In today’s episode, we have the honour of speaking with Max Lauker and Antonio Garcia about their collaborative work—a captivating book that details Max’s experiences as a Swedish special operations soldier. Max was deployed as part of Sweden’s contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014, and later, the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) until the final Swedish withdrawal in 2021. Max, a highly trained soldier and ranger, specialising in reconnaissance, intelligence, and covert operations, shares his journey in uniform through his autobiography. Together, we…

British Army officer Sean Scullion talks about his forthcoming book Churchill’s Spaniards. This book examines the service of former Spanish Republican soldiers who served in the Spanish Civil War and their subsequent experience in British and French forces during the Second World War. The interview explores what motivated these individuals to enlist in foreign armies and fight for the allies during the conflict. Sean’s book is published by Helion.

In today’s podcast, I talk to historian, lecturer, and author Dr. Richard Baxell about his research into motivation and morale of British volunteers who served in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. During the Spanish Civil War, around 2, 500British volunteers joined the International Brigades to fight alongside the Spanish Republicans against General Franco’s Nationalist forces. Motivated by ideological convictions, solidarity with the Spanish people, and opposition to fascism, these volunteers saw the conflict as a crucial battle between democracy and totalitarianism. Despite the British government’s non-intervention policy,…

Canon Professor Michael Snape, the Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University, talks about religion, God and the British soldier in the Great War. Drawing from a treasure trove of newly unearthed materials from military, ecclesiastical, and civilian archives, Michael paints a vivid portrait of the experiences of Britain’s citizen armies and the vital role played by the various religious organisations that ministered to them. Michael reveals the often-underestimated significance of religion in British society during the war years. This enlightening conversation underscores how faith held a prominent…

Dr. David Stahel from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, discusses his latest book, “German Panzer Generals,” and explores the motivations and morale of these soldiers who played pivotal roles in Germany’s military effort on the Eastern Front. While the significance of figures like Heinz Guderian is widely acknowledged, this discussion focuses on the lesser-known panzer commanders serving on the Eastern Front, offering a perspective derived from their unpublished wartime letters to their wives. The discussion delves into their private fears, public pressures, and the complex moral dilemmas that…

Prof Ed Coss talks about the motivation of the British soldier fighting in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars, 1808-1815. Ed is Emeritus Professor of History at the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was named the Army’s Civilian Educator of the Year in 2010. He is also the author of All for the King’s Shilling: The British Soldier under Wellington, 1808-1814.

Tobias Kelly, Professor of Political and Legal Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, talks about the motivations of British conscientious objectors (COs) in the Second World War (SWW). He explores their reasons for not fighting and is based on his recent book Battles of Conscience: British Pacifists in the Second World War.

Author and historian Jane Gulliford Lowes talks about her interest and research into ‘lack of moral fibre’ in RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War.

Scholar, soldier, anthropologist, author and academic Eyal Ben-Ari, talks about morale and motivation in mission formations. Mission formations may be defined as ad hoc groups of individuals drawn from different occupational and skill backgrounds drawn together for a bespoke task focused mission. Mission formations may function in military organisations, business environments and international humanitarian relief missions. Eyal discusses the nature of motivation in these groups and how they function.

Prof. Peter Stanley outlines the military ‘crime’ that members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) committed as part of their war service in the Middle East, Britain and Flanders during the Great War.

Historian, author and academic Professor Tim Lockley, talks about the morale and motivation of enslaved African men who became British soldiers when they were conscripted into the British West India Regiment in the Caribbean between the 1790s and 1815. Tim is a scholar in the School of Comparative American Studies at the University of Warwick.

Historian and podcaster Dr Zack White talks about his research into the role of discipline and court martials in the British Army during the period of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Psychologist, historian, soldier, author and academic Professor Reuven Gal talks about his pioneering book the Portrait of The Israeli Soldier that was published in the 1980s. This examined the influences on the Israeli soldier, such as motivation and camaraderie, leadership and heroism, and their impact on the IDF’s military performance.

Dr Ben Connable talks about his work on the RAND Will to Fight series of policy papers. Ben is a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs, the director of research at DT Institute, and adjunct professor of security studies at Georgetown University. The Will to Fight will to fight and describes its importance to the outcomes of wars. It gives the U.S. and allied militaries a way to better integrate will to fight into doctrine, planning, training, education, intelligence analysis, and military adviser assessments. It provides…

Dr. Luke Hughes, a UK-based designer and developer, is the creative mind behind the upcoming computer game called Burden of Command. He talks about the game and how it aims to provide an emotionally authentic tactical leadership experience. Set in the final year of World War II, players assume the role of a captain leading a company of American infantrymen in France and Germany. Beyond the intense combat scenarios, the game places great importance on understanding the psychological dynamics of the soldiers under the player’s command. Building respect and trust…

Psychologist, author and operational researcher Dermot Rooney talks about his work on tactical psychology, morale and war. Tactical psychology is the study and application of psychological principles and techniques to enhance the performance, decision-making, and resilience of individuals and teams in high-stress and high-stakes situations, such as law enforcement, military operations, emergency response, and other tactical contexts. The goal of tactical psychology is to help individuals and teams optimize their cognitive, emotional, and behavioural functioning under pressure, and to improve their ability to adapt and respond effectively to complex and…

Author, soldier and scholar, Colonel John Spencer talks about his recent book Connected Soldiers and morale in urban combat. John currently serves as the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at Westpoint, the US Military Academy, is the co-director of the Urban Warfare Project, and also host of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast.

Dr David Harrisville, an independent scholar with an interest in the Third Reich, Holocaust and Second World War, talks about his recent book Virtuous Wehrmacht. He discusses what it tells us about the relationship between German combatants’ morality and ethical world view and their motivation, morale and behaviour on the battlefield of the Eastern Front during the Second World War. This book is published by Cornell University Press.

Author, historian and battlefield guide Tim Lynch talks British about his research into conscript morale during the final year of the Great War. He challenges perceptions about the motivation of conscripts and argues they were not shirkers, slackers or draught dodgers but fought as well as those men who had volunteered in 1914-1916. This interview is based on his recent thesis from his recent MA at University of Wolverhampton and his topical book ‘They Did Not Grow Old : Teenage Conscripts on the Western Front 1918’.

Dr Spencer Jones, Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, talks about the combat motivation of the various sides fighting in the latter parts of the 1899-1902 Boer War. This conflict was fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire’s influence in Southern Africa. Spencer focuses on the guerrilla phase that came after the conventional phase and saw an insurgency that was bitterly contested.