Key Battles of American History
War has played a key role in the history of the United States from the nation’s founding right down to the present. Wars made the U. S. independent, kept it together, increased its size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America’s wars is essential for understanding American history. In the Key Battles of American History, host James Early discusses American history through the lens of the most important battles of America’s wars. James is an Adjunct Professor of History at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, TX. He has published one book and two scholarly articles. He is also the cohost (with Scott Rank) of the Presidential Fight Club, Key Battles of the Civil War, Key Battles of the Revolutionary War, and Key Battles of World War I podcasts.
- Update frequency
- every 5 days
- Average duration
- 51 minutes
- Episodes
- 366
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
The Bridge on the River Kwai
One of the most critically acclaimed films of all time, The Bridge on the River Kwai tells a fictionalized account of the building of part of the Burma-Siam railroad by Allied prisoners of war. Join …
01:16:26 |
Wed 29 Jun 2022
Hacksaw Ridge
Born in Virginia, Desmond Doss was a devout Christian and a pacifist who wanted to serve in the war as a combat medic but refused to touch a weapon. After suffering much shame and ill-treatment from …
01:24:40 |
Wed 22 Jun 2022
Parthenon Round Table - What Event Do You Eliminate from History
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01:04:38 |
Sat 18 Jun 2022
Letters From Iwo Jima
The companion film to Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima narrates the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. In this episode, you will join James and…
01:15:30 |
Wed 15 Jun 2022
Flags of Our Fathers
One of the most iconic photographs of all time is the famous Joe Rosenthal photo of the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi in the southwest corner of Iwo Jima. In Flags of Our Fathers, d…
01:30:30 |
Wed 08 Jun 2022
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Theater for both the Japanese and the Americans. James and Sean will be discussing three movies about Iwo Jima, the first of whi…
00:58:29 |
Wed 01 Jun 2022
Bonus Episode - History Unplugged
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00:25:25 |
Sat 28 May 2022
Grave of the Fireflies
In this episode, James and Sean completely change gears, discussing the 1988 Japanese animated Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies, which tells the story of a young boy and his little sister wh…
00:56:57 |
Wed 25 May 2022
Windtalkers
In early 1942, the US Marine Corps began recruiting young Navajo men to serve as “codetalkers” who would transmit orders via radio using a code based on the Navajo language. The code was inscrutable …
01:06:14 |
Wed 18 May 2022
Run Silent, Run Deep
Based loosely on the 1955 novel of the same name, Run Silent, Run Deep tells the story of a submarine captain who disobeys orders in an attempt to get revenge against a Japanese destroyer that sank h…
00:52:18 |
Wed 11 May 2022
Mister Roberts
Not all World War II American naval personnel saw combat. Many spent the entire war in non-combat roles, including serving on the thousands of supply ships that were essential to the war effort. The …
00:55:24 |
Wed 04 May 2022
The Caine Mutiny
Typhoons and other storms were a real danger for naval vessels during the Pacific War, and many ships were lost to them. The Caine Mutiny, based on the novel of the same name by Herman Wouk, tells th…
00:55:01 |
Wed 27 Apr 2022
The Thin Red Line
During a war, combatants often ponder the deep existential questions of life. These questions form the basis of Terence Malick’s 1998 war drama The Thin Red Line. On one level, The Thin Red Line is a…
01:24:11 |
Wed 20 Apr 2022
Midway (2019)
On June 4, 1942, a Japanese naval task force launched an attack on the American naval and air base at Midway Island. The task force then encountered an American carrier fleet, leading to an epic nava…
01:39:48 |
Wed 13 Apr 2022
Special Episode: Eyewitness History Preview
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00:18:16 |
Tue 12 Apr 2022
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
In April 1942, sixteen American B-25B bombers took off from the carrier USS Hornet and conducted a bombing raid over Japan that is known to posterity as the Doolittle Raid. After bombing Japan, the p…
00:59:28 |
Wed 06 Apr 2022
They Were Expendable
Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats, while not as famous as battleships, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and other large ships, nevertheless played a crucial role in the Pacific War. In 1942, author W. L. White…
01:11:51 |
Wed 30 Mar 2022
Tora! Tora! Tora!
In the late 1960s, a Japanese film production team joined forces with an American team in an effort to produce a balanced and accurate retelling of the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbo…
01:33:09 |
Wed 23 Mar 2022
Introduction to Season 3: The Pacific War on Film
In this episode, James kicks off a new season of Key Battles of American History: “The Pacific War on Film.” In this season, James and returning co-host Sean McIver will discuss 17 specially selected…
00:21:10 |
Wed 16 Mar 2022
Bonus Episode - Gung Ho! (with Steve Guerra)
James and Steve Guerra, host of the Beyond the Big Screen Podcast, discuss the 1943 war propaganda movie Gung Ho!, which is loosely based on the formation and first combat action of the elite World W…
01:05:36 |
Wed 09 Mar 2022
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