The WW2 Podcast Archives

Mastermind of Dunkirk and D-Day: The Vision of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay

The first modern biography of Bertam Ramsey, the man who masterminded the Dunkirk evacuation and the D-Day landings.

This is the first major biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay in fifty years. Ramsay masterminded the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940. Initially, it was thought that 40,000 troops at most could be rescued. But Ramsay’s planning and determination led to some 330,000 being brought back to fight another day, although the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy paid a high price in ships and men. […Learn More]

An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin’s Master Agent

Born of a German father and a Russian mother, Richard Sorge moved in a world of shifting alliances and infinite possibility. In the years leading up to and during the Second World War, he became a fanatical communist – and the Soviet Union’s most formidable spy.

Combining charm with ruthless manipulation, he infiltrated and influenced the highest echelons of German, Chinese and Japanese society. His intelligence proved pivotal to the Soviet counter-offensive in the Battle of Moscow, which in turn determined the outcome of the war itself. […Learn More]

Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe

It’s a Wonderful Life was the first motion picture Jimmy Stewart made after returning home from World War 2, where he had participated in 20 often-brutal combat missions over Germany and France. When he left Hollywood in March 1941, Jimmy Stewart was America’s boy next door movie star and a recent Academy Award winner. He left all that behind to join the United States Army Air Corps and fulfill his family mission to serve his country—only to face obstacle after obstacle from both Hollywood and Washington. […Learn More]

Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe

While armies have seized enemy records and rare texts as booty throughout history, it was only during World War II that an unlikely band of librarians, archivists, and scholars traveled abroad to collect books and documents to aid the military cause. Galvanized by the events of war into
acquiring and preserving the written word, as well as providing critical information for intelligence purposes, these American civilians set off on missions to gather foreign publications and information across Europe. They journeyed to neutral cities in search of enemy texts, followed a step behind
advancing armies to capture records, and seized Nazi works from bookstores and schools. […Learn More]

The Original Jeeps

The spring and summer of 1940 witnessed the resounding defeats of the French army and British Expeditionary Force at the hands of modernized German troops, designed to take advantage of the latest advances in technology. These included mobile vehicles and tanks used in formation to blast through enemy lines, as well as combined ground and air tactics. […Learn More]

Economists at War: How a Handful of Economists Helped Win and Lose the World Wars

Wartime is not just about military success. Economists at War tells a different story – about a group of remarkable economists who used their skills to help their countries fight their battles during the Chinese-Japanese War, Second World War, and the Cold War.
[…Learn More]

Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice

A thrilling narrative that reveals a key but untold story from World War II: The Doolittle Raids and the international war crimes trial that changed history.

In 1942, freshly humiliated from the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt demanded a show of strength against the Japanese. Jimmy Doolittle, a stunt pilot with a doctorate from MIT, came forward and led eighty young men on a seemingly impossible mission across the Pacific. […Learn More]