France: Heroism

How did WW1 change America's place in the world? Jonathan Dimbleby presents a public debate from the US Library of Congress in Washington 

How did technological and industrial development revolutionise World War One? The tank, gas, flame throwers, Zeppelins were like nothing that had been experienced before. 

A century ago a shot rang out in Sarajevo which set the world on a path to war. How did the peace made after WW1 influence the ethnic conflicts in the region during the 1990s? 

“Rats came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses, and multiplied exceedingly. A new officer joined the company and...when he turned in that night he heard a scuffling, shone his torch on the bed, and found two rats on his blanket tussling for the possession of a severed ... Show More

What was it really like to live and fight in WW1 trench? Why was throwing your empty food tins into No Man’s Land a death sentence? And what was the worst care package a Tommy could receive from home? Speaking with Emily Briffett, Peter Hart answers listener questions on life in ... Show More

<p>Warning: this episode contains graphic details of injuries.</p><br><p>The brutal nature of the First World War presented frontline medical personnel with an array of horrific and debilitating wounds, inflicted on a previously unimaginable scale. From gas attacks and bayonet wo ... Show More

How ordinary people – soldiers, mothers, nurses, even children – experienced World War One and the little-known human side of the world's first truly global conflict. With stories of love, loss, hope and fervour. 

When do spirit, tenacity, resilience and bravery cross into madness? When cities are incinerated? When suicide attacks become the norm? When atomic weapons are used? Japan's leaders test the limits of national endurance in the war's last year. 

World War I was known as the War to End All Wars due to its scale and loss of life. At the height of the fighting, when American soldiers on the front lines longed for home, an unlikely beacon of hope arrived. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for info ... Show More

Can suicidal bravery and fanatical determination make up for material, industrial and numerical insufficiency? As the Asia-Pacific conflict turns against the Japanese these questions are put to the test. The results are nightmarish. 

War often drives innovation — often out of desperation. In World War I, doctors were overwhelmed and dangerously short on supplies, especially bandages. With no end in sight for the cotton shortage, ingenious doctors found an unlikely (and superior) alternative: peat moss. Learn ... Show More

The First World War was an unprecedented crisis, with communities and societies enduring the unimaginable hardships of a prolonged conflict on an industrial scale. In Belgium and France, the terrible capacity of modern weaponry destroyed the natural world and exposed previously he ... Show More

The slaughter and bloodshed on the Western Front in World War One helped shape the narrative of the 20th century. But was it a case of lions led by donkeys? Gary Sheffield, historian and author of Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realities, joins Tom Holland and ... Show More