By the time of America's entry into WWI in April 1917, Eddie Rickenbacker was already famous. Always obsessed with engines, he had become a mechanic to Lee Frayer in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at the age of only 15. In 1910 he became a race-car driver himself, racing in the Indianapolis 500 in 1911. Dur: 20mins File: .mp3 ..read more

In late October AD 312, the fate of the future of the Roman world was decided near the Pons Milvius, the Milvian Bridge (the modern Ponte Milvio, Italy), crossing the River Tiber some 5 kilometres north of Rome on the via Flaminia. The battle was the culmination of the war between rival Roman emperors, Maxentius and Constantine, to see who would dominate the western Roman Empire. Dur: 34mins File: .mp3 ..read more

The First Battle of Ypres came at the end of the strategic 'race to the sea' which occurred following the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, when allied forces halted the initial Axis advance made since the outbreak of the war. Before winter set in, several offensives were launched by both sides to try and outflank the other’s northern flank as they each moved towards the North Sea coast. Dur: 18mins File: .mp3 ..read more

This episode was written by Scott Forbes Crawford. An author based in Asia, he writes about ancient and medieval history in novels and nonfiction alike. A newly published history book, The Han-Xiongnu War, 133 BC – 89 AD, explores a decisive conflict between China and a nomadic steppe empire through the lives of fifteen historical figures, including the subject of today’s episode. Dur: 29mins File: .mp3 ..read more

During the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, in August 1854, Lieutenant John Bythesea together with Stoker William Johnstone of Her Majesty's ship HMS Arrogant performed an audacious act of bravery. This would lead to both men being awarded the Victoria Cross, among the first gazetted and earliest actions so awarded. Despite this, tragedy would soon envelop Stoker Johnstone and his story deserves to be better known. Dur: 19mins File: .mp3 ..read more

During the Baltic campaign of the Crimean War, in August 1854, Lieutenant John Bythesea together with Stoker William Johnstone of Her Majesty's ship HMS Arrogant performed an audacious act of bravery. This would lead to both men being awarded the Victoria Cross, among the first gazetted and earliest actions so awarded. Despite this, tragedy would soon envelop Stoker Johnstone and his story deserves to be better known. Dur: 22mins File: .mp3 ..read more

The legions of Magnentius and Decentius in Amida had been raised by the former usurper Magnentius (a general who usurped against Constantius in Gaul between 350 and 353) in his name and that of his brother. They were therefore a remnant of those disloyal troops, hence their stationing (a banishment) in the east. Their conduct at Amida would restore both their honour and reputation. Dur: 21mins File: .mp3 ..read more

In the summer of AD 359, the armies of the Sasanian Persian Shahanshah ("King of Kings"), Shapur II (r. 309-379), invaded the Roman east. This invasion was the long-cherished revenge for a humiliating peace imposed on the Persians by the Romans sixty years earlier. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus was an eyewitness to the most dramatic events of this new war, serving in the army of the emperor Constantius II (r. 337-361) as a protector domesticus, a guard cavalryman. His Res Gestae (Roman History) at this point is full of precise detail and evocative description. No action is more dram ..read more

Our best source for Thutmose's battle of Megiddo are the Annals of Thutmose, an account kept by his scribe Tjaneni and then, almost twenty years later, inscribed into the interior walls of the sanctuary of the temple to Amun-Re at Karnak. There are other sources too. These were official documents, however, and we must be wary of 15th century BC spin. The traditional date of the battle is usually given as 1479 BC but it is more likely to date to 1457 BC - whichever year it was, it was the 23rd year of Thutmose’s reign. Dur: 24 mins File: .mp3 ..read more

The Battle of Megiddo, fought during the latter stages of the First World War over a week in late September 1918 against the Ottoman Turks, was so-named quite deliberately by the victorious British general, Edmund Allenby. Allenby was entirely conscious of the associations with the battles of Megiddo of the past (especially Thutmose’s famous battle although another had been fought in 609 BC) but also with Armageddon and Revelation, named after the ‘perfect’ battlefield the area around Megiddo represented. Dur: 30 mins File: .mp3 ..read more