The historian Keith Lowe, author of the best-selling The Savage Continent, discusses what happened in the aftermath of the Second World War, which left a world in ruins, tens of millions of refugees, and a slide into anarchy and chaos. As the world was slowly rebuilt, this aspect of the war was forgotten - but it had a lasting impact.The music in this episode is from Ida Pinkert's 'Four Songs', played by the Nimrod Ensemble of Berlin as part of the Lebensmelodien project, which seeks to rediscover the lost music of composers affected by the Holocaust (www.lebensmelodien.com).
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WW2/Episode 9 - America's 'Good War'
Professor John Bodnar, author of The 'Good War' in American Memory, discusses America's World War Two. The United States came out of the conflict as a victorious superpower. But this has encouraged a narrative of American exceptionalism which has not lived up to critical scrutiny, with historians revealing a divided and often violent country during the war years.The music in this episode is from Ida Pinkert's 'Four Songs', played by the Nimrod Ensemble of Berlin as part of the Lebensmelodien project, which seeks to rediscover the lost music of composers affected by the Holocaust (www.lebensmelodien.com).
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WW2/Episode 8 - The Soviet-German War
Professor Geoffrey Roberts explains why the Soviet-German conflict on the Eastern front was the decisive theatre of the Second World War: without it, Nazi Germany would certainly have taken much longer to defeat. Despite this, outside military accounts, the Red Army's struggle has been overshadowed in Western narratives by the Anglo-American war effort. Professor Roberts corrects the balance.The music in this episode is from Ida Pinkert's 'Four Songs', played by the Nimrod Ensemble of Berlin as part of the Lebensmelodien project, which seeks to rediscover the lost music of composers affected by the Holocaust (www.lebensmelodien.com).
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WW2/Episode 7 - The Underground War
HALIK KOCHANSKI is the author of the award-winning Resistance, a sweeping account of the underground war across Nazi-occupied Europe. She tells a much more complex story than usual of subversion, SOE, partisans and civil war, as well as desperate Jewish defiance.The music in this episode is from Ida Pinkert's 'Four Songs', played by the Nimrod Ensemble of Berlin as part of the Lebensmelodien project, which seeks to rediscover the lost music of composers affected by the Holocaust (www.lebensmelodien.com).
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WW2/Episode 6 - China's War
PROFESSOR HANS VAN DE VEN reveals a WW2 narrative that will be unfamiliar to most of us - China's epic war of resistance against Japan in the years 1937-45 and how it created the Communist giant that has become the global superpower of today.The music in this episode is from Ida Pinkert's 'Four Songs', played by the Nimrod Ensemble of Berlin as part of the Lebensmelodien project, which seeks to rediscover the lost music of composers affected by the Holocaust (www.lebensmelodien.com).
Leading historians challenge the received narratives of the First and Second World Wars (WW1 and WW2). Two podcast series of 10 Episodes each, created by Michael Baker.
New Zealand