Absolutely! If a unit was good the Brits just assumed they were Germans, if they were bad they must be Italian
*sigh* Not enough people know or care about the absolute, seething, boiling, overriding hatred that so many Western political leaders had for Communists before Hitler decided to attack both directions
Reading for the podcast I like comparing how different historians approach discussions around long running myths. Currently researching early events in North Africa which is a game of “How will this historian explain how the Italians were not worthless and were an important part of Rommel’s success”
Definitely an interesting perspective from someone writing about a subject. I cannot count the number of times I have read a subject-specific history and ended with the general feeling that the topic was not nearly as important as the author portrayed it as.
And people think Dante had some scary ideas for what hell is.
I think people stop trusting my food opinions when I say I greatly prefer pizza without any meat on it. Not a vegetarian or anything, just don't like the weird greasiness that meat adds to pizza.
I agree with this analysis 100%. It is one of those what if scenarios that assumes that a commander should basically go all in on a scenario that has a high likelihood of resulting in the complete destruction of their force. Big upside, but the downside is even bigger.
I also found this interesting. Unfortunately, did not really get a chance to dive into this specific part of the book during the conversation for the podcast.
Awesome article. Not a Historian, but AoE2 (along with Civ2) played a huge role in fostering my interest in history. I spent a lot of time reading books trying to find out more information about the factions and units in the game.
Age of Empires II turned 25 and so I wrote a piece about the impact it had on me, and many other historians who were inspired by the game 🏰 Thanks so much to @gregjenner.bsky.social, Agnes Arnold-Forster, and @mathewlyons.bsky.social for chatting to me www.theguardian.com/games/2024/o...
Many historians of a certain age admit that the game reinforced their passion for the past and got them into the field. Four of them explain what drew them in