This Week on History Happy Hour: It is one of the most famous and controversial battles the British fought in Normandy. On June 13, British forces were ambushed at Villers Bocage by Waffen SS German Panzers, including one commanded by German Panzer ace Michael Wittmann. This kicked off a two-day battle that resulted in a major British withdrawal.

Chris and Rick dig into this story with Daniel Taylor author of Villers-Bocage: Operation Perch: The Complete Event. The debate still swirls: Was it a crushing British defeat, or a compelling recovery from an ambush that was misunderstood by an already nervous high command? And has Wittmann’s role been exaggerated, or was he really the hero the Nazis made him out to be?

This Week on History Happy Hour: The legendary ‘Red Devils’, British Airborne troops, were created at Winston Churchill’s instigation in June 1940. They started with just 500 men and grew into three 10,000-strong airborne divisions.

British military historian Saul David returns this encore episode of History Happy Hour to talk about book Sky Warriors: British Airborne Forces in the Second World War. We’ll talk about their role in iconic operations such as Pegasus Bridge, Arnhem Bridge, and Operation Varsity, the biggest parachute drop of World War II.

This Week on History Happy Hour: The story of British scientists who developed cutting-edge underwater science that helped make D-Day possible.

Chris and Rick welcome Rachel Lance, author of Chamber Divers. A long-classified tale of eccentric researchers who conducted life threatening experiments on themselves to pioneer the safe use of miniature submarines and breathing apparatuses used to reconnoiter the D-Day beaches.

This Week on History Happy Hour: One thousand years ago, Native American cities in North America rivaled urban centers around the world in size and scope. But has the surprising history of Native Americans has been obscured by historians’ intent on minimizing the role of their still thriving societies?

Chris and Rick talk about one thousand years of Native American history with Kathleen DuVal, author of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America,” a book The Wall Street Journal calls “An essential American history.”

This Week on History Happy Hour: Between 1199 and 1399, English politics was high drama. These two centuries witnessed savage political blood-letting – including civil war, deposition, the murder of kings and the ruthless execution of rebel lords.

Chris and Rick discuss did into this tumultuous period with Dr. Caroline Burt and Richard Partington, authors of Arise, England: Six Kings and the Making of the English State. How did these six Plantegenet Kings, colorful and complicated, manage the development of an English state that would become one of the leading nations in the world.

Richard Partington is Senior Tutor at St. John's College, Cambridge. An Affiliated Lecturer in the Cambridge Faculty of History, he teaches medieval British politics and has written and broadcast on politics, war, law and crime in the fourteenth century, especially during the rule of Edward III (1327-77).

This Week on History Happy Hour: A close-up look at how WWII looked to combat nurse Lt. Mary Elizabeth Balster, who spent months caring for the sick and wounded just behind the front lines of General Patton’s Third Army.

In this encore episode, Chris and Rick welcome NCR Davis, Lt. Balster’s daughter, and author of For the Boys: The War Story of a Combat Nurse in Patton’s Third Army. The true story of a richly rebellious and intense woman trying to navigate her life and nurture her sanity while nursing the wounded and dying.

Sunday at 4PM ET on History Happy Hour, where history is always on tap.

This Week on History Happy Hour: An encore episode with author and historian Joe Balkoski, our first ever five-time guest. He returns to pick up the story of the 29th Division. And of course we honored him with a special ceremony honoring Joe’s five-time guest status.

Chris and Rick talk with him about the 4th volume of his five-volume series on the 29th: Our Tortured Souls: The 29th Infantry Division in the Rhineland, November - December 1944. A riveting story of heroism and tragedy, during which thousands of 29ers became casualties in a campaign that ultimately failed to end the war.

This Week on History Happy Hour: He never became as celebrated as his fellow commanders George Patton and Omar Bradley, but General William Simpson, commander of the 9th U.S. Army in WWII, built a superb combat record. General Dwight Eisenhower called him brilliant, adding: "If Simpson ever made a mistake as an Army Commander, it never came to my attention."

To explore his WWII command record, Chris and Rick will be joined by William Stuart Nance, author of a new book about Simpson and his Chief of Staff James Moore: Commanding Professionalism: Simpson, Moore, and the Ninth US Army.