Entertaining, in-depth and monotone enough where I could listen while working, but the obsession with Churchill(‘s earlier endeavors) killed the desire to listen to this poorly produced (at least up to the Churchill stretch) podcast. The detail is great, the breath is admirable, but the distractions from WORLD WAR TWO MATERIAL is rather annoying. *probably spoilt from History of Rome, unaware of privilege and ignorance of the topic, which likely lead to this poorly constructed review*

A must listen for those looking to expand their understanding of warfare and the intricacy of the political figures behind it.

Greetings from west-central Maryland. Fantastic width, breadth, and depth into WWII and it’s players. Ray seems like a great guy. Be sure to check out Episode 100 (tear inducing) and the story at end of Episode 117 Haha! Thanks for doing it, Ray! I’m only 120 Episodes in, but I only just found this about a month ago. I’m ten years behind, but I’m working on catching up!

Not to listen to if you’re not going to commit to it

Incredible detail.

Disappointed that there was no lead up to the operation. There was no material on the lead up to the actual operation. It was very disappointing.

You do so much research and all your things are right. I am a 12 year old that is a WWII nerd. I love this pod cast and it helps me stay motivated when I workout! Thank you so much!

Episode 190 unfortunately remains missing in action.

Mr. Harris Jr.’s The History of WWII Podcast is an extremely well researched look into the nooks and crannies of a well known conflict. I appreciate the years of hard work and the massive catalog available for listeners. Five stars. NOTE FOR RAY’s EYES ONLY: If Mr. Harris Jr. wanted to put in even more effort, I would love to hear him give more acknowledgement to the locally preferred names of locations. It really bumps my ear when I hear “The Ukraine” instead of “Ukraine” — even “Soviet Ukraine” or “The Ukrainian SSR” would be more instructive. This extends to Kharkov over Kharkiv, and Kiev instead of Kyiv. I only give the note because, to the listener, consistently using the language preferred by the Soviets / Russians may feel like an active choice and not deference to sources. History never dies — it barely even fades away.

Thanks so much for the great show

1 Decision Before Dawn, 1951 2 Run Silent Run Deep, 1958 3 The Guns Of Navarone, 1961 4 Mr Roberts, 1955 5 Das Boot, 1981 Honorable Mention: The Great Escape The Dirty Dozen Where Eagles Dare Merrill’s Marauders And many more

Packed with detail others storytellers overlook!

Very detailed, gnitty gritty look into WW2. For those who want a deep dive. My only complaints are the 10+ episodes on Churchill, probably one of the most overrated political figures in history, who didn’t really do much besides talk (an orchestrate a famine in India then laugh it off). So many WW2 documentaries are made by Brits who love to fetishize Churchill. There’s a reason the guy was immediately out of power once the job called for more than sounding bullish on the radio. Would have rather had a deep dive on Stalin, the guy who’s country actually won the war.

If land is the first dimension, the sea the second, and the air the third, then is space the fourth?

You are the man. Listening to you do this is educational, entertaining and a joy. My only disappointment was catching up and having to wait for the next episode to be dropped! Lynn

This host is clearly sincere, well-informed and prepared. But in most shows he simply reads his lecture and tends to slip into a carelessly sing songy narrative cadence. Otherwise this is pretty solid and documented.

I love the way Ray goes into details about obscure theaters of the war that I am only vaguely familiar with. The only downside is because of the audio format, sometimes it’s hard to follow the level of detail, such as which infantry brigade is in which city as described in the narrative. But well worth a listen for World War II fans, even though with extensive knowledge.

I would also like to point out that while listening to this podcast; which is very interesting; hitler was one of the demons who possessed a girl in Germany named anneliese michel. The movie that referenced this girl is called the exorcism of emily rose. All recording of the real girl are on youtube

Too many badly placed commercials. I understand revenue generation but these are right in the middle of sentences and make an abrupt uncomfortable transition.

I love this show. Keep up the good work man, this is so excellent. I learn so much every episode.

A quick summary of WWII, without a lot of insight beyond the well known stories and stereotypes. Even where the podcast goes into more detail, the narrative tells you more about the host’s preconceptions and biases than about the history.

Good and interesting podcast but what a pity for the stupid commercial messages which are annoying and promoting questionable products.

Good podcast. Ray developed a sort of breathless, overwrought and “eyebrow raised” reading style over time that overshadows and upstages the stories and people I know he cares about and reveres. I hope over time he can return to a more direct, less flamboyant reading style.

A great story about Ira A good friend and warrior Who was a great Marine

This podcast is the best history podcast out there, but could you please continue the west Africa action(vichy vs free French)

Whenever I get the opportunity to listen to your podcast I am so happy because it is very for me it is good for information and it gives me the right information I need to learn about World War II you thank you Ray. For Charlie WA Poulsbo

The podcast is generally pretty good but i would like get a deeper dive into the subject matter. I give it three stars b/c when the host has a guest on the show he laughs, makes comments and over-talks the guest to the point it is unlistenable. It is too bad b/c there have been some great guests on the show.

