okay, blueprint for armageddon isn’t technically a book. but if it was, it’d be as hefty as any of the other history books out there—a solid 22 hour chronicle of how the first world war plays out. look, i’m making my way through adam hoschchild’s king leopold’s ghost on audiobook and it’s six hours shorter. i’m by no means a scholar of the first world war, but the conflict has held my interest as one of, if not the quintessential turning point of history. this podcast pulls no punches in showing how modernity was borne in blood, mud, and gunfire, pulling from first hand accounts and historians alike. what carlin excels at—and why hardcore history resonates such with its listeners—is that dan carlin makes history into an emotional, heartrending story. he puts you into the shoes of the soldiers and statesmen who fought in the first world war. it’s a 22 hour podcast, and i was hooked on every minute of it.