The 15 Minute Book Club

The 15 Minute Book Club

We don't always have an hour or so to spare. In this new, short-form podcast, Alex and Matt interview an author, gameshow style, and they have fifteen minutes on the clock to convince you to buy their new book. With a minute to go, the alarm sounds and your hosts will throw out the meanest, saddest comment they think the internet will come up with about the book and the author gets a chance to respond. Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@15MinuteBook_Club Buy the book (UK) https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClub Buy the book (US) https://bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClub Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

March 18, 2026 20 mins

On the 17th March 2026, author Len Deighton passed away at the age of 97. To remember this wonderful author, Boney is in the hot seat as he tries to convince Alex that Bomber is a must read from the extensive cateloge of Deighton's books.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBook...

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At the beginning of the Great Depression, three groups of Germans moved to Floreana Island in the Galápagos to create their own utopia. Over the coming years, paradise crumbled into sex, acrimony, and eventually murder. Author Abbott Kahler joins Alex and Boney to ask what the hell happened and to convince you to buy Abbott's book, in just 15 minutes.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see ...

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March 4, 2026 18 mins

Our old buddy Kit Chapman joins us to tell us all about his new book, which looks at the global quest to achieve immortality, cure all disease and transmute lead into gold as he reveals the illuminating stories of how the alchemists first broke new ground and shaped the scientific method.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subs...

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February 25, 2026 19 mins

In August 1940, a man walked into Leon Trotsky's study in Mexico City and drove an ice pick into his skull. While the death of Trotsky is well known, the paths taken to that fateful day in Mexico City are not, and Josh Ireland had an incredible story tell, but can he convince you to buy his book in just 15 minutes?


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the boo...

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February 4, 2026 17 mins

Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr. led a political career spanning from1951 to 1980. He was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till's killers, worked behind the scenes with Martin Luther King Jr., and founded the Congressional Black Caucus. Brown University's Prof. Marion Orr, author of a new biography of Diggs, House of Diggs, has just 15 minutes to convince you to learn more and buy his book.


Patreon members...

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January 28, 2026 18 mins

In the 1970s, extremists like Leila Khaled, Carlos the Jackal, and the Baader-Meinhof Gang captured the world's attention with their hijackings and murders. In The Revolutionists, Jason Burke takes on an incredible journey from how various groups of leftist radicals took on Israel and the West and then morphed into something entirely more dangerous.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind ...

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From mockery to global mourning, the last 30 years of David Bowie's life were a creative whirlwind of hits, misses, films and side projects that culminated in two remarkable albums in the years before his death in 2016. Alexander Larman joins us to convince you buy his new Bowie biography, Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie, and he only has 15 minutes to do it.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you...

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January 14, 2026 19 mins

It is always great to welcome back old History Hack friends and Vaseem Khan returns with a corcker! Q has been kicked out of MI:6, and when Q's old school chum ends up dead, it's time for him to find out what happened. Vaseem has 15 minutes to convince you to join Q on his new adventure outside of the hallowed walls of The River House.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and...

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Sherlock Holmes dominates the thoughts of the Victorian detective; in her Wolfson History Prize shortlist book, Sarah Lodge brings to life the real women who brought justice to Victorian streets and in the fiction of the time. Can Sarah convince you to buy her book in just 15 minutes?


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe...

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In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a medical revolution was afoot. Alanna Skuse ventures into the bustling medical marketplace of Renaissance England – a world of travelling surgeons, prosthetics craftsmen, faith healers and snake oil merchants. Can Alanna convince you to join her in just 15 minutes?


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was w...

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December 24, 2025 19 mins

In 1967, a group of writers penned a fake US Government Report titled "Report From Iron Mountain." The report was satirical, but it was so frighteningly convincing that its contents are still believed by many today. Phil Tinline joins Alex Churchill and Matt Bone and has 15 minutes to convince you to buy his book.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book ...

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Women who rule as heads of state are badasses, and Elizabeth Norton joins Alex Churchill and Matt Bone to convince you to buy her book, Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy, and introduce you to some of the most incredible women to have ever ruled. She has 15 minutes to do it.


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You ...

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In the late 1980s, a band exploded out of LA's Sunset Strip, and their power cords spread far and wide, playing a vital role in defeating communism. That is the tale of the fictional Whyte Python and Alex and Boney loved every single moment. Author Travis Kennedy takes on the 15 minutes to wade through your hosts basically fangirling every single second. WYTHE PYTHON NEVER DIES!!!

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in ...

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In this fourth volume of his study of Germany under Hitler, Frank McDonough turns his attention to the holocaust, and we ask him what he found, all in 15 minutes... But as you are our fab Patreon supporters, you get Extra Time with Frank!

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub

...

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November 30, 2025 20 mins

Just six months after the end of the Great War, seven young men would arrive in Newfoundland with their teams to fly the Atlantic. Author David Rooney has researched them all and has just 15 minutes to convince you to buy his book!


Join us on Patreon for an extra 15 minutes: https://www.patreon.com/15MinuteBookClub

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book...

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November 26, 2025 20 mins

History Hack regulars Alex Churchill and Matt Bone are back!


We don't always have an hour or so to spare. In this new, short-form podcast, Alex and Matt interview an author, gameshow style, and they have fifteen minutes on the clock to convince you to buy their new book. With a minute to go, the alarm sounds and your hosts will throw out the meanest, saddest comment they think the internet will come up with about the book and th...

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September 11, 2024 45 mins

Charley is joined by author Simon Morrison to discuss the real Tscaikovsky. Who was the man behind the Nutcracker?


Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub


Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@15MinuteBook_Club


Buy [INSERT BOOK TITLE] at our Bookshop.org s...

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September 4, 2024 38 mins

Charly is joined by acclaimed historian Professor Ronald Hutton to discuss the latest installment in his biography of Oliver Cromwell. Did the years 1647-1653 change the Commander in Chief? 

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub


Watch the video version: https://w...

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August 28, 2024 49 mins

Join Alina and Rogr Moorhouse as they talk about the pact between Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia and find out why Roger calls Molotov a man with an ego but not very intelligent...

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClub


Watch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@1...

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August 21, 2024 56 mins

Chris is joined by Jacqueline Reiter to talk about her new book "Quaicksilver Captain, The Improbable life of Sir Home Popham"


Expect Naval exploits, daring adventures, submarines and signal flags...


You can order her book from https://www.helion.co.uk/military-history-books/quicksilver-captain-the-improbable-life-of-sir-home-riggs-popham.php

Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the s...

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