Al Murray and James Holland – Victory ’45 | How To Academy

Tue, 15 July 2025

7:30 pm - 8:45 pm BST

Al Murray and James Holland – Victory ’45

Live on Stage in London

The hosts of the We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast transport us back in time eighty years to the extraordinary summer that saw the end of the greatest war the world had ever known.

In the summer of 1945, with Germany crushed and smouldering and Japan’s cities in ruins, the Axis Powers finally bowed to the inevitable and conceded defeat. Across the globe, eight separate surrenders heralded the Allied victory and the end of the Second World War.

Now, to mark the eightieth anniversary of the end of the war, comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland join us live on stage to tell the story of why and how the greatest conflagration in human history came to an end.

Taking us across the globe from the Alps to Tokyo, Berlin to the cabins of the USS Missouri, we’ll meet Montgomery and Eisenhower, MacArthur and Zhukov, and the ordinary servicemen and women who fought for victory.

And we’ll explore the negotiations of the Axis surrenders and the terms that were agreed that shaped the world in the decades to follow, profoundly influencing geopolitics all the way to the present day.

Whether you are already a history buff or want to make sense of one of the most important events in history with two hugely well-informed, witty, and entertaining guides, this is an unmissable event.

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Al Murray

Comedian and Public Historian

Al Murray has written many successful books including Watching War Films with My Dad, Command and, most recently, the bestselling Arnhem: Black Tuesday. He is also the award-winning creator of The Pub Landlord, one of the most recognizable and successful comic creations of recent times, who, for over twenty years, has been filling arenas and theatres around the world.

James Holland

Award-Winning Historian and Broadcaster

James Holland is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning historian, writer and broadcaster. The author of many books, including the bestsellers Normandy 44 and Cassino ’44, he has also presented and written a large number of television programmes and series. He is a fellow at St Andrews University and the Co-Founder and Creative Director of the Chalke Valley History Festival.