Oh! What a lovely podcast

Can a story about soldiers shaking hands in the snow carry a warning for the nuclear age? This episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast brings Jessica, Chris and Angus together with Anne Marie Einhaus for a conversation about Robert Graves short story Christmas Truce. The story appears in the Penguin Book of First World War Stories and follows an elderly veteran who recalls the rare moments in 1914 and 1915 when soldiers on both sides met peacefully in the frozen landscape between the trenches. Through these memories the veteran describes friendship that cuts through wartime propaganda, as well as the swift return of violence. Set against a discussion with his grandson in the early 1960s, the story contrasts youthful optimism in the anti nuclear movement with the weary caution of lived experience. It is a thoughtful look at the limits of goodwill and the forces that shape conflict. References: Graves, R. (2007) 'Christmas Truce', in Ein­haus, A-M. (ed.) The Penguin Book of First World War Stories. London: Penguin Classics Keynes, G. (1962) A Bibliography of Siegfried Sassoon. London: R. Hart-Davis. Levy, D. (dir.) (1995) Silent Night (Stille Nacht)

Was Blackadder Goes Forth the most powerful portrayal of the First World War ever put on television? In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, Jessica, Chris and Angus take a look at the enduring legacy of Blackadder Goes Forth. First broadcast on BBC One in 1989, the series blended sharp wit and biting satire with a surprisingly moving look at life – and death – on the Western Front. The team discuss how the show evolved, the historical realities behind its humour, and why that unforgettable final scene still resonates decades later. They also explore how Blackadder helped shape popular perceptions of the Great War, influencing how generations have come to understand the conflict and its soldiers. So, was Blackadder Goes Forth just a comedy – or something far more profound?   References: Badsey, S. (2014) The Two Western Fronts: The First World War and the Second World War in British History and Memory. London: Continuum. Barker, P. (1991) Regeneration. London: Viking. BBC (1964) The Great War [Television series]. London: BBC. Bet-El, I. (1999) Conscripts: Lost Legacies of the Great War. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. Iserwood, I. (2017) Remembering the Great War: The Nation, the Public and the First World War Commemoration. London: Bloomsbury. Newman, S. (dir.) (2025) The ChoralFaulks, S. (1993) Birdsong. London: Hutchinson.

How did the First World War bring down Europe's great dynasties, and how did the BBC retell that story on screen? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we look at Fall of Eagles, the 1974 BBC drama that charts the decline of the Romanovs, Hohenzollerns, and Habsburgs. Across 13 episodes, the series follows the personal rivalries, dynastic struggles, and political failures that led to the collapse of three empires during the Great War. Created by John Elliot and produced by Stuart Burge, the show boasted an impressive cast and scripts from writers such as Jack Pulman (I, Claudius) and Troy Kennedy Martin (The Italian Job). Critics praised its scope and performances, even if it sometimes focused more on palace drama than wider historical forces. Join Angus, Jessica, and Chris as they discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and legacy of this ambitious attempt to dramatise the road to 1914 and the end of Empire.   Links: The Fall of Empires, BBC (1973) I, Claudius, BBC (1976) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) The Sweeny (1975-78) The Italian Job (1969) Oh! What a lovely war (1969) Blackadder Goes Forth, BBC (1989) Britain's Great War, BBC (2014) Adrian Gregory, The Last Great War (2008) Alan Clark, Lions Led By Donkeys (1961) Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1987) Television Heaven

In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, Angus, Chris, Jessica, and returning guest Ann-Marie Einhaus discuss War-Time in Our Street by J. E. Buckrose.   Set in a fictional Yorkshire village, these stories capture everyday resilience, humour, and quiet courage — from blackout chapel services and food shortages to romances and small acts of kindness amid wartime hardships.   Buckrose, the pen name of Annie Edith Jameson, was a prolific writer who produced more than forty novels exploring domestic life and family tensions with gentle humour. War-Time in Our Street offers a fascinating glimpse of how ordinary people became part of the wider war effort.     ReferencesJE Buckhouse,  WarTime In Our Street  (1917) – Down Our Street Dorothy Whipple, High Wages (1930) Dad's Army  (1968-1977) Sandra Kemp, Charlotte Mitchell, and David Trotter, Oxford Companion to Edwardian Fiction (1997) Sapper, Sergeant Michael Cassidy RE (1915) Robert Harris, Act of Oblivion (2022) Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995) - Shrines of Gaiety (2022) Angela Brazil Eden Phillpotts, The Humand Boy and the War (1919) Jesse Pope Jean Webster, Daddy-Long-Legs (1912) Ann-Marie Einhaus & Barbara Korte, The Penguin Book of First World War Stories: From Arthur Machen to Julian Barnes (2007)

What do young adults think of First World War fiction aimed at them? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we hand the mic to a group of young readers to hear their thoughts on The Boy I Loved by William Hussey, a novel exploring the impact of war on love, identity and loss. After their thoughtful reviews, Chris, Jessica and Angus reflect on the responses and what they reveal about how the war is understood today.

