The History Book Buffs

What if the origins of America’s Cold War science boom — and even the Space Race — were built on the knowledge of Nazi scientists?
In this episode, Antonia Senior and historian Roger Moorhouse dive into the dark, fascinating, and deeply controversial history of Operation Paperclip: the secret U.S. government programme that recruited German scientists after World War II and brought them to America in order to beat the Soviet Union in the escalating Cold War technology race.
At the centre of the story is one of the most famous and divisive figures of the 20th century: Wernher von Braun — rocket engineer, visionary, and former Nazi scientist whose expertise helped shape the American missile programme and ultimately contributed to the foundations of NASA’s future success.
But Operation Paperclip wasn’t just about rockets. It was about power, intelligence, scientific dominance — and moral compromise. As Antonia and Roger explore the key phases of the programme, they confront the uncomfortable truth: America’s postwar scientific progress came with an ethical cost.
Drawing on major research — including Annie Jacobsen’s bestselling investigation Operation Paperclip — this conversation unpacks the ethical dilemmas, the political motivations, and the long-term consequences of recruiting men whose pasts were tied to Hitler’s regime.
This is a story of ambition, secrecy, Cold War paranoia, and the brutal reality that morality often collapses when national survival is at stake.
If you’re interested in Cold War history, Nazi scientists, Wernher von Braun, American intelligence operations, or the hidden origins of the Space Race, this episode is essential viewing.
📌 What Operation Paperclip really was
📌 Why the U.S. recruited Nazi scientists after WWII
📌 The three key phases of Operation Paperclip
📌 Werner von Braun’s role in American rocket science
📌 The Soviet Union’s parallel programme to seize German expertise
📌 The long-term impact on American science and Cold War technology
📌 The moral implications of scientific progress built on compromised foundations
📖 Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen
📖 Further Cold War and WWII science history recommendations discussed in the episode

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On 29 October 1929, the world changed forever.
As share prices collapsed, panic ripped through Wall Street, fortunes vanished in hours, and confidence in capitalism itself cracked. What began as a stock market crash in New York spiralled into the Great Depression, reshaped global politics, radicalised Europe – and helped pave the way for Hitler, Stalin, and the extremes of the 1930s.
In this episode of Days That Changed the World, historians Antonia Senior and Roger Moorhouse take you inside the human drama of the Wall Street Crash:
– exhausted traders sleeping on cots
– terrified small investors crowding the streets
– markets collapsing faster than the technology could record prices
– and a world discovering, in real time, that those “in charge” didn’t really know what they were doing
Using Andrew Ross Sorkin’s 1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History, we explore not just what happened, but why it mattered — and why its consequences are still with us today.
✔ What caused the Wall Street Crash of 1929
✔ How debt, speculation and mass share ownership fuelled panic
✔ Why technology made the crash worse
✔ The myth — and reality — of suicides on Wall Street
✔ How the crash destabilised Europe and radicalised German politics
✔ Whether Hitler could have risen without 1929
✔ Why capitalism entered an identity crisis — and extremism filled the vacuum
This isn’t just a financial story.
It’s a story about fear, belief, human behaviour, and the fragility of systems we assume are permanent.
1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – Andrew Ross Sorkin

When Money Dies – Adam Fergusson

The Way We Live Now – Anthony Trollope

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Happy New Year from History Book Buffs! After our 21 Days of Christmas Book Gifts, we’re back with a special episode looking ahead to the most exciting history and historical fiction books coming out in 2026.
From Soviet assassins and Baltic crusades to Cromwells, Bolsheviks, Weimar Germany and the Cambridge Five, this episode is packed with bookish fireworks. These are the titles we’re genuinely excited about as historians, writers, reviewers, and unapologetic history obsessives.
📚 Books discussed include:
The Death of Trotsky by Josh Ireland

