History Happy Hour

This Week on History Happy Hour: We’ll explore the history of the British and German war dead buried on enemy soil in the two world wars. How did Germany and Britain remember, commemorate, and reconcile the legacy of their fallen soldiers? Chris and Rick will speak with our guest, Tim Brady, author of Burying the Dead: Those who Cared for the Dead in Two World Wars. Sunday at 4PM ET, on History Happy Hour, where history is always on tap. Tim Grady is professor of modern history at the University of Chester.  Much of his research has explored the human experience of the world wars and the contested legacies of conflict.  He is the author of A Deadly Legacy, and The German-Jewish Soldiers of the First World War in History and Memory.

This Week on History Happy Hour: We travel back to the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin.  As financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany.   Our guest is Timothy Ryback, author of Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power, a story of backroom deals, unlikely alliances, stunning betrayals, an ill-timed tax audit, and a fateful weekend that changed our world forever.   Timothy Ryback has written on history and politics for more than three decades. He is the author of Hitler’s Private Library, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and The Last Survivor, a New York Times Notable Book. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and the Financial Times. He is cofounder and director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague.

This Week on History Happy Hour: Eighty years ago, Japan surrendered to the Allies after three of the most devastating bombing attacks of the war – two nuclear weapons and the fire-bombing of Tokyo. What was the decision-making process in this endgame of World War II? Was it just the atomic bomb that brought about Japan’s surrender? This week, Chris and Rick will chat with HHH Alum, Richard Overy, author of Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan. Richard Overy is Professor of History at the University of Exeter, one of Britain's most distinguished historians and an internationally renowned scholar of World War II. (He’s also a History Happy Hour Alum!) He is the recipient of the Hessell-Tiltman Prize, the Wolfson History Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize and is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Historical Society. His many works include The Bombing War, Dictators and The Morbid Age.

This Week on History Happy Hour: A trip back to the last 12 months of the Civil War, going behind the scenes in the White House, along the battlefronts in Virginia, and into the conspiracies of spies and secret agents. Our tour guide is Scott Ellsworth, author of Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America by Scott Ellsworth. Scott Ellsworth is the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Game, winner of the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing. He has written about American history for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Formerly a historian at the Smithsonian Institution, he is also the author of The World Beneath Their Feet and Death in a Promised Land, his groundbreaking account of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Scott lives in Ann Arbor, where he teaches at the University of Michigan.

This Week on History Happy Hour: Our guest had technical problems, so Chris and Rick engaged in an hour of History happy Talk, answering questions, chatting about tours, aqueezing in the Ghost Army wherever possible!  We will be rescheduling our guest, Tim Brady, author of "A Light in the Northern Sky" for some day in the future! Sunday at 4PM ET, on History Happy Hour, where history is always on tap.

This Week on History Happy Hour: The 381st Bomb Group went into action over the skies of Europe in June 1943, and flew 297 missions before the end of the war. Based out of Ridgewell, UK, their story is the story of the 8th Air Force and the daylight bombing of Europe – hours of frozen monotony, moments of sheer terror over target, horrifying casualties, and ultimate victory. Chris and Rick will dig into their story with Paul Bingley, co-author of the book “Bomb Group: The Eighth Air Force's 381st and The Allied Air Offensive Over Europe.” Paul Bingley has worked in aviation for the past 30 years. He most recently helped market the world’s heaviest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 'Mriya'. He is the current chairman of the Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum in Essex and regularly delivers talks on the history of Ridgewell, and its long-term tenants, the 381st Bomb Group.

This Week on History Happy Hour: A detailed look at the city of Naples during and after its liberation by the Allies in World War II.  Keith Lowe is our guest this week and has written about this in his new book Naples 1944: The Devil's Paradise at War. His book explores the corruption, and social breakdown that followed the liberation, highlighting the stark contrasts between the wealthy Allied soldiers and the starving, impoverished population. For a packet of cigarettes, even the lowest ranks could buy themselves a watch, a new suit or a woman for the night. It's a story of a city on the brink, revealing the darker aspects of postwar Italy and the unexpected consequences of war. Keith Lowe is an award-winning author of many books including of Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II, and the critically acclaimed history Inferno: The Fiery Devastation of Hamburg, 1943. His 2017 book about the long-term, global, psychological effects of the Second World War, The Fear and the Freedom, was described by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the best, most useful books on World War II to have emerged in the past decade.”  He came on History Happy Hour in 2021to discuss his book Prisoners of War: What Monuments to the Second World War Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves, and returned in 2022 to take part in a panel discussion on the war in Ukraine. Widely recognized as an authority on the Second World War, he regularly speaks on TV and radio, and has lectured at universities, conferences and literary festivals all over the world. He lives in North London with his wife and two kids.