What makes a 50-year-old book on WWI still essential reading? In this episode, Angus, Jessica, and Chris are joined by Ian Isherwood and Steven Trout, authors of But It Still Goes On: Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory at 50. We revisit Fussell's classic, exploring its legacy, impact, and the debates it continues to spark in the world of war literature and memory studies.   References:Ian Isherwood and Steven Trout, But it Still Goes On: Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory at 50, The Journal of Military History Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory --- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War--- Class: A Guide Through the American Status System--- Doing Battle: The Making of a SkepticFrederic Manning, Her Privates WeSiegfried Sassoon, The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston Max Ploughman, A Subaltern on the SommeRobert Graves, Goodbye To All ThatDan Todman, The Great War: Myth and MemoryRC Sherriff, Journey's EndSamuel Hynes, A War ImaginedCharles Edmonds, A Subaltern's War

What happens when a controversial real-life figure becomes the centre of one of the BBC's most politically charged wartime dramas? In this episode, we revisit The Monocled Mutineer (1986), Alan Bleasdale's adaptation of the story of Percy Toplis — alleged ringleader of the 1917 Étaples mutiny. The four-part series drew huge audiences but quickly became a flashpoint in debates over historical accuracy, media bias, and the BBC's role in shaping national memory. We unpack the drama's reception, the historical evidence (or lack thereof) behind Toplis's role in the mutiny, and how the show explored themes of class, power, and military discipline in the First World War. References:Emma Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain (2009) John Buchan, The 39 Steps (1915) William Hussey, The Boy I loved (2025) Boys from the Black Stuff (1982) Dope Girls (2025) The Crimson Field (2014) Hornblower (1998-2003) Masters of the Air (2024) Sharpe (1993-2008)

What was the real story behind the BBC series Dope Girls? In this episode of Oh What a Lovely Podcast, we dive into the world of Soho's underground nightlife in the 1920s, as seen in the BBC's new drama Dope Girls. The series takes inspiration from Marek Kohn's book Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground and brings to life the turbulent years after the First World War, when jazz clubs, crime, and vice flourished in London. Joining us to separate fact from fiction is Professor Matthew Houlbrook, a leading historian of 20th-century Britain. We explore the real figures and stories behind Dope Girls, the shifting social landscape of post-war Britain, and how the show reflects the era's struggles with gender, crime, and morality. References: Marek Kohn, Dope Girls: The Birth Of The British Drug Underground  Kate Atkinson, Shrines of Gaiety Matt Houlbrook, Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957 Downton Abbey Robert Graves & Alan Hodge, The Long Weekend: A Social History of Great Britain 1918-1939 Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests

What happens when a late-twentieth-century detective novelist develops strong opinions about the First World War?   This month Angus, Jessica and Chris discuss Reginald Hill's The Wood Beyond (1995) and the short story 'Silent Night' from the collection A Candle for Christmas (2023). Along the way, we consider the significance of the genealogy boom to the historiography of the war, the politics of the Shot at Dawn campaign and the tradition of novelists inventing fictional regiments.   References: Midsummer Murders The Sweeney Who Do You Think You Are? Not Forgotten (2005-2009) Pat Barker, Regeneration (1991) Sebastian Japrisot, A Very Long Engagement (1994) Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong (1993) Blackadder Goes Forth (1983) The Monocled Mutineer (1986) Alan Clark, The Donkeys (1961) Reginald Hill, Arms and the Women (1999) ________. On Beulah Height (1998) ________. Recalled to Life (1992) ________. Exit Lines (1984) Helen McCartney, Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War (2005) Peter Simkins, Kitchener's Army: The Raising of the New Armies, 1914-1916 (2007) Arthur Marwick, The Deluge: British Society and the First World War (1965) Susan Grayzel, Women's Identities at War (1999) Tammy Proctor, Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War (2003) Alison Fell, Women as Veterans in Britain and France after the First World War (2018) Oh! What a lovely podcast, Black Hand Gang Oh! What a lovely podcast, The Warm Hands of Ghosts

What happens when you combine the First World War with a 1970s cult sci-fi classic?   This month we watched 'Assignment 2' from the television series Sapphire & Steel which features a ghostly First World War soldier haunting an abandoned railway station. Along the way we discuss differing approaches to sacrifice, the idea of an 'unjust' death, and where the show sits on our ongoing 'creepy' list.

