The Saga of World War 2: a Casus Belli Project

Cassus Belli Guy

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In their own words

A podcast covering the entire second world war from beginning to end.

As heard by us

Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Detailed campaign narration connects strategic decisions with the terrain, logistics, reporting, and representation that shape how World War II is understood.

The Saga of World War 2: a Casus Belli Project reconstructs the conflict through battlefield conditions, command decisions, and the movement of forces across often-overlooked fronts.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Fog stalls an Aleutian assault; your neat war map starts looking a lot less neat.

Press play if you want

  • to understand how fog and difficult beaches can shape a landing
  • China's war given room to breathe, including the political road to 1937
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Talks about

Best episodes of The Saga of World War 2: a Casus Belli Project

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

The China Update: Part 2May 19, 2023

A steady China war update that links Nanking, the Panay bombing, and the widening U.S. response.

This China update part 2 traces the war from the Polo Bridge incident through the retreat from Nanking with a steady sense of escalation. It keeps dates, places, commanders, and consequences in view, which helps the campaign stay clear instead of dissolving into background noise.

Appendix I Part 2: Tom Derrick VCMar 22, 2023

A grave, steady biography that maps one soldier's service across a wider war.

Tom Diver Derrick's wartime path is laid out with care, from Tobruk and El Alamein to New Guinea, the Victoria Cross, and Borneo. The episode treats him less as a legend than as a soldier shaped by rank, terrain, and exhaustion, which gives the account its force.

Appendix I: Company of Heroes 3; an interview with David MilneMar 18, 2023

A clear look at how WWII strategy design turns research and choice into missions.

Company of Heroes 3 is presented as a World War II RTS set in the Mediterranean theater, with one campaign following the Deutsches Afrika Korps through North Africa and another tracking the Allies from the toe of Italy toward Rome.

Closing the ViceMar 15, 2023

A measured account of how Rabaul was boxed in and how the island fighting fed MacArthur's push toward the Philippines.

This episode follows the isolation of Rabaul in the Bismarck Islands and then moves through the fighting on New Britain and the Admiralty Islands into early 1944.

War on the Cold PeripheryJan 20, 2023

A cold, methodical take on the Aleutians, where weather and attrition do most of the work.

War on the Cold Periphery treats the Aleutian Islands campaign as a hard lesson in weather and attrition. The June 1942 raids on Dutch Harbor and Fort Glenn set the tone, and the numbers make the cost plain: 43 men killed, 50 wounded, only 14 PVYs still operational by June 4,…

The China Update, Part 1

China is restored to the center of the war story.

China moves back to the center of the war, and the episode is strongest when it ties the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing reforms, the rise of regional warlords, and the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident into one chain. The tone stays serious and measured.

Battle for the Backwater

A backburner Pacific campaign, told through weather, logistics, and command friction.

The Aleutian Islands campaign reads as a hard, methodical fight at the edge of the map, with weather and distance shaping the action as much as gunfire.

Podcasts like The Saga of World War 2: a Casus Belli Project

Episodes

  1. 1

    Appendix H: Richard Tregaskis; Reporting Under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam

    Hidden gem

    Ray Boomhauer presents Richard Tregaskis as one of World War II’s boldest correspondents, comparing him to Ernie Pyle and noting that he covered the Doolittle Raid, Midway, Guadalcanal, Sicily, Aachen, and B-29 missions over Japan.

    ·46m·3 clips
  2. 2

    Battle for the Backwater

    Hidden gem

    The episode follows the Aleutian Islands campaign from the May 11, 1943 assault on Attu through the final fighting at Chickaguff Harbor, with 11,000 troops staged offshore and landings split between Scarlet, Red, Yellow, and Blue Beaches.

    ·29m·1 clip
  3. 3

    The China Update, Part 1

    Hidden gem

    A correction on the USS Phoenix opens the hour before the series shifts to China, a theater that lasted eight years and cost roughly 14 million Chinese lives in the war with Japan.

    ·38m·2 clips
  4. 4

    The China Update: Part 2

    China cannot be rushed.

    May 19, 2023·28m
  5. 5

    Appendix I Part 2: Tom Derrick VC

    Hidden gem

    Tom Diver Derrick is the focus here.

    Mar 22, 2023·19m·2 clips
  6. 6

    Appendix I: Company of Heroes 3; an interview with David Milne

    David Milne explains Company of Heroes 3 from the mission designer's chair.

    Mar 18, 2023·47m·4 clips
  7. 7

    Closing the Vice

    This episode covers the Allied campaigns to isolate the Japanese fortress at Rabaul in early 1944, focusing on the battles of Cape Gloucester on New Britain and the Admiralty Islands.

    Mar 15, 2023·26m·2 clips
  8. 8

    War on the Cold Periphery

    The episode traces the Aleutian Islands campaign from the June 1942 Japanese raids through the delayed landing in May 1943.

