World War II didn’t appear out of nowhere. Dr. Roy begins by going back to the 18th and 19th centuries, explaining how the rise of the British Empire, the exploitation of India, the discovery of oil, and the unification of Germany set the stage for catastrophe. Along the way, he explores how nationalism spread through Europe, how industrialization and imperi ... Show More
Jan 14
Khalid ibn al-Walid: Profile of a Warrior
Khalid ibn al-Walid was one of the most formidable military commanders in history, operating at the precise moment when the Roman and Persian empires were exhausted, fragile, and unprepared for what came next. In this lecture, Dr. Roy Casagranda traces Khalid’s rise from opponent ... Show More
1h 14m
Jan 7
The Most Serene Republic of Venice
Venice was not founded in a moment, but across centuries of collapse, migration, and improvisation. In this lecture, Dr. Roy traces how the fall of the Western Roman Empire, repeated invasions, and the strange geography of the Venetian Lagoon produced one of the most durable repu ... Show More
1h 16m
Jul 2024
469. The Road to The Great War: Countdown to Armageddon (Part 1)
By the end of July 1914, the world hovered on the edge of a cataclysmic world war; Austria was at war with Serbia, Russia with Germany, and an ultimatum had been handed to Belgium. The July crisis had resolved itself in the most calamitous way possible. But how did this state of ... Show More
48m 40s
May 2025
La Seconde Guerre mondiale : mythes, réalités et fractures, avec Olivier Wieviorka
Faites un don et recevez un cadeau : http://don.storiavoce.com/ [Rediffusion] La Seconde Guerre mondiale demeure un conflit entouré de mythes et d’interprétations multiples. Dans cet épisode, l’historien Olivier Wieviorka, auteur de Histoire totale de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ... Show More
1h 10m
Jun 2022
100: Nomonhan Pt. 2 - Opening Phases
The summer of 1939, near the Mongolian village of Nomonhan, would see the largest clash between the Soviet Union and Japan of the interwar years, and it would have important ramifications for relations between the two nations as the world was rapidly descending into war.
Sources: ... Show More
26m 37s
Jul 2024
470. The Road to The Great War: The Kaiser’s Blank Cheque (Part 2)
In the wake of the cataclysmic assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914, in Austria, the long percolating question of what to do about Serbia, reached a climax. At last, they had been handed an opportunity to take decisive action. On Sunday 5th of July an emissar ... Show More
45m 8s
Oct 7
Andrew Lambert, "No More Napoleons: How Britain Managed Europe from Waterloo to World War One" (Yale UP, 2025)
How, for just over a century, Britain ensured it would not face another Napoleon Bonaparte--manipulating European powers while building a global maritime empire At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, a fragile peace emerged in Europe. The continent's borders were redrawn, and ... Show More
53m 54s