What do you do when a student brings you a collection of family papers in a Harrods tin?  This month, Chris, Angus and Jessica speak to Professor Ian Isherwood about his new book, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front. Along the way, we discuss developing digital humanities projects, the involvement of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in rambling and the proliferation of bad war poetry. References: Ian Isherwood, The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front Ian Isherwood, The First World War Letters of H.J.C. Peirs Michael Roper, Afterlives of War: A Descendant's History

How do you walk people through First World War landscapes?   This month we welcome back Prof Mark Connelly to discuss his new walking tours endeavour Connelly Contours. Along the way we discuss war memorials in the London landscape, the evolution of remembrance, and if bad weather provides important context.

How do you teach the FIrst World War? This month we're joined by Dr Ann-Marie Einhaus and Prof Catriona Pennell to reflect on their 'First World War in the Classroom' project that explored the ways the conflict was taught in schools. Along the way we discuss the role of battlefield tours, the time constraints faced by teachers, and whether the centenary has changed the way the war is taught' References:The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory  

Can you turn the First World War into sketch comedy? This month we talk to the public historian, podcaster, and author Greg Jenner. Along the way we discuss his work on the Horrible Histories television show, the difficulties of being funny about twentieth-century history, the different ways in which the public now consume history, and why Jessica might be considering changing career to become a comedian.   References:Horrible Histories (2008-Present) You're Dead to Me (2020-Present)

What happens when the First World War meets pulp science fiction?   This month we read the novel: Black Hand Gang (the first in the No Man's World trilogy) by Pat Kelleher. The book depicts a fictional battalion of British soldiers who are transported from the Somme to a strange alien world. As a result we discuss supernatural horror and the war, the use of slang, and whether this book was written explicitly for Chris.   References: Pat Kelleher, Black Hand Gang (No Man's Word Book 1) (2011) Daniel Dafoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719) Dennis Wheatley, The Devil Rides Out (1934) Pat Barker, Regeneration (1991) Neil Gaiman, The Sandman (1989 - present) Juno Dawson, Her Majesty's Royal Coven (2022) Reginal Hill, The Wood Beyond (1995) Blackadder Goes Forth, BBC TV (1989) Pat Mills, Charley's War (1979-1986) Brian Lumbley HG Wells HP Lovecraft

What happens when fantasy meets the First World War?   This month, we read 'The Warm Hands of Ghosts' by Katherine Arden, a novel which follows Canadian nurse Laura Iven as she searches for her brother behind the lines in the militarised area known as the 'Forbidden Zone'. The plot hinges around a mysterious character called Faland, who runs an elusive hotel with no set location that men find to drink and relax   In the discussion, we consider the fictional use of historical characters, whether the war began in 1917, and Chris' new scale for measuring war-related novels. Links: Neil Gaiman, The Sandman (1989-present) Alice Winn, In Memoriam (2023) Robert Graves, Good-bye To All That (1929) Mary Borden, The Forbidden Zone (1929) L. M. Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside (1921) The Battle of the Somme (1916) R. H. Mottram, The Spanish Farm Trilogy (1930) Lesley Glaister, Blasted Things (2020) Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (1975) Owen Davies, A Supernatural War (2018) Lucifer (2016-2021) Pierre Purseigle, Mobilisation, Sacrifice et Citoyenneté. Des communautés locales face à la guerre moderne. Angleterre – France, 1900-1918 (2013) Women at War (2022) Rachel Duffett, The Stomach for Fighting (2012) Kate Macdonald, The first cyborg and First World War bodies as anti-war propaganda (2016) Kim Newman, The Bloody Red Baron (1995) Pat Kelleher, Black Hand Gang (2010) Nicci French  