Rasputin by Antony Beevor

The Black Cross: A History of the Baltic Crusades by Alexander Pluszkowski

The House of Cromwell by Miranda Malins

Red Dawn Over China by Frank Dikötter

White River Crossing by Ian McGuire

Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe by Katja Hoyer

The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman

Stalin’s Apostles by Antonia Senior (out April 2026)

We talk serious history, brilliant storytelling, fresh angles, and why these books matter now—from espionage and ideology to power, betrayal, and the human cost of history.
If you love:
✔️ narrative history
✔️ Cold War & Soviet history
✔️ Tudor, Civil War & medieval Europe
✔️ historical fiction that actually knows its facts
✔️ smart, opinionated book chat
…this episode is for you.
👉 Subscribe for more history book recommendations, deep dives, and author conversations
👉 Available as a podcast wherever you get your podcasts
👉 Let us know in the comments which 2026 history books you’re most excited about

Welcome back to History Book Buffs for Part 2 of our 21 Days of Christmas Books series — a bumper festive episode packed with brilliant history (and a couple of cracking novels). I’m Antonia Senior — writer and journalist — joined by my fellow book buff Roger Moorhouse, and together we’re sharing some of the very best titles we’ve read this year.
In this episode we range from the Battle of Britain and the Blitz seen through German eyes, to the birth of modern British party politics, to spies getting uncomfortably close to Hitler’s inner circle — plus Baltic geopolitics, terrorism and revolution in the 1970s, and two brilliantly atmospheric works of fiction.
Books featured in this episode:
Eagle Days — Victoria Taylor

The Rage of Party — George Owers

The Spy and the Devil — Tim Willasey-Wilsey

The Artist — Lucy Steeds

Baltic — Oliver Moody

Appointment in Paris — Jane Thynne

The Revolutionists — Jason Burke

Inside the Nazi Mind — Laurence Rees

The Holocaust (The Hitler Years series) — Frank McDonough

The Spy in the Archives — Gordon Corera

1945: The Reckoning — Phil Craig

Thank you for listening (and reading along) with us through 2025 — this is our last episode until January. We’ll be back in 2026 with more history books and more recommendations.

🎄 21 Days of Christmas Book Gifts – Round-Up of the First 10 Books 🎄
In this special episode, we run through the first ten titles in our 21 Days of Christmas Book Gifts series — a curated collection of the very best in history, espionage, military narrative, and historical fiction. If you’re looking for the perfect present for the history lover in your life, or simply want a fast-paced guide to the standout books of the season, this round-up has you covered.
We revisit each title, why it matters, and who it’s perfect for — from gripping World War II narratives to dazzling Tudor intrigue and brilliantly reimagined classics.
📚 Featured Books
Victory 45 — James Holland & Al Murray’s vivid account of the final months of WWII.

The Boleyn Traitor — Philippa Gregory’s tense Tudor power struggle brought to life.

Tank — Mark Urban’s masterful deep-dive into armoured warfare.

Sharpe’s Storm — Bernard Cornwell’s Napoleonic hero at his very best.

Suetonius (trans. Tom Holland) — A fresh, sharp, and wildly readable take on the Twelve Caesars.

Tunisgrad — Saul David’s gripping portrait of catastrophe and courage in North Africa.

Wolfpack — Roger Moorhouse’s thrilling history of the U-boat hunters who helped win the war.

The Pretender — Jo Harkin’s brilliant, witty, and genre-bending historical novel.

The White Lady — Helen Fry’s powerful account of Belgian resistance and forgotten heroism.

The Mission — Tim Weiner's compelling account of the CIA in the 21st Century.

🎧 In This Episode
Fast, insightful rundowns of each book

Why these titles make exceptional gifts

The wider historical themes tying them together

Recommendations for readers who love: WWII history, Cold War intrigue, Tudor drama, classical biography, Napoleonic campaigns, and literary historical fiction

If you’re following along with the full 21-day series or simply need the ultimate history-lover’s gift guide, this episode is your festive cheat-sheet.