In the second part of Al Murray and James Holland’s conversation with historian Phillips O’Brien they discuss the largely forgotten US Admiral William Leahy and his attitude to the use of the atomic bomb in Japan.

Robin Rowland was an officer in Slim’s Fourteenth Army, fighting at the Battle of the Admin Box and at the Battle of Kohima. Here he is in conversation with James Holland. In this first part of their discussion Robin describes

Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today Al is reading an extract from The

Historian Phillips O’Brien explains to James Holland and Al Murray his theory that land battles did not make a significant contribution to the outcome of the war. If you think Stalingrad and the Eastern Front were pivotal, think again.