Flinging off her heels under shellfire in Civil War Spain. Taking tea with Hitler after a Nuremberg rally. Gossipping with Churchill by his goldfish pond. The pioneering 1930s female war correspondent Virginia Cowles did all of these things.
In this special episode, we’re joined by not one, but two experts to discuss the life of the trailblazing Virginia Cowles.
The first is the author Judith Mackrell, whose most recent book, Going with the Boys, follows six women journalists, including Virginia, who reported on the Second World War. The second is multi-award winning journalist and senior foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times, Christina Lamb, who has written the foreword to the re-issue of Virginia’s memoir.
We join Virginia in 1938 as she reports from a Europe on the brink of the Second World War.
As ever, maps, images and much more about this episode is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com.
Click here to order Virginia Cowles' and Judith Mackrell's book from John Sandoe’s who, we are delighted to say, are supplying books for the podcast.
Show notesScene One: September, Nuremberg. Virginia attends a Nuremberg Rally and afterwards has a mind boggling conversation with Unity Mitford, a close friend of Hitler’s.
Scene Two: August, Prague. Virginia speaks to Czech citizens who fear imminent German aggression.
Scene Three: October, London. Virginia has a conversation with Neville Chamberlain in the aftermath of the Munich Agreement.
Memento: Christina chooses Virginia’s high heels, and Judith chooses one of the Nazi government’s traditional new year posters depicting an image of a helmeted German soldier with the caption “1939”.
People/Social
Presenter: Artemis Irvine
Guest: Christina Lamb and Judith Mackrell
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Unseen Histories
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
Or on Facebook
See where 1938 fits on our Timeline
S.C. Gwynne: R101 – The World’s Largest Flying Machine (1930)
Peter Moore: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
[From the archive] Philip Hoare: Albert and the Whale (1520)
[From the archive] Bernard Cornwell: The Battle of Waterloo (1815)
Lady Hale: The Rights of Women (1925)
[Live] Flora Fraser: Pretty Young Rebel (1746)
Mike Jay: Psychonauts (1885)
David Veevers: How the World Took On the British Empire (1660)
Leah Redmond Chang: Renaissance Queens and the Price of Power (1559)
Andrew Spira: Botticelli, Perugino and Dürer (1500)
Serhii Plokhy: The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)
[From the archives] Craig Brown: Beatlemania (1963)
Honor Cargill-Martin: The Notorious Empress Messalina (48 AD)
Tom Whipple: The Battle of the Beams (1940)
Simon Winchester: Knowing What We Know (1924)
Rebecca Struthers: Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots and Watchmaking History (1572)
Luke Turner: Men at War (1943)
Amy Jeffs: Tales from Medieval England (1327)
Nicholas Orme: A Year of Great Promise (1480)
[From the archives] Jane Rogoyska: The Katyń Massacre (1940)
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Lore