Enjoyably plummy and male: Battleground – The Falklands War podcast reviewed

The Battleground podcast on the wars of the 20th century, said presenter Saul David happily, ‘will have lots of bombs and bullets but we’re also interested in other aspects of conflict: social, political and cultural’. He’s a military historian. His co-presenter, Patrick Bishop, went on: ‘Alongside the personalities, the battles and the technology – and there will be plenty of that, we promise – expect to hear some thought-provoking stuff that puts conflict into its wider context.’ He is a veteran foreign correspondent who has written lots of war books; I first met him in Kosovo.

The opening series is on the Falklands War, partly because we’ve just had the 40th anniversary, and partly because Patrick Bishop, back then a youngish reporter on the Observer, persuaded his boss to send him off to join the task force on the Canberra, a converted cruise ship, where he and other hacks had the closest possible view of events, plus the benefit of decent chefs.

For a fair analysis of war you need distance to get things in perspective and for the truth about controversial aspects to emerge. You need some of the main players alive and anxious to tell their stories. This series has all that, at least from the British side, plus two presenters who know their stuff and aren’t afraid to show enthusiasm for the soldierly side of things. You want an insight into the differences between the SBS and the SAS, or the Marines and the Paras? Here you get it (the SBS brags less; the Marines play by the rules). The throbbing music adds to the drama.

There are some classy contributors. The first episode has Richard Luce, then the Foreign Office minister responsible for the Falklands, who reflected ruefully that at the outset ‘neither side understood each other’.