So far, no far-flung empire has lasted more than 1,500 years (the Romans) unless you count the many dynasties of Egypt, the last of which was run by Alexandrian Greeks. The great questions addressed by “large-picture” historians are how empires rise and how and why they inevitably fall. Three such academic historians joined us in 2006 to discuss the Roman, Greek, Ottoman and Russian cases.

After D-Day the general expectation was that Germany would be defeated within a few months if only because they had less than one-tenth of the planes and tanks than did the Allies. Instead it was  a “long, hard slog.” Sir Max Hastings, a great war historian, joined us for this program in 2004 to present the detailed overview, as developed in his book “Armageddon,” of the ultimate defeat of the Nazi nation.  His expert and fluent account of the march to Berlin is here richly illustrated with many sound clips from the battlefields.

As Gilbert and Sullivan have someone sing in Pinafore, “things are seldom what they seem.” A great instance in recent American history is the Cuban Missile Crisis. This refers to the causes, the weapons, the Soviet motives, the deep disagreements at the White House and how close we actually came to war. A very important and valuable book on the crisis was written by John Gresham who was our guest, together with foreign policy historian Arthur Cyr, one night in 2006. That thrilling and, frankly, scary discussion held our listeners riveted. Also heard in this program is the speech by JFK that announced the full blockade of Cuba – and that ordered the Soviets to turn back their missile-carrying ships and have the missiles already based in Cuba fully dismantled.

The question is very often asked and, of course, there is no answer. But a list of the top ten would have to include Peggy Noonan. Here she is in high form, articulate, candid and rich with political aversions and enthusiasms. The basis for this conversation in 2001 was her then new book, “When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan.”