The Rosie the Reviewer Podcast

Welcome to Rosie the Reviewer, a Dutch-Canadian female-led WW2 media podcast. A new episode airs every Friday!

Back to all episodes

Ep 21 – The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – Book vs. Film Discussion

Subscribe:

Apple PodcastsCastBoxPocketCastsSpotifyRSSAmazon MusicYouTube

Share

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

merch

Description

In this episode, we discuss The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which in a strange turn of events, Maartje likes better than Sam. Apparently the book is better. Sam would know, having read it. Read the book. Or be lazy, like Maartje.

Book Rec by Sam

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Desperadoes Who Plotted Hitler’s Downfall, Giving Birth to Modern-day Black Ops by Damien Lewis

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops by Damien Lewis is one of those WWII books I would even recommend to someone who doesn’t do a lot of WWII reading. Yes, I have two separate recommendation lists in my head! Of course, this is a pop history book designed as a jumping-off point, not unlike Ben MacIntyre’s SAS Rogue Heroes, but it was thorough and well-researched, and I enjoyed the narrative-based writing style. The figure of Anders Lassen looms particularly large in my mind, even weeks after reading it. Lewis gives us as much of him as he can – the de-facto leader of the group for most of the war, and a man who died at the age of 25 and left us only a legacy through other people, as well as a half-finished diary. A soldier known for his killing abilities, he had stopped writing in it on the day he first killed a man with his knife.

Highly recommend.

BUY ON AMAZON
*This is an affiliate link. If you buy through this link, we get a small percentage, and you get a book and help Rosie stay afloat. Thank you!

Discover more from the Rosie the Reviewer Podcast

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More episodes

Rosie the Reviewer logo

Ep 65 – Ballad of a Soldier – The Sweetest Russian War Movie You’ve Never Seen

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss the beautiful Ballad of a Soldier (1959), a Soviet-era WWII film that might just be the gentlest war movie we’ve ever seen. The film follows a young soldier named Alyosha as he travels across Russia to visit his mother on furlough. Along the way, he meets the love of his life. Not a very outspoken war movie, but a gentle story with sincere performances from main cast and supporting actors.

Go to episode »
Rosie the Reviewer logo

Ep 56 – Le Grand Cirque – A Sortie into France’s Forgotten Fighter Ace Pierre Clostermann

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we embark on a cinematic sortie with Le Grand Cirque (The Big Show), the 1950 French film based on the bestselling memoir by ace pilot Pierre Clostermann. While the movie tries to be authentic with vintage aircraft footage and Free French pride, we found it weighed down by a lack of character depth and narrative, especially compared to Clostermann’s vivid, emotionally resonant book. We discuss Clostermann’s daring missions, the film’s historical context, its unique multilingual quirks, and why this underrated French perspective on WWII deserves more attention, perhaps from Hollywood—preferably with subtitles next time.

Go to episode »
Rosie the Reviewer A Bridge Too Far

Ep 81 – A Bridge Too Far – Operation Market Garden Discussed at Length

In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on Richard Attenborough’s A Bridge Too Far (1977), the war epic based on Cornelius Ryan’s book of the same name about Operation Market Garden. We take you through one of WWII’s most ambitious (and doomed-to-fail) military plans as we discuss the film. From Sean Connery’s Major General Urquhart to Gene Hackman’s Sosabowski (we approve), we talk about what led to Market Garden’s failure, and how Dutch civilians like Kate ter Horst were astoundingly brave in the face of absolute hell.

Market Garden, a little complicated? We try to make it simple for you!

Go to episode »

Support the podcast

Rosie the Reviewer is a passion project, built episode by episode. If you’d like to support what we do, you can help keep us on the air or pick up some Rosie merch. We’re working on more ways for you to get involved in the future.

Shop rosie merch