Tank Standoff at Checkpoint Charlie

Tank Standoff at Checkpoint Charlie

For 16 hours between the 27 to 28 October 1961, the world held its breath as Soviet and US tanks faced each other down at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and came very close to turning the Cold War hot. However, one of the most dramatic and dangerous showdowns of the cold war has been largely overshadowed by the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later which saw the two superpowers go head to head once more. To discuss how it was that tanks came to be deployed ready for battle at one of the most sensitive locations along the Iron Curtain Dan is joined by Iain MacGregor, author of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth. Iain and Dan discuss how the confrontation was brought about by a trip to the opera, the political miscalculations that led the world to the brink of war and how the crisis was averted.

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Episoder(1489)

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The Battle of Hastings

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21 Sep 202534min

Anne Boleyn: Myths vs Reality

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The life of Anne Boleyn has intrigued audiences for centuries. Everyone knows something about her time as Queen of England, and of course, her betrayal and execution. But her formative years in France...

18 Sep 20251h 1min

Emperor Augustus

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Augustus has often been hailed as Rome’s greatest emperor - he ended civil war, built an empire and declared a new age of peace. But behind the architectural marvels and military triumphs lies a story...

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The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived: William the Marshal

The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived: William the Marshal

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14 Sep 20252h 7min

Rommel's Defeat in North Africa

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11 Sep 20251h 1min

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