Postwar on BBC Sounds

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Ooh this is fab… love David Runciman and this is a meaty documentary series on postwar British politics. Great stuff.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m00249zx?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Yes, really enjoying it!

It's great, isn't it! More episodes due next week.

It's fabulous. One of those programmes that makes you apply what you're learnnig from 80 years ago to how politics works today. It's great that there are plenty of episodes, when I first heard there would be 20 I almost squeaked with delight.

I love it too - have listened to them all on the app! It steered me onto a programme about a book about working class aspirations``;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b0930m3j
Which I also loved. There's some wonderful stuff on iplayer.

Just finished episode 20. I hope this wins awards and stays on Sounds for a long time. Excellent use of archive recordings.

I don't think I'd ever heard before about the aptly codenamed Operation Unthinkable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable Churchill wanted to launch a surprise attack on the Soviets as soon as possible after VE Day to prevent the annexation of Eastern Europe, especially Poland. He thought the Allied forces could be augmented by some of the German forces they'd just conquered. Fortunately, the chiefs of staff strongly advised against this and then of course he lost the 1945 election, so that was consigned to the category of 'what if'. The entire harebrained scheme depended on the attack being a surprise, and it is now known that Guy Burgess had told the Soviets all about it at the time, so it would have been a disaster.

It has been a great series. I like these type of long series in short form - like history of the world in 100 objects.

I think this format of lots of short episodes can be great and it's one of the innovations of recent years that I really appreciate.