This Week on History Happy Hour: As we approach the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb, HHH alum Garrett Graff has come out with a new oral history of the development of the bomb: The Devil Reached Toward the Sky. Chris and Rick will explore with him the breakthroughs and the breakneck pace of atomic development in the years leading up to 1945, what it was like inside the bombers carrying Little Boy and Fat Man and finally to ground zero at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Garrett M. Graff is a journalist, historian, producer, and speaker. He taught at Georgetown University for seven years, including courses on journalism and technology, and his writing and commentary has appeared in publications like the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New York, Bloomberg. He appeared on History Happy Hour to talk about his D-Day Oral History, When the Sea came Alive. His book Watergate: A New History was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is also the author of The Only Plane in the Sky, an oral history of 9/11. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

This Week on History Happy Hour: National History Day! Since 1974, National History Day has been inspiring students to study history, whether public, private, parochial, charter, or homeschool. Today, the nonprofit organization reaches over 500,000 students every year who conduct historical research to discover the past, understand the present, and be the future. For more than 50 years, high school and middle school students across the country have created historical research projects to compete in a nationwide contest. This year half a million students took part. But National History Day lost all its federal funding this year. Will it be able to continue? Today Chris and Rick interview some of the students who won this year, and talk with NHD Executive Director Cathy Gorn about the future of this important institution. Dr. Cathy Gorn joined National History Day in 1982, the same year she received her BA in English from Kent State. She also earned a PHD from Case Western Reserve in 1992. Her publications on teaching history to young people have appeared in several professional journals. In addition, Dr. Gorn contributed to and served as editor for more than 40 curriculum guides and projects for National History Day. She currently serves on the White House Historical Association Education Committee and the National Capital Radio & Television Museum Board of Trustees. Student Guests: Winners from the 2025 NHD Contest Theme: "Rights and Responsibilities in History"Alekha Goldberg, Junior Individual Exhibit, First Place Affiliate: CaliforniaProject title: "Returning Blue Lake: The Confluence of Rights, Responsibilities and Social Justice" Corrado Naples, Yianni Gountis, Nathan Thomas; Junior Group Performance; Second Place Affiliate: Ohio Project title: Pieces of the Parthenon: How the Elgin Marbles Carved Controversy Between the Rights and Responsibilities of Cultural Artifacts Ke‘ilani Kajiyama Moses, Senior Individual Performance, First Place Affiliate: Hawai‘i Project title: Defending Rights, Embracing Responsibility: Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga’s Pursuit of Justice for Japanese Internees Lillian Tao, Senior Group Website; First Place Affiliate: Hawai‘i Project title: The Thalidomide Tragedy: The Importance of Manufacturing Responsibility, Consumer Safety, and the Birth of Modern Drug Regulation and Consumer Rights

This Week on History Happy Hour: From his first visit in 1941 to his last one eighteen years later, Churchill made himself at home in the White House, sometimes staying for weeks at a time. These extended stays at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue changed the course of history. In this encore episode, Chris and Rick explore the story with Robert Schmuhl, author of Mr. Churchill in the White House: The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents. Robert Schmuhl is a Professor Emeritus in American Studies and Journalism at the University of Notre Dame. He has been on the Notre Dame faculty since 1980. He’s the author or editor of fifteen books, including The Glory and the Burden about the US presidency.

This Week on History Happy Hour: Between 1199 and 1399, English politics was high drama. These two centuries witnessed savage political blood-letting – including civil war, deposition, the murder of kings and the ruthless execution of rebel lords. In this encore episode, Chris and Rick discuss did into this tumultuous period with Dr. Caroline Burt and Richard Partington, authors of Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State. How did these six Plantagenet Kings, colorful and complicated, manage the development of an English state that would become one of the leading nations in the world.   Dr Caroline Burt is a medieval historian and college lecturer at Pembroke College, Cambridge. She comes from Manchester, UK, and was in the first generation of her family to go to university. Her research focuses on the reigns of Edward I (1272-1307) and Edward II (1307-27) and on English governance during that period. Richard Partington is Senior Tutor at St. John's College, Cambridge. An Affiliated Lecturer in the Cambridge Faculty of History, he teaches medieval British politics, and has written and broadcast on politics, war, law and crime in the fourteenth century, especially during the rule of Edward III (1327-77).

This week on History Happy Hour:  The amazing story of American women who flew for England in WWII. They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers -all trained as pilots. When war broke out, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone - even American women - transport warplanes.  Twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. Our guest is Becky Aikman, author of Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II. Becky Aikman is the author of two books of narrative nonfiction: her memoir, Saturday Night Widows, and Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge. A former journalist at Newsday, Aikman has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She lives in New York.

This week on History Happy Hour: It sounds like an episode of “Foyle’s War” come to life: murder and violence in wartime London, carried out under the cover of the wartime blackout imposed to protect against Nazi bombings. Chris and Rick tackle the real story of murders carried out as Nazi bombs blew the city apart with our guest, Amy Helen Bell, author of “Under Cover of Darkness: Murders in Blackout London.” How war exposed people to violence not only from the enemy. Sunday at 4PM ET on History Happy Hour, where history is always on tap. Amy Helen Bell is professor of history at Huron University College, University of Western Ontario. Her research focuses on the social and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain, particularly London. She is the author of Murder Capital, London Was Ours, and Life Sentence.