I’ve been chipping away at this podcast for years. Amazing podcast, super thorough, I love how he breaks down all of the different battles & campaigns in all of the different theaters of WW2. 10/10

I always look forward to this podcast in my playlist. A likable host who is very thorough and informed.

I can’t believe how well researched and entertaining every episode has been.

Ray tells stories with exceptional editing. Very thorough, fact-filled and dramatic, paints a great picture. Hard-core history fans take note. Like M.A.S.H. the TV show ran longer than the Korean War it portrayed, History Of WWII podcast is slow and deep and will last a while. Other history podcasts offer more shallow, but still entertaining, stories. Sometimes I wish Ray would record more or faster, sometimes I wish I had more time to listen. Life gets in the way.

I really do like the content. His voice is pleasant and the information is entertaining but at the pace the podcast is going I’ll be Shady Pines retirement home before it gets to D-day.

Kind of late to the party but this is an exceptional effort. I really enjoy the interviews with writers inter dispersed with the host’s narrative. Just finishing the episodes on the Aleutians. All I knew in the past was this was a diversionary attack to disguise the Japanese aims at Midway. Some diversion. Ray’s coverage was great

I can’t believe all those bad reviews. This is the best WW2 podcast ever! Keep up the good work, Ray.

Great content, just so many long commercials and book reviews, had to stop listening

Decent content, but somewhat boilerplate info. Sort of like reading Wikipedia out loud. Podcasting is an art requiring a talented speaker. I just can't hang with the delivery here. It's like Captain Kirk, with the odd pauses in unusual places in a sentence. But unlike Kirk, this speaker has almost no modulation in tone to convey emotion. No real ability to build tension or drama.

Ray Harris Jr. has a great voice and consistent uploads with no bad episodes. The ads are put in the beginning and end of episodes and not in the middle of the episode. Keep going Ray, you can do the whole of the war at this pace!

Have enjoyed the first 210 episodes so far keep up the great work also not for sure if you have done so, but if you could, please include podcast links to other podcasts, you have mentioned in these podcasts on your website. Thank you very much for your work and research.

So happy I found this Pod. Love WWII history. I’m so impressed by the research. Good speaking voice. I have finished the first 15 episodes. I know it will take a few months to get caught up. But I really love your work thank you.

Good work. Thanks for doing this!

I am 59 and I have come to realize that I may not live long enough to hear how the war ended. The podcast(s) of each campaign should not take longer than the campaign itself. It is difficult to follow along because there is incremental progress in each podcast which are spaced a week or more apart so I recommend listening to the podcasts of campaigns that have been completed. I will unsubscribe for now and re-subscribe in 6-9 months to listen to the complete North African campaign which hopefully will be done by then.

A great learning experience that dives deeper into the events of WWII than most our high school and college history classes. Following it chronologically helps form a comprehensive perspective as the host eloquently guides us through each week. The great aspect about the host, Ray, is that he he is humble and speaks to you as a peer and a friend; sharing his passion and talent. 5 Stars!

Every has a bias, and there are infinite lenses one can take when looking at history, but his are pretty clear from the get go. It’s difficult to listen to a historical retelling of a war so vast in its implications if it’s only approached with a western-centric lens, especially when the narrator places positive or negative valuations on otherwise very complicated occurrences. To be clear, calling the Treaty of Versailles a “reasonable” set of expectations is completely squandering the experience of millions of people who suffered from it.

While the facts and stories surrounding everything seem very well researched I am disappointed that so very little attention was paid to the Bataan Death March. Sadly, this is atypical. My grandfather was a chaplain in WWII and survived The March but died in a POW camp from starvation and jungle disease. He gave away his food and medicines to other soldiers he thought were worse off than him. He even had the chance to leave before the fall of Bataan because he was a non-combatant but chose to stay with his boys. I sincerely hope that this podcast decides to give this oft ignored horrific event the attention it truly deserves.

I love the subject. I can’t listen do to the hosts expressions. If you like, “wow!”, “um hum”, “right” and “woo”. Also the wind sound wooosh.

It’s also about the way the facts are presented. Great voice! Great delivery! Great job! Plus I found out that if I don’t like an ad, I can just slide through it! Wow! I had no idea I was so ignorant! What a chowderhead I am!

Listened for years. But he can’t keep a flow going. Bounces around too much loses the timeline. Worth a listen but is going downhill fast maybe he could finish in 25 years from now. Been on 1941/42 for 4 years now. Bad flow to it. Way too many book reviews

I really this enjoy podcast. It is full of information and an easy listen.

Author is milking this for all it’s worth. The events are moving four times slower than the actual war his commentary on Malta is like Chinese torture

It is immediately self evident that Mr. Harris works very hard to make The History of WWII one of the best podcasts for all us history lovers. The amount of research he has done for every episode is second to none. I just happened to read one review that stated that the reviewer was going to stop listening to this podcast because of the commercials. Commercials are a very small price to pay for the pleasure of listening to this excellent podcast. Thank you Ray Harris Jr. for this podcast!