From Napoleonic battles to Cold War confrontations, the Normandy landings to 9/11, this podcast opens up fascinating new perspectives on how wars have shaped and changed our modern world. Each week, twice a week, war historian, writer, and broadcaster, James Rogers, teams up with fellow historians, veterans, and experts to reveal astonishing new histories of inspirational leadership, breakthrough technologies, and era defining battles. Together they highlight the stark realities and consequences of global warfare. Join us on the front line of military history.
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What if we could take people completely out of the equation when planning military strikes? ‘Lethal autonomous weapons systems’ use artificial intelligence to identify, select and kill human targets without human intervention. Whilst with unmanned military drones, the decision to strike is made r...
Siegfried Sassoon is one of the most famous poets of the 20th century. But he is also famous as a soldier, decorated for his bravery on the battlefield of World War One, who then became a vocal critic of the war upon his return. After acclaimed premiere screenings at TIFF, San Sebastian and the B...
Robert ‘Bob’ Binzer wanted to be a pilot from a young age, and during the Second World War he got his wish. Bob was an aviator with the United States Air Force in the China, Burma and India (CBI) theatre of the war; carrying critical supplies, weapons and even soldiers over the Himalayan mountain...
Whether talking about shell shock, war neurosis, combat trauma or PTSD; the impacts of war zones on those who fight in them or encounter them have long been discussed. With increasing understanding, however, definitions and treatments continue to change.
In this episode, James is joined by Dr He...
Enrique ‘Ric’ Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled revolutionary Cuba and their home for the hope of a better life in America.
Ric joins James for today's episode - retired fr...
As the Cold War came to an end, US President George H.W. Bush defined his 1992 election bid in terms of the War on Drugs. It was said that there was no longer a Soviet foe to grapple with and that, instead, illegal narcotics now posed an existential threat to the American people.
Yet as it turns...
Stalin, the 'Man of Steel' and supreme ruler of the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century, is readily associated with his ruthless regime inside the USSR, and with his fierce opposition to Western Europe and the United States during the Cold War. Commonly, however, this is set aside for narrati...
As the reality of atrocities in Ukraine continues to be uncovered, we look back at a massacre of Polish officers in the Second World War, the truth of which continues to be exposed to this day. Under the orders of Stalin, the NKVD underwent a secret operational order, which to this very day is st...
In September 2001, Al-Qaeda has struck and America is aghast. Eight brave CIA officers set the pace, being the first American to step foot on enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. Under the codename Team Alpha, Their mission was to protect America.
In this episode, James is joined by Toby Harn...
The Falklands War, or the Guerra de las Malvinas? For today’s guest, it was the latter. Roberto Herrscher grew up singing the songs of the Malvinas at school, and in 1982 was conscripted into the Argentinian Navy to fight against the British.
In this episode, find out what it was like to be con...
As Europe prepared for the Second World War, a challenge presented itself to the men and women of Britain’s museums, galleries and archives: how could they keep their many national treasures safe? From stately homes and slate mines, to castles and prisons, in today’s episode Dr Caroline Shenton e...
The role of successful and strategic intelligence operations is a vital part of determining the outcomes of battles and wars. But with every decision having the potential of catastrophic repercussions, how do you even begin to gather intelligence on a new foe? In this third installment of a new m...
On the 7th April 1945, 702 French members of the Special Air Service parachuted into the Netherlands to recapture Dutch canals, bridges and airfields in the fight against the occupiers. This was one of the last major airborne missions of the Second World War and, despite a multitude of difficulti...
As a mist set in and the sea began to swell, British and Argentine warships circled one another off the coast of the Falkland Islands. Yet hidden beneath the waves, HMS Conqueror - a Royal Navy nuclear submarine - stalked the packed decks of the Belgrano.
This pivotal day 40 years ago witnessed...
On November 15 2021 Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon, shattering one of their own satellites into over a thousand pieces. This space debris will orbit the Earth for a very long time, posing a threat to space travel and other satellites.
With space increasingly becoming a site of military a...
April 2022 marks 40 years since the beginning of the Falklands War - but how and why did such a tiny plot of land in the South Atlantic become the setting of an international conflict?
In this first episode of a new miniseries from Warfare focusing on the Falklands War, James is joined by geopol...
Did build up to World War Two only begin in the 20th Century, or was the century of violent imperial expansion before 1939 the ultimate cause of one of the deadliest conflicts marked in modern history? In this episode James is joined by historian and author Richard Overy to discuss his fresh pers...
The conflict we know today as the Vietnam War–involving the United States and the Viet Cong–was actually the second of the Indochina Wars, the first having been fought shortly after WW2 between France and the Viet Minh.
In this episode James is joined by Dr Pablo de Orellana of King's College Lo...
His ideas were cast aside in the early 20th century, but later went on to help Allied forces win the Second World War, but who was Julian Corbett and what were his recommendations on strategy? By combining history, emerging technology, and geopolitical structures - Corbett revolutionised the conc...
Russia and the UK have very different political structures and ambitions, and the relationship between them has fluctuated in the period between their alliance at the Battle of Navarino in 1827 and the present. In this episode of Warfare, James is joined by Lord David Owen, who formerly served as...
Boko Haram is one of the largest Islamist militant groups in Africa, with Nigeria’s ongoing battle with insurgent groups and government corruption threatening the stability and political integrity of Africa’s most populous state. But who exactly is Boko Haram? In this episode of Warfare, James is...
Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine has seen warfare return to the streets of Europe for the first time in decades, with Putin's troops launching major offensives to take key cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa. Both Ukrainian soldiers and civilians continue to mount fierce resistance agains...
In February 2022, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss voiced her support for those individuals who wanted to travel to Ukraine to help, what she interpreted as, "a fight for democracy". These comments have come under fire from fellow politicians, journalists, and former members of the Armed Forces - b...
By law, gay men and women were banned from serving in the British military until the year 2000. Until then, over 250 service personnel were thrown out of the military each year because of their sexuality alone.
In this episode, James is joined by Ed Hall, who was sacked by the Royal Navy for bei...
