3.30- The 250th Episode

Question Time!

Direct Link: 3.30- The 250th Episode

Sponsor Link: lynda.com/revolutions

Comments

[John]

I hope you enjoyed your drink!

Man I know we are going to be doing France again in 1848, I hope you can say just a bit about the other French Revolution in 1830 when that happens just so we can see how the old 1789ers did when they got their second chance.

[Dopavash]

I was seriously upset when you deleted that other thread. There were some pretty awesome replies in there.

250th episode, I hold you now!

[Claude]

Yo Mike,
Shout out from an alumnus of THoR Tour #1! I had stopped following for a while because I took a hiatus from studying history and fell off the wagon into video gaming (my fav game being TF2). But now I'm back, caught up, and lamenting when you say "next time" instead of "next week". I must say your coverage of the French Revolution has been world class!
Speaking of video games, you should check out (youTube walkthroughs) of "Ryse Son of Rome". It's hilariously historically inaccurate but I luv the gameplay.
Oh and please let us know when you reach your one millionth word!

[Jeremy]

Dopavash liked my Ceasar comment!
Mike, this was a fantastic episode and I can't wait for the 500th episode questionathon. Seriously, a lot to unpack here, but it was fascinating to catch glimpses into your worldview on modern times; Arab spring, wealth inequality, etc.
I think I have a solution to spare you the torture of pre-listening to episodes, and I think you know what that solution is. So shoot me an email, buddy. We'll work it out.
I got my Diggers tshirt at last today, and God told me to tell you to keep up the good work!

[Matt Coleman]

Enjoyed this tremendously, but share the previous poster's disapprobation of the deletion of "250th podcast, I hold you now!" comment. That was Duncanesque, if I may coin a term.

[Thedoh]

I enjoyed your #100th. Happy to listen to your #250th. Here's for 250 more! Vive la révolution!!

[plus.google.com/112045783422677390596]

congratulations on 250!

i did have a thought on the British view on Cromwell. I think he falls between two stools as far the the politics of British historians go - the more left/progressive ones seem him as a betrayer of (romanticised) higher ideals like the Levellers and the more right/conservative ones see the Restoration as the "proper" settlement. No-one will really go to bat for him and we're generally a bit down on the Puritans these days anyway.

oh, and for anyone interested in the 1870-1914 period i would recommend Robert K Massies "Dreadnought". It focuses on the Anglo-German rivalry but has great coverage of what is going on inside both countries too.

[Jacques le Fou]

As to the 1870-1914 period, Barbara Tuchman's "The Proud Tower" has some fascinating stuff, including the heart attack suffered by a member of the German general staff while he was dancing for his cohorts in a tutu.

BTW, this link to "Legend Has It" - is it enveloped in the Shadow's Cloak of Invisibility? I've been trying to find a link here and there for months now.

That said, your casts are eminently enjoyable, and I would recommend them to my friends if I had any. Keep up the excellent work (although I confess that free praise from a layman is worth what you pay for it).

[Curtis Franks]

I just wanted to say that this was my first live/up-to-date episode of yours and I am very excited to be part of this community about which I have heard so much. Keep up the good work!

[Claude]

Congratulations on reaching episode 250! I forgot to say that on my last post. So have a beer. In fact, have lots of beers. It's St Patty's Day. Partay! Woooh!

[Aaron Olson]

Ten points for having your son read out the winning numbers. As of today, I am FINALLY all caught up with THoR and Revolutions after discovering them in January. I have thoroughly enjoyed your work but am not going to have to adjust to only having one episode each week rather than being able to knock out a couple each day. Thanks for doing what you do the way you do it.

[Curonian]

Hey, Mike - how come we can't vote for you in the 2015 Podcast awards? I voted for Dan Carlin's Hardcore History this year, but he won last year, and I think that you should be nominated there as well...

[Grace Monk]

Your son's contribution is ridiculously cute. My favorite bit, and I've listened to it three times do far. :-)

[Robert]

You mentioned why you skipped the Dutch Revolt, but might you do it later?

Also, this episode isn't really part of the French Revolution--I feel it shouldn't be numbered like it is.

[datakid]

Really enjoyed this episode, significantly more than I expected tbh. Thankyou. Particularly struck by you fave fiction and non fiction books. I admit I muttered 'all hail discordia' into the sink full of dishes I was doing.

[Jacob Bains]

To all fans of Revolutions podcast:

Version 2 of The French Revolution with Prof. McPhee, of the University of Melbourne, a MOOC (free) will launch July 7 of this year.

I strongly feel that avid fans who have been following Mike's program--and those who are also interested in continued studies on the French Revolution--will have a competitive edge with others around the world. I will be participating again, and encourage all Revolutions fans to consider jumping in, hopefully with Mike's help we can all make the discussions more LIVELY ;).

(and if you have the money, you can earn a Verified Certificate in the course courtesy of the University of Melbourne and Coursera.org.)

note, the link below takes you to last year's pages/material (Version 1).

https://class.coursera.org/frenchrev-001

[Jeremy]

I do hope we get an episode today. It's so cold in Canada that any spring, even the spring of 1793, sounds utterly fantastic.

[Janet]

For books about the Franco-Prussian war, I'll suggest something on my TBR list: Chris Clark's The Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. There is the obvious caveat that this book covers a huge swathe of Prussian history but it will definitely hit the bases with the Bismarckian wars of unification. I can wholeheartedly second the recommendations for Proud Tower and Dreadnought, both excellent books and highly readable. Get braced for the person I find to be the most confusing and exasperating person in all of history: Kaiser Wilhelm II, the one who made the Hun speech. The official versions of his speeches were constantly being redacted and the Kaiser, instead of realizing that these were truly boneheaded remarks, later complained that the best bits had been left out. The Daily Telegraph interview was not edited and in a PR nightmare he managed to make *everyone* furious at him, including his own countrymen. He just kept spouting off with gems like that all throughout his reign, never seeming to understand why everybody was so mad at him. William the Sudden easily beats General George McClellan for my nomination for the 19th century's most oblivious and aggravating person.

[John Kelly]

Sadly, it seems those of us in Europe can't access the Legend Has It video anymore because of some issue with the music used and GEMA licencing. Is there an alternative location we can get/view it from?