This month Angus, Chris and Jessica discuss Jessica's professorial inaugural lecture, 'No (Wo)man's Land: writing history at the intersection of gender and First World War studies'.   Along the way we consider the problem of masculinity as an empty analytic category, the importance of the centenary for the study of the First World War and what Jessica might have done if she hadn't gone in to academia. There is also a sneak preview of exciting forthcoming and future projects from all three of us.     References: Jessica Meyer, 'On Being a Woman and a War Historian' Jessica Meyer, Men of War: Masculinity and the First World War in Britain (2008) Jessica Meyer, Equal Burden: The Men of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War (2019) Kate Adie, Fighting on the Home Front: The Legacy of Women in World War One (2013) Kate Adie, 'Don't write first world war women out of history', The Guardian, 23rd September, 2013 Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August (1962) Deborah Thom, Nice Girls and Rude Girls: Women Workers in World War 1 (1998) Tammy Proctor, Female Intelligence: Women and Espionage in the First World War (2003) Margaret MacMillan, Peacemakers (2001) Adrian Gregory, The Last Great War (2008) Jeremy Paxman, Great Britain's Great War (2013) John Tosh and Michael Roper (eds), Manful Assertions: Masculinities in Britain Since 1800 (1991) Denise Riley, Am I That Name?: Feminism and the Category of 'Women' (1988) R.W. Connell, Masculinities (1993) Joan W. Scott, 'Rewriting History' in Margaret R. Higonnet, et. al. (eds), Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars (2008) Branden Little (ed), Humanitarianism in the Era of the First World War, special issue ofFirst World War Studies, vol.5, no.1 (2014) Heather Perry, Recycling the Disabled: Army, Medicine, and Modernity in World War I Germany (2014) Michele Moyd, Violent Intermediaries: African Soldiers, Conquest, and Everyday Colonialism in German East Africa (2014) Susan Grayzel, Women and the First World War (2002) Alexander Mayhew, Making Sense of the Great War: Crisis, Englishness and Morale on the Western Front (2024) Alice Winn, In Memoriam (2023), https://ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk/podcast/in-memoriam/ Sam Mendes, 1917 (2019), https://ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk/podcast/sam-mendes-1917-and-the-landscape/ Peter Mandler, 'The Problem with Cultural History', Cultural and Social History, vol.1, no.1 (2004), 94-117. Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (1975) Robert Graves, Good-bye to All That (1929) Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) Rosa Maria Bracco, Merchants of Hope: British Middlebrow Writers and the First World War (1993) Pat Barker, Regeneration (1991) Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong (1993) Alison Light, Forever England: Femininity, Literature, and Conservatism Between the Wars (1991) Jessica Meyer, Chris Kempshall and Markus Pöhlman, 'Life and Death of Soldiers', 1914-18 Online, 7th February, 2022 Chris Kempshall, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire (2024) Katherine Arden, The Warm Hands of Ghosts (2024)

What happens when three historians watch a key play about the First World War? This month we took a field trip to see Oh What A Lovely War at the Leeds Playhouse. As a result we discuss the nature of the performance, the changing image of Douglas Haig, and wonder whether audiences were supposed to sing along. ReferencesAlan Clark, The Donkeys (1961) John McCrae, In Flanders Field (1915) William Phillpot, Bloody Victory: The Sacrifice on the Somme and the Making of the Twentieth Century (2010) Dan Todman, The Great War in Myth and Memory (2005) Oh! What a lovely war (Original London Cast) (1983)  

What opportunities did the First World War provide for cultural tourism? This month Angus, Jessica and Chris speak to Allison Bennett, winner of the 2023 Gail Braybon Award for her work on war-time cross-cultural sexual encounters during the First World War. Along the way we discuss #MeToo, and the post-war legacies of these encounters for families, and the popularity of the Pyramids and camels as a tourist attractions. References:GallipoliPeter Stanley, Bad CharactersAlexia Moncrieff, Expertise, Authority and ControlAlan Beyerchen and Emre Spencer (eds.), Expeditionary Forces in the First World WarTomas Irish, Universities at WarRudyard Kipling, KimThe Arabian Nights

What happens when you turn a First World War medical process into a computer game?   This month Angus, Jessica, and Chris take control of wartime medicine in the game War Hospital. Along the way we discuss the importance of evacuation, difficult ethical decisions, and why Chris' conscience is completely clear. If you listen to this episode and share it on social media you can also win a free copy of the game!   References: War Hospital (2024) An Unequal Burden, Jessica Meyer (2019) Regeneration, Pat Barker (1991)