    Jan 20, 2023·25m·1 clip
  9. 9

    The First Atoll

    Dec 11, 2022·30m
  10. 10

    The End of the Solomons

    Nov 20, 2022·27m
  11. 11

    Vengeance in the Solomons

    Nov 6, 2022·29m
  12. 12

    Overpaid and Over Here

    Oct 23, 2022·36m
  13. 13

    Appendix G: What is Fascism

    May 4, 2021·12m
  14. 14

    The Battle of the Atlantic

    Apr 29, 2021·36m
  15. 15

    Appendix: F; The Iron Sea, an Interview with Simon Read

    Feb 24, 2021·55m
  16. 16

    The Bomber Barons

    Feb 17, 2021·32m
  17. 17

    The Italian Slog

    Jan 7, 2021·25m
  18. 18

    Foothold in Europe Reupload

    Dec 16, 2020·28m
  19. 19

    Siege

    Oct 6, 2020·25m
  20. 20

    35. Panzerfaust

    Sep 15, 2020·26m
  21. 21

    Zhukov's Cauldron

    Aug 9, 2020·27m
  22. 22

    The Last Field Marshall

    Jul 26, 2020·30m
  23. 23

    Fight Like Ike

    Jun 16, 2020·30m
  24. 24

    Appendix E: Navies of the Second World War

    May 15, 2020·32m
  25. 25

    Appendix E Part 1: Interview with Artur Plociennik about World of Warships

    May 9, 2020·1m
  26. 26

    Episode 31: Torch Light

    May 3, 2020·25m
  27. 27

    Episode 30: Rainy Marching on the Painful Field

    Apr 19, 2020·33m
  28. 28

    Episode 29: Thermopylae on Matanikau

    Apr 5, 2020·26m
  29. 29

    Episode 28: Death Island

    Mar 22, 2020·30m
  30. 30

    Episode 27: Sabers in the Sun

    Mar 8, 2020·27m
  31. 31

    Episode 26: the Eagle Strikes Back

    Feb 23, 2020·28m
  32. 32

    Episode 25: Yamomoto's Gambit

    Feb 9, 2020·29m
  33. 33

    Episode 24: Fox Catcher

    Jan 26, 2020·25m
  34. 34

    Appendix D: Return to the Reich; an Interview with Eric Lichtblau

    Nov 11, 2019·1h 26m
  35. 35

    Episode 23: Blue Jubilee

    Oct 26, 2019·27m
  36. 36

    Episode 22: the Reluctant Dragon

    Sep 7, 2019·30m
  37. 37

    Appendix C: In Toni's Footsteps, an interview with Carl Timms

    Aug 17, 2019·44m
  38. 38

    Episode 21: Shangri-la

    Jul 28, 2019·25m
  39. 39

    Appendix B: Panzer Commander, an interview with Stephen Robinson

    Jul 13, 2019·50m
  40. 40

    Episode 20: the Sledgehammer and the Egg

    Jun 2, 2019·24m
  41. 41

    Episode 19: the Honor of the Empire

    Jan 13, 2019·30m
  42. 42

    Episode 18: Kaminari Sen

    Dec 21, 2018·31m
  43. 43

    Episode 17: Atarimashita!

    Dec 9, 2018·26m
  44. 44

    Episode 16: Japan Prepares for War

    May 28, 2018·27m
  45. 45

    Episode 15: Rising Sun

    Apr 29, 2018·26m
  46. 46

    Appendix A: Charles de Gaulle

    Apr 8, 2018·10m
  47. 47

    Episode 14: the End of the Begining

    Mar 25, 2018·33m
  48. 48

    Episode 13: Germania Delenda Est

    Mar 10, 2018·26m
  49. 49

    Episode 12: Man of Steel

    Feb 25, 2018·32m
  50. 50

    Episode 11: Kicking in the Door

    Feb 10, 2018·26m
  51. 51

    Episode 10: War on the Periphery

    Jan 29, 2018·28m
  52. 52

    Episode 9: Fox Killed in the Open

    Sep 15, 2017·22m
  53. 53

    Episode 8: the War at Sea

    Jun 21, 2017·22m
  54. 54

    Episode 7: Their Finest Hour

    May 22, 2017·25m
  55. 55

    Episode 6: a Miracle in a Sea of Disasters

    May 11, 2017·25m
  56. 56

    Episode 5: Polish the Shield, Neglect the Sword

    May 8, 2017·25m
  57. 57

    Episode 4: a Phony War and a Winter War

    Apr 7, 2017·27m
  58. 58

    Episode 3: a Beer Hall Coup and an Invasion Too

    Apr 3, 2017·25m
  59. 59

    Episode 1: Versailles to Fascism

    Mar 26, 2017·27m
  60. 60

    Episode 2: Architect of Armageddon

    Mar 26, 2017·27m