The Untitled History Podcast

In post-war Britain, the drive to build new housing and a better world led to a number of plans focused on creating modern towns. The boldest and most visionary of these was to be Milton Keynes, a city from nothing.

Today, Milton Keynes is either famous, or infamous, depending on your perspective on its design. But what’s not in doubt was that the process that led to its creation was unique. A story filled with challenges its architects, planners and landscapers had to overcome.

Guest

John Grindrod is a social historian of modern places. He runs the podcast Monstrosities Mon Amour and has written books including Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains and Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain.

Cats present

Cecilia and Napoleon

Useful links

https://www.johngrindrod.co.uk

Cliff Richard’s “Wired for Sound” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0lV9h7b9B0Do you like our podcast?

Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Gareth Edwards
More about Gareth Edwards: https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://untitled-history.com/supporters
Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member.

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://untitled-history.com/collections/all

Our WW1 Podcast: @NSQPod
Our WW2 Podcast: @BSOWPod
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Gareth socials
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius

Battle Guide Twitter: https://x.com/BattleguideVT
General Enquiries: untitled@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
- Host: Gareth Edwards
- Editing: Linus Klaßen
- Production: Linus Klaßen
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The Roman Army was powered by cheese. It fuelled its soldiers through war and occupation and, as Rome’s armies swept through western Europe, altered how an entire continent produced and consumed cheese.

“It is a remarkable circumstance that the barbarous nations, which subsist on milk for so long, have been for so many ages either ignorant of the merits of cheese, or else have completely disregarded it.”
So wrote the Roman historian Pliny. In doing so, he highlights that cheese was a key foodstuff for the Romans.

Rome’s conquests were powered by cheese, with every Roman soldier received a daily ration of it. In fact, the Roman army’s reliance on cheese was so great that it would reshape the agricultural and culinary map of western Europe. This was particularly true in Britain, where the legacy of the Romans means that even today there are more sheep per square mile in northern Britain than anywhere else in Europe.

Guest
Thomas Ntinas is a food historian and host of the Delicious Legacy podcast, a podcast in which he explores both tastes both modern and ancient.

Cats present
None.

Useful links
Thom on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedeliciouslegacy
The Delicious Legacy Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AeiOjVa9rf99xOM0U3Fmg

Recommended Cheeses
Pecorino Romano - The closest cheese to that consumed by Legionaries
Manchego - Close to the cheese Legionaries would have eaten in Spain
Gouda - A good example of a cheese, influenced by the Legionary colony legacy in northern Europe
Cheshire Cheese - The myth! Not a Roman-era cheese, but likely not dissimilar to what would have been eaten in Roman Britain
Feta - A good example of goats cheese, as would have been common particularly in Greece
Comte, Stilton and Roquefort - The kind of cheeses western Europeans would have eaten, pre-Rome’s arrival

Do you like our podcast?
Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Gareth Edwards
More about Gareth Edwards: https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://untitled-history.com/supporters
Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member.

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://untitled-history.com/collections/all

Our WW1 Podcast: @NSQPod
Our WW2 Podcast: @BSOWPod
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Gareth socials
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius

Battle Guide Twitter: https://x.com/BattleguideVT
General Enquiries: untitled@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
- Host: Gareth Edwards
- Editing: Sander van Kammen
- Production: Linus Klaßen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 1926, art expert Paul Arndt was shown a newly-unearthed Ancient Greek statue by an Italian dealer. It was an extraordinary piece. Its sale for a vast sum of money to an American museum, along with other pieces unearthed, would create excitement across America.

The statues were fake.

Throughout the 1920s, American interest in ancient art and sculpture exploded. As a result, American collectors and museums became a primary source of income for art dealers from across Europe. Inevitably, this also drew the attention of the darker side of the art world - including forgers.

Today, we are going to talk about one of the most extraordinary acts of art fraud perpetrated during this era. One that would trigger a vicious war of words between experts across Europe and America. It would also make a colourful, Italian anti-fascist sculptor called Alceo Dossena one of the most infamous forgers in history.

Guest
Erin L. Thompson has a PhD in ancient Mediterranean art history as well as a law degree. She is now a professor of art crime at the City University of New York.

Cats present
None.

Useful links
Erin’s website: https://www.artcrimeprof.com
Pre-order her book: https://www.amazon.com/Styrofoam-Mummy-Tales-Antiquities-Market/dp/1324035870
Erin on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/artcrimeprof.bsky.social

Do you like our podcast?
Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Gareth Edwards
More about Gareth Edwards: https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://untitled-history.com/supporters
Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member.

