I have been fairly busy the last month– more so than even usual with three kids all in extracurricular activities– and one of the more interesting things to occupy my spare time has been the History of England Podcast. And I thought the History of Rome Podcast was long! The History of England has run over a hundred episodes so far, and has just reached the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War! It has obviously entertained me, and I dare say educated me, or I would not have listened so long. It occasionally gives episodic updates on what else is going on in Europe, and obviously a lot of English history post-1066 is intertwined with France’s history, so you’re getting a somewhat wider view than you might think. Combined with Norman Centuries and 12 Byzantine Rulers and you’re getting a much wider view of the Dark and Middle Ages, especially. Can’t wait to fill it out with the History of France in English, maybe the Medieval Archives and the British History Podcast, and even the History of English Podcast…and I can’t wait for somebody to start a Holy Roman Empire podcast! Real opportunity there, people!!
Posts Tagged ‘Historical Reference’
The History of England Podcast
September 25, 2013Dark Ages History Podcasts
August 27, 2012
I listen to a lot of podcasts while commuting and painting figures. Lately, I have been trying to fill my time with podcasts on the history of the Dark Ages. Saga has been a lot of fun, rules wise, but I can’t claim to be very knowledgeable about the period. Rome fell, the Vikings came, Western governments started to be entangled in questionable Middle East wars, and the Normans conquered England. Getting more in depth in the period, though, has really revealed a lot more interesting history. Here’s what I have been listening to:
The History of Rome: I have mentioned the History of Rome Podcast here before. It is complete now, and a wealth of material, covering the ENTIRE history of Rome from the mythical origins to the fall of the Western Empire. Most of it obviously isn’t directly related to the Dark Ages, but it is almost necessary background material. I’m continually surprised at how much of the Dark Ages still revolves around and is directly influenced by the Roman Empire.
12 Byzantine Rulers: The natural place to go after the History of Rome, 12 Byzantine Rulers is highlights of the Eastern Empire, starting with Diocletian and ending with Constantine XI and the fall of Byzantium to the Ottomans in 1453.
Norman Centuries: By the author of 12 Byzantine Rules, Norman Centuries follows the founding of the Normans by Rollo until– so far– William the Good of Sicily.
Europe from its Origins: I listened to Europe from its Origins a while ago, and honestly, it just didn’t take root at the time. It’s really due for a relisten now that I have a much better context to place it in. Irritatingly to me, this is technically a video podcast, but the video is largely superfluous, making the extra space it takes up wasted. Also, some of the background music combined with the narrator’s mild manner can lull you to sleep!
Irish History: I recently discovered the Irish History Podcast on the Miniatures Page. It appears to be very slowly published, but what I’ve heard so far has been pretty interesting. It also has links to some related podcasts I haven’t checked out yet.
British History: I made note of the British History Podcast a while back, but forgot about it until gathering info for this list! I haven’t listened to it yet, but it certainly looks interesting.
General History: There are some general history podcasts out there, notably Hardcore History and History According to Bob. I’m not crazy about the presentation of either of these podcasts– Hardcore History is ridiculously overdramatic, and Bob’s presentation is a little monotonous and irritating. However, it would be useful to scour these for applicable episodes. Also, In Our Time from BBC4, another regular listen of mine.
The History of Rome Podcast
January 8, 2011
Whew! I have been listening to the History of Rome podcast and have finally caught up! It’s really quite nice– good audio quality, well-spoken history and fairly comprehensive; it is so far almost 48 hours of podcast covering Rome from the legendary flight of Aeneas from the Trojan War well before Romulus and Remus founded Rome in 753 BC until, most recently, the reign of Emperor Probus, ending in 282 AD. I just finished listening to the last episode as I painted up some of my 29th ID, and I’m kind of sad I don’t have another episode to immediately launch into. At least this will let me catch up on the last two WWPD: News From the Front episodes I have missed.
George Nafziger's OOBs Online
February 23, 2010George Nafziger just donated all his lists of orders of battle to the U.S. Army’s Combined Arms Research Library– link here. Front end is here, or use the old list of files here.
The AIW Reader
October 6, 2008I must have had my head down a while, as I missed the creation of the AIW Reader.
Military Books
November 21, 2005I just found this, Napoleonic Literature. It has some public domain Napoleonic books, including the interesting looking Memoirs of Baron de Marbot. Updated: The General Staff Library, while not free, has a number of very interesting books, such as regimental and staff histories of the Austro-Prussian War.
AWI Articles
October 27, 2005AmericanRevolution.org has some very interesting articles, such as this on artillery and songs.
Napoleonic Austria– The Campaign of 1805
October 17, 2005Now, this is a good idea: Chronofus has written a wargamer’s guide to the 1805 Napoleonic campaign. Looks pretty useful. I guessed black on my 1809 Uhlans’ cartridge pouch– looks like I probably guessed wrong. Check the whole site out, it looks pretty interesting. Hat tip: MW.
History of Warfare
October 7, 2005World History at KMLA has some interesting historical links, especially the History of Warfare, which includes wars by country. Very useful if you’re looking for wars involving, say, Bavaria or Württemberg. I don’t see Württemberg listed for the 1809 Napoleonic campaign, but it still looks useful.
1809 Austria Campaign
September 18, 2005TMP has a nice thread on books for the Napoleonic 1809 Austrian campaign.
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