r/TheRestIsHistory

The awful turmoil and chaos of defeat in the Great War, or the accusation that pasta was invented in 1964 in St. Louis, Missouri?

Re-listening to The Road to the Great War and the way Tom pronounces "squirrels" is the cutest thing ever. I'm an American who loves all the British accents and I've never heard anyone say it like that. Is this a thing or is it just Tom?

while i'm normally not the biggest fan of guest episodes, i really enjoyed the most recent bonus installment! the structure followed their classic chronological/personal narrative approach, which i find the most interesting-- less of a q & a format. now excited to see what eleanor will get up to.

I was just listening to the episode about Thermopylae (I know, it’s 5 years old at this point) but Tom was narrating and said Leonidas was a bad leader and was the reason thermopylae was a decisive defeat for the greeks. He mainly cited the fact that he let the pass be found and the decision to have most of his forces retreat while he stays and dies giving the Persians a strategic victory and also killing an important leader. I have no standing to dispute his argument but if you go by the numbers herodotus cited, 7000 troops total and 4000 greek casualties through the 3 days of fighting, what other option did Leonidas have? force the 3000 survivors to hold out maybe 2 more days, even if the Persians never found the secret pass. they hold out and 2-3 days max before they are entirely wiped out. Those extra days could buy crucial time to prepare but it just seemed like a harsh criticism of someone who had basically no other options

What are the bonefides that Tom is missing that cause sources to refer to Dominic as an historian but Tom as an author? For example this entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalhanger "In November 2020, the company launched The Rest Is History, hosted by historian Dominic Sandbrook and author Tom Holland." Even on their own wikipedia entries, Dominic is referred to as an historian while Tom's entry adds the modifier "popular historian." Is it Dom's thesis on Eugene McCarthy that throws him into the realm of full historian legitimacy?

Dominic's story telling in this, like all the episodes about 1960s USA , is so gripping, what a great series.

I found it interesting that the boys (presumably unintentionally) ended up pulling a lot of the same quotes from the same sources as Dan did in Blueprint for Armageddon. Specifically, the Ernst Junger excerpts about "the god of pain" and the comparison of shell fire to "being menaced by a man with a large hammer" while being tied up to a post. Having listened to the Carlin podcasts at least five times each, those quotes were burned into my memory, even the way Dan delivered them in his hardcore quote voice.

I found it fascinating that they all zeroed in on those specific quotes, of all the possible quotes in Storm of Steel (and I feel like there was at least one other source where I recognized a quote but I can't remember exactly). I remember Carlin calling Junger "the veteran's veteran" and also remarking, as Dom did, on how much Junger actually loved his experience.

Very poor form, schoolboy error.

Greece vs Persia ep 1

Totally surreal to hear the lads name check my closest American regional city as the birthplace of Italian pasta in their recent episode on Italy's entrance to WWI . I know a lot of foodies are happy to remind us St. Louisans that The Hill is NOT authentic Italian cuisine but, hey, c'mon, pasta in ALL its forms is delicious. On behalf, you're welcome.

Best played in the evening with a full fridge of drinks. Pour a drink. Put on TRIH, and have a drink every time Dominic says ‘Whatnot’. Game guarantee - you’ll be in pieces by about an hour, incapable by two. Not fun for all the family. But remember it’s just a game and whatnot!

I’d love for Dominic and Tom to do a proper multi-part series on Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia and I genuinely think this could be one of the most compelling arcs they’ve ever covered.

Ethiopia is the only African country that was never formally colonised, which already makes it a fascinating outlier. But the story spans both World Wars and touches on so many threads that fans of this podcast would love:
• Mussolini and Italian imperial ambition — the 1935 invasion, poison gas, and the League of Nations’ failure to act
• Haile Selassie’s exile in Bath — this is my personal favourite part of the story. After the fall of Addis Ababa, Selassie sought refuge in Britain and actually lived in Bath. By all accounts he was this deeply dignified, slightly eccentric figure who would go on his regular walks through the town at the same time every day — and locals apparently started punctuating their own daily routines around his walks.
• The British alliance and liberation — the East African Campaign in WWII, and how Ethiopia was eventually restored
• Black liberation and the diaspora — the invasion sparked outrage across the African diaspora and the wider Black world, and Selassie became a symbol of resistance
• The Rastafarian movement — Selassie’s deification and what Ethiopia represented spiritually and politically to people across the Caribbean and beyond
• Pan-Africanism and the African Union — the invasion was a direct catalyst for the Pan-African movement, and Ethiopia’s role in the eventual founding of the OAU/African Union is a direct through line.

As a new fan of the podcast, I’ve noticed that there isn’t much coverage of African history and I would love to see this get some traction.

Where does the ‘serious person’ bit come from? Is it Trump? I can’t remember.

I'm sure it's not deliberate, but it seems to me a bit rude the way Dom handles Tom's observations sometimes, when Dom is leading the discussion.

he doesn't stop to engage with them or riff off them, he just says "exactly!" then carries on with what he was saying.

Has anyone else had weirdness because of subscribing via Apple Podcasts? I cannot log in to the website and technical support ('Supporting cast') tell me this is expected and the only option is to cancel and then resubscribe via the website.

I’ve had easier suppers.

These 6 episodes are superb. I binged them today. Another top notch series. Really interesting insights into the Edith Cavell affair.

(Also a "blink and you'll miss it" impersonation of Rowley Birkin QC by Tom in the first Gallipoli episode).