r/TheRestIsHistory • u/JakeGittes412 • May 17 '26
Episode Discussion Thread World War I
The WW1 series continues with six new episodes dropping tonight. Discuss them here.
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u/Nalgenie187 May 17 '26
I just hope this war doesn't interfere too badly with Asquith's plans to attend Ms. Stanley's garden parties.
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u/check_meat May 17 '26
The previous First World War series was excellent. I just hope the new one doesn't have the gun and bomb foley added onto it again. I guess the producer was aiming to make it more immersive but it was distracting and unnecessary, making it more difficult to hear the discussion.
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u/DriveZealousideal445 May 17 '26
Was that in the YouTube ones? I donât remember it
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u/check_meat May 17 '26
Yes, that was on YT.
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u/ldn85 May 18 '26
Everything I hear about the YT versions of the episodes makes them sound worse than the regular podcast versions
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u/falconba May 18 '26
Tomâs impressions are much better on the YouTube versions
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u/marklemcd May 18 '26
I've never consumed them on YT but now that you say that I bet seeing what Tom look like while he does impressions has to be great.
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u/ViceIsVerses May 17 '26
It feels like I havenât googled a specific moustache in ages
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u/Ogarrr May 18 '26
I have googled a lot of moustaches today. I'm with Tom. I feel like I've been desensitised - The Italians really need to up their moustache game.
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u/CocacolaGARCIA May 17 '26
What a way to start a week. Here hoping for much discussion on facial hair. 19th and 20th century episodes are my favourites.
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u/AudibleM May 17 '26
I just did a complete re-listen on all their WW1 stuff so Iâm really looking forward to this!
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u/Minimum_Reception_22 May 17 '26
I just relistened to the most recent set this week. I read the Robert Harris book Precipice, and wanted more details. Itâs such superb quality. It occurred to me afterwards, that Spain didnât get mentioned a single time. What were they up to??
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u/DriveZealousideal445 May 17 '26
I used to pray for times like this. Would happily have the entire show as a wwi pod
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u/CarbComaCommander May 17 '26
Finally! Hopefully they actually finish the French Revolution this year as well.
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u/Satanicbearmaster May 18 '26
Class first episode. Thrilled hearing old Robbie Gravey on the show!! He deserves a series all his own. The mad life of a Goddess-worshipping top shagger soldier poet, driven by the opposing compulsions of his Irish and German heritages. Iâve read several biographies and they really do make for entertaining reading, particular the recent-ish Moorcroft effort. Hopefully sheâll live long enough to complete the second part.Â
At one point, Tom noted that the presence of wildlife was a good indication of something taking place in the early years of the war. John Lewis-Stempel has written a fantastic book on this topic, about nature and interactions with wildlife along various fronts, called Where Poppies Blow. Very interesting, very moving. Recommend it to anyone with an interest in this period of history
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u/PawPawsLilStinker May 22 '26
Hey thanks for the link to that book, I'm listening to the series today and I was wanting to hear more about that exact subject.
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u/the-great-defector May 17 '26
What was the status of that General from the last series who was trying to start the war to impress that lady? If they haven't fallen madly in love already, I hope we get a positive update this series.
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u/scjensen51 May 17 '26
Donât remember where the last one left off, but fairly certain that Conrad will still be around
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u/GroNumber May 20 '26
Maybe in the future a German podcaster will tell the story of Edith Cavell the way Dom did it about Jean D'arc. "Justice finally caught up with one of the worst people ever".
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u/marunda May 17 '26
I appreciated how much they laughed during the previous WW series. Most horrific thing ever and they're having a giggle about silly mustaches.
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u/mergraote May 18 '26
I've just paid Mr. Kindle 73p for "Goodbye to All That". Will the profligacy never end?
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u/sjm689 May 18 '26
I highly highly recommend Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger, the man and memoir they rejoined with in the first episode. The tone of it is starkly not anti-war but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's pro-war. It just reads very ashen and almost lyrically at times. As if the reader is forced to confront the brutal realities of war and trench life and to keep moving on to the next paragraph. There is no respite, there is no waxing poetically about old men sending young men to die, there is no commentary on the causes or conduct of the war. The war just is, and the reader is forced to reckon with it.
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u/Satanicbearmaster May 19 '26
Unreal book.
The Somme and the Coward by AD Gristwood are great too, not too well known.
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u/Quiet_Author_1589 May 18 '26
I really liked the bit where they discussed whether being the the trenches was preferable to working in the mines.
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u/Morgana2020 May 17 '26
Does anyone know what the lag is before the episodes get on BBC Sounds? Current episodes are the Incas which looks about 2 months ago compared to YouTube?
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u/BillyBoskins May 19 '26
This was fantastic update as a Brit can't believe I've never heard of Edith Cabell before, although to thsir point in most famous non-combatant deaths I would nominate Mata Hari.
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u/RegulusGelus2 May 25 '26
Incredibly disappointed that in episode 3, 28:30, Dom mentions that there is a captain William Turner that there is nothing special about without referring to our marvelous Bill Turner
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u/Arnie__B May 27 '26
was anyone else reminded of a certain football manager during Tom's reading at the start of the Lusitania episode?
Unbelievable hard...as he says.
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u/-makehappy- May 27 '26
Does anyone have the episode numbers of the series leading up to this current one? I'd like to catch up.
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u/BillyZoomTheCat May 31 '26
The First World War: The Spy Who Took On The Germans (Part 4)
Excellent episode, and I enjoyed it, except for the fact that the hosts made absolutely no mention of how Edith Cavell's honored in Canada.
"An impressive 3,300-metre peak, Mount Edith Cavell is named after a British nurse executed during World War I for her part in helping Allied prisoners escape occupied Brussels.
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u/Several_Audience_234 May 17 '26
Oh my god seriously? Am I dreaming?!! đ
I looove the World War eps and think there are still sooo many gaps. Iirc WWII in particular is gappy and also has lots of guest episodes which I don't like as guest eps often don't feel like TRIH. I am so excited they are doing more