This week on History Happy Hour: In June, 1944, sailors from the mysterious 10th fleet boarded an enemy warship at sea for the first time since the War of 1812.  What’s more, it was a submarine: The U-505. Chris and Rick have visited the sub together. Now we bring you the swashbuckling tale of its capture with our guest Alexander Rose, author of Phantom Fleet: The Hunt for Nazi Submarine U-505 and World War II’s Most Daring Heist. Sunday at 4PM ET on History Happy Hour, where history is always on tap. Alexander Rose is a journalist and author of numerous history books including Empires of the Sky, The Lion and the Fox, and Washington Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring.  The latter was adapted into the AMC drama series, Turn: Washington Spies, for which he served as writer/producer.  He has a doctorate from Cambridge, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Born in the United States, raised in Australia and educated in Britain, Alexander currently resides in New York.

This week on History Happy Hour: Decades after the end of World War II, the name Ravensbrück, the all-women’s concentration camp, still evokes horror.  Among the prisoners were a tight-knit group of women who had been active in the French Resistance. They banded together not only to survive, but to make sure the story was never forgotten. We’ll be talking about this with HHH alum Lynne Olson, author of The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück, back for her third time on the show. Lynne Olson is a New York Times bestselling author of nine books of history, many of which deal in some way with World War II. Titles include Empress of the Nile, Madame Fourcade’s Secret War, Citizens of London, Last Hope Island, and Those Angry Days. She has been a consultant for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans and the United States Holocaust Memorial in Washington D.C.

This week on History Happy Hour: The invasion of Normandy was one of history’s greatest military triumphs. As we approach the 81st Anniversary of D-Day, Chris and Rick explore the stirring events of June 6th with Garrett M. Graff, author of When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day. It’s a book built that looks at D-Day through the eyes of those who experienced it—from soldiers, nurses, pilots, children, neighbors, sailors, politicians, volunteers, photographers, reporters and so many more.   Garrett M. Graff is a journalist, historian, producer, and speaker. He taught at Georgetown University for seven years, including courses on journalism and technology, and his writing and commentary has appeared in publications like the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New York, Bloomberg. His book Watergate: A New History was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is also the author of The Only Plane in the Sky an oral history of 9/11. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

This week on History Happy Hour: On June 6, 1944, 4126 specially designed landing craft carried 132,000 Allied troops to the D-Day Beaches.  In this episode, we take a deep dive into why so many different types of landing craft were, how they were built, and how well they did in the hour of crisis. Chris and Rick welcome Andrew Whitmarsh, author of  D-Day Landing Craft.   Andrew Whitmarsh has been the curator of the D-Day Story Museum in Portsmouth for more than twenty years.  That museum is home to the last surviving intact ‘Landing Craft, Tank’ that took part in the Normandy Landings: LCT 7074 He is also the author of "Portsmouth at War" and "D-Day in Photographs".  He frequently writes and lectures about D-Day.  

This week on History Happy Hour: Sir Richard Dannatt, former commander of the British Army & Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Center, have teamed up to write a book capturing emotional turmoil and epic decision-making before, during, and after the world-defining action of D-Day.Chris and Rick welcome them to discuss that book, Churchill’s D-Day. The invasion of Normandy - as the British Bulldog experienced it himself. General Sir Richard Dannatt became Chief of the General Staff in 2006, leading the British Army as it fought two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He handed over his position forty years to the day from when he first joined the Army. In 2009, Her Majesty The Queen appointed him Constable of the Tower of Land, and in 2010, he was appointed as Crossbencher to the House of Lords. Sir Richard Dannatt is also Chairman of Trustees of the British Normandy Memorial.   Allen Packwood is the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He was awarded an OBE for services to archives and scholarship in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honors. His book How Churchill Waged War was published in 2018, and he has since edited the Cambridge University Press Companion to Winston Churchill and coedited Letters for the Ages: The Private and Personal Letters of Sir Winston Churchill.

This week on History Happy Hour: She led a gang of horse thieves. She participated in stickups and robberies across Texas and Oklahoma. She was romantically involved with two of the west’s most feared outlaws. Many considered this extraordinary woman the most dangerous female in the west. Chris and Rick explore her fascinating story with Dane Hucklebridge, author of a new bio on Belle Starr, Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West.   Dane Huckelbridge was born in the Midwest and went to Princeton. His fiction and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New Republic and elsewhere. His debut novel Castle of Water was published in 2017, and his book No Beast so Fierce was published by HarperCollins in 2019. He currently lives in Paris, France, although he goes back to New York whenever he can.