Chalke Talk

The podcast from the Chalke Valley History Festival
Released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Chalke Talks for PERIOD: WW1


  • 23. THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE AND LEGACY
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    The First World War still captures the imagination, but how do you paint a picture of people that are long gone? How do you put their existence in context with the manner in which they died, so that future generations retain a connection to the human impact of WW1 that transcends tales of strategic success […]

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  • 36. THEY CALLED IT PASSCHENDAELE
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    Lyn Macdonald remains revered as the great chronicler of the human experience of the Western Front and has recorded interviews with more veterans of the First World War than any other. In this talk she returns to the subject of her first book, the Battle of Passchendaele, fought over a hundred years ago in 1917, […]

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  • THE WOMAN WHO SAVED THE CHILDREN: EGLANTYNE JEBB
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    Eglantyne Jebb not only helped save millions of lives, she also permanently changed the way the world treats children through the foundation of Save the Children. Clare Mulley brings to life this brilliant, charismatic, and passionate woman, whose work took her between drawing rooms and war zones, defying convention and breaking the law, until she […]

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  • 107. MAPS OF WAR: MAPPING CONFLICT THROUGH THE CENTURIES
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    In this talk, Professor Jeremy Black explains how the development of mapping from the Renaissance onwards provides us with an invaluable guide to the history of warfare. From the impact of printing through to the two World Wars and beyond, this is a fascinating and revealing talk from one of our very finest historians.

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  • 134. CATASTROPHE: EUROPE GOES TO WAR, 1914
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    Journalist, editor and acclaimed author Sir Max Hastings tells the story of how Europe went to war in 1914 precipitating the first of the twentieth century’s great tragedies. He challenges the view of some modern historians that British participation was unnecessary and concludes with the Christmas truces when the struggle had lapsed into the stalemate […]

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  • 141. THE WIPERS TIMES
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    The Wipers Times was a newspaper for the troops that was written, edited and printed under extraordinary circumstances by a small group of British soldiers during the First World War. Wry, irreverent and topical, it was, in many ways, a precursor to Private Eye, of which Ian has been editor for many years. Here he discusses this brilliant […]

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  • 158. THE AVIATION HEROES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
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    The pioneering airmen of the First World War took incredible risks to perform their vital contribution to the war effort. Joshua Levine, official historian of the film Dunkirk, tells the story of the first heroes of the air, conveying the perils of early flight, the thrills of being airborne, and the horrors of war in […]

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  • 164. ROBERT GRAVES: FROM GREAT WAR POET TO GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT
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    Robert Graves as war poet, and the poems he suppressed in an effort to put the war behind him, have been largely neglected – until now. Jean Moorcroft Wilson traces not only Graves’s compelling life, but also the development of his poetry during the First World War, his thinking about the conflict and his talents […]

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  • 175. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
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    T.E. Lawrence is famous for Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his personal account of the Arab revolt during World War I. What is less known is that he burnt the first, more intimate, version of his memoire. Highly acclaimed author Anthony Sattin uncovers the story of Lawrence’s pre-war adventures and the personal reasons that led to […]

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  • 188. MASTERS OF THE SEAS: NAVAL POWER AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR
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    So much of our understanding of the First World War focuses on the conflict on land and yet the nation who controlled the seas also controlled the flow of resources, so critical in such a long and attritional war. In this lecture, one of our most eminent historians Professor Sir Hew Strachan shows why naval […]

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  • 201. 1918: ONE HUNDRED DAYS TO VICTORY
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    The stunning series of victories that brought the First World War to a close are regarded as some of the most important battles the British have ever fought. Yet today they are largely forgotten. Dan Snow tells the story of The Hundred Days Offensive and how a hastily assembled army of civilians was forged into […]

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