the world on edge and in fear of escalating tensions that could lead to...
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