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World War II with Tom Hanks – Review
The documentary series has made an impressive start, combining rarely seen footage with sharp historical insight and confident storytelling.
One swallow does not necessarily a summer make, but the signs are positive that World War II with Tom Hanks will live up to some of its pre-release hype. The World at War, the critically and commercially successful documentary series first aired in 1973, narrated by...
Empire’s Witness: An Interview with Philip James Day
In discussion with Gautam Hazarika, the author reflects on discovering the hidden wartime diary of his grandfather, Corporal Alwyn Day, a quiet and emotionally reserved veteran shaped by extraordinary experiences in World War II.
Philip, welcome to Aspects of History. Congratulations on the upcoming release of Empire’s Witness: A Soldier’s Secret War Diary 1942–45. What were your memories of your grandfather, Corporal Day, prior to beginning this project, and how and why did his “quiet life...
Operation Berlin, by Michael Ridpath
An aspiring journalist and an historian investigate a murder in the German capital amid Hitler's rise and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.
Operation Berlin is the first of a new historical mystery series set in 1930s Europe which is to be known as The Foreign Correspondent series. Its author is Michael Ridpath, an extremely accomplished one, several of whose previous books I have read and enjoyed. I...
Berlin: Endgame 1945, by Prit Buttar
A study of the fall of Berlin revealing how rivalries, ideology, and personal testimonies defined the chaotic end of the Nazi regime.
For some of us it might seem that there was little more to add to what we already knew about the last days of the Nazi regime in and around Berlin. Yet this meticulous description and analysis by Prit Buttar proves that this is not the case. His thorough research into...
Episode 266
AoH Book Club: Giles Milton on The Stalin Affair
The historian makes the case that the pragmatic partnership between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin highlights how vital and difficult diplomacy and cooperation are then and today.
Welcome back, Giles – we’re exactly two years on from the release of The Stalin Affair, and that question of the nature of diplomacy between allies seems ever more relevant in recent weeks and months in 2026. The ‘impossible alliance’ you discuss between Franklin D....
The Battle to Keep the War Moving
A rediscovered wartime diary shows how the Persian Corridor supply route workedin practice. Not as strategy, but as constant repair under immense pressure.
In 1942 Hitler turned on Stalin and drove towards the Caucasus, aiming for the oil that would sustain the German advance. If he succeeded, the balance of the war could tilt. To hold them at bay, Stalin needed supplies quickly; fuel, vehicles, and equipment. Britain...
The Writer and the Traitor
As the Normandy landings approached, the surprise resignation from MI6 of the author Graham Greene – a close friend of Kim Philby – cast a shadow over one of the war’s most carefully orchestrated intelligence operations.
As the clock ticked down to D-Day the atmosphere in the central London office of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, reached feverish anticipation. Years of carefully calibrated deception, casting spells over the German generals defending the landing grounds...
Michael Ridpath on Operation Berlin
The bestselling author discusses 1930s Berlin and the first in his new series of post-WW1 historical fiction with Mark Ellis.
Congratulations on your new mystery novel Operation Berlin, Michael. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have read several of your books. You started out with a series of financial thrillers, which I read and remember with pleasure, but I am less familiar with your more recent...