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://untitled-history.com/collections/all

Our WW1 Podcast: @NSQPod
Our WW2 Podcast: @BSOWPod
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Gareth socials
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius

Battle Guide Twitter: https://x.com/BattleguideVT
General Enquiries: untitled@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
- Host: Gareth Edwards
- Editing: Linus Klaßen
- Production: Linus Klaßen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 8th of 1940, a lone British destroyer encountered part of the German invasion force bound for Norway. The heroic last stand of HMS Glowworm against overwhelming odds earned her captain the first Victoria Cross of the war. Incredibly, this award was granted based on the recommendation of the German Admiral he had fought.

Both the Allies and Axis were eyeing up Norway for invasion. The events that would unfold that month would affect the entire course of the war.

Against the backdrop of these events, a battle took place between HMS Glowworm and a heavy German cruiser - the Hipper - and her escorts.

This battle remains one of the most remarkable naval engagements of the war, highlighting the skill of both navies, as well as incredible acts of maritime respect in the face of the shared dangers of the sea.

It also stands as the only instance where the senior nominating officer, as required by the awards committee, was an enemy combatant.

Guest

Dr Alex Clarke, is a naval historian. He is the author of Tribals, Battles and Darings, and specialises in grand strategy, naval logistics and the projection of overseas power. He can also be found on Twitch and Youtube as dralexclarke

Cats present

Cecilia

Useful links

Tribals, Battles and Darings: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/tribals-battles-darings-the-genesis-of-the-modern-destroyer-alexander-clarke/22cc89bce03e017b

Dr Alex on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE2x09tU0GwAGiSbFPEhIwQ

Do you like our podcast?
Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Gareth Edwards
More about Gareth Edwards: https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://untitled-history.com/supporters
Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member.

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://untitled-history.com/collections/all

Our WW1 Podcast: @NSQPod
Our WW2 Podcast: @BSOWPod
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Gareth socials
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius

Battle Guide Twitter: https://x.com/BattleguideVT
General Enquiries: untitled@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
- Host: Gareth Edwards
- Editing: Linus Klaßen
- Production: Linus Klaßen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1940, Charles de Gaulle saved France. He called for resistance to the Nazi occupation from London. In 1958, with the French republic crumbling, he stepped forward to save France again.

In English language history, it is de Gaulle’s defiance in WW2 and his role in the rise of the Free French that dominates discussion. In post war study, he is sometimes portrayed as an aloof figure and a man out of time, obsessed with restoring French glory over all else.

This is an unfair portrait. Post war, de Gaulle was both loved and loathed. Churchill planned the route of his own funeral to include Waterloo station, precisely because he knew it would annoy de Gaulle who would be forced to attend.

But during the late 1950s the French fourth Republic teetered on the edge of collapse. With the French military already moving to launch a coup d’etat, de Gaulle’s intervention would prove critical to the restoration of stability, and the birth of the Fifth Republic. He would go on, as president, to oversee many of the pillars of cultural, structural and international relations that still form the basis of France today.

In this episode, we’re going to look at France’s near-coup and collapse, and the role of de Gaulle in its salvation.

Guest
Charles Devellennes is senior lecturer in political and social thought at the university of Kent.

He’s a historian of political thought, having written his thesis on atheism in the radical enlightenment, as well as a political theorist and scholar of French politics.

He has written three books, including ´The Macron regime’ in 2022, and is currently finishing his fourth book which deals with the institutional decline of the Fifth Republic: ‘The 18 Brumaire of Emmanuel Macron’.

Cats present
Cecilia

Useful links
Charles on substack: https://charlesdevellennes.substack.com

A Certain Idea of France - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/a-certain-idea-of-france-the-life-of-charles-de-gaulle-julian-jackson/e4feca363fe8c17a?ean=9780141049533&bkshp-astro=t

The Macron Regime - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-macron-regime-the-ideology-of-the-new-right-in-france-charles-devellennes/d6c07a27454ebc7c?ean=9781529227093&bkshp-astro=t

Do you like our podcast?
Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot!

Host: Gareth Edwards
More about Gareth Edwards: https://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-history#host

To comment and ask questions, please join our community: https://untitled-history.com/supporters
Use our code: Rabbit and get one month free as a Captain, or join as a free member.

Support via Paypal: http://battleguide.co.uk/untitled-paypal
Merchandise and Shop: https://untitled-history.com/collections/all

Our WW1 Podcast: @NSQPod
Our WW2 Podcast: @BSOWPod
Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter

Gareth socials
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social
Mastodon: https://mastodon.me.uk/@garius

Battle Guide Twitter: https://x.com/BattleguideVT
General Enquiries: untitled@battleguide.co.uk

Credits:
- Host: Gareth Edwards
- Editing: Sander van Kammen
- Production: Linus Klaßen
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices