In this episode, we get our hands dirty with some military history. Prof Timothy Stapleton of the University of Calgary joins us to discuss South Africa's turbulent past. We look at wars from the earliest colonial times to the end of apartheid.

These are the questions we try to answer:

• What is Prof Timothy Stapleton's connection to South Africa?
• Why do humans go to war?
• Is warfare irrational?
• How does the approach of the military historian differ from that of the ordinary historian?
• Do military historians glorify warfare?
• How are South African wars best categorised?
• Is there a unifying factor or golden thread to South Africa's military history?
• How did the British colonisation of the Cape Colony tip the balance of power?
• Did the Zulu kingdom manage to build a standing army?
• Which of the South African wars deserves its own movie?
• What is the link between the Mineral Revolution and warfare in South Africa?
• How significant was the South African War (Second Anglo-Boer War) in shaping modern-day South Africa?
• How did World War I divide South African society?
• Did the Second World War play into the creation of the apartheid state?
• When and where did the apartheid wars take place?
• Why are historians reluctant to talk about the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale?
• How did warfare bring about the end of apartheid?
• Are there any major security threats for the people of the African continent?
• To what extent does foreign intervention contribute to warfare in Africa?
• Where in Africa can we expect an upsurge in violence?

You can email Prof Timothy Stapleton at timothy.stapleton@ucalgary.ca.

Find us on Twitter @WilliamHPalk or @C_duPlessis.

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