Episodes
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In early 1944, the Allied advance in Italy was brought to a halt at a rocky outcrop called Monte Cassino. This Long Read, written by historian James Holland, explores how flawed leadership was to blame for the bloodbath that followed.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the January 2025 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Celibacy barely merits a mention in the Bible. Yet, by the early Middle Ages, it was being celebrated as a shortcut to a seat next to God. In this Long Read written by Diarmaid MacCulloch, we explore Christianity’s long love affair with sexual abstinence.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the Christmas 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Episodes manquant?
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The tragic fate of Cleopatra has long overshadowed her predecessor, Ptolemy XII. But, as this Long Read written by Diana T Nikolova explains, it’s impossible to understand the daughter’s downfall without exploring the father’s hapless reign.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the Christmas 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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What can history teach us about how to find joy? In this Long Read written by Katie Barclay, we share five lessons from the past about the pursuit of happiness – from the warmth family can provide to the pleasures of curling up with a good book.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the Christmas 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Of all the figures in the pantheon of British history, Winston Churchill is consistently ranked amongst the greatest. But how far does this legendary legacy stretch? In this Long Read written by David Reynolds, we ponder whether the wartime leader continues to remain top dog.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the Christmas 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Women in the Middle Ages rarely wielded political or economic power – yet, a little like the most persuasive doyennes of social media today, their words could shape minds and lives far beyond their own circles. In this Long Read, written by Hetta Howes, we introduce four female literary and spiritual trailblazers.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the December 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Thomas Cromwell’s final six months were a Greek tragedy of hubris and political venom – all presided over by a tyrannical king. This Long Read, written by Diarmaid MacCulloch, charts Cromwell’s rapid descent from the very pinnacle of power to the executioner’s block.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the December 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Poisoned sweets. Criminal misdeeds. And a sex scandal involving… the prime-minister.
Listen to HistoryExtra's new podcast History’s Greatest Scandals, delving into the murky underworld of The Victorians. Ellie Cawthorne and historian Professor Rosalind Crone take a journey through the backstreets of 19th-century Britain to explore the darker side of Victorian life. Sneaking into private parlours, descending into candlelit mines, frequenting grim workhouses and paying a visit to an unscrupulous confectioner, uncovering some of the biggest scandals of the day – and explore what they can reveal about Victorian age.
Series 1 launches 7 Jan 2025.
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40kQYTz
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/33plhOIkO9rtli5btfziHE
Listen everywhere else by searching: History's Greatest Conspiracy Theories
You can listen ad-free, access episodes early and more by subscribing to HistoryExtra Plus here: https://apple.co/4fgRA1d.
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One of the most famous British painters of the first half of the 19th century was a woman born without arms or legs. This Long Read, written by Alice Loxton, explores the life and work of an ambitious artist who became a favourite of royalty and was immortalised by Charles Dickens.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the December 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Fifty years ago, the notorious peer Lord Lucan vanished following the murder of his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett. This Long Read, written by Laura Thompson, reviews the case of the disappearing earl – and explores what it reveals about social attitudes of the time.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the December 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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How did gladiators supercharge the rise of Julius Caesar? And why were they seen as sex symbols? As the new film directed by Ridley Scott, Gladiator II, arrives in cinemas, this Long Read written by Guy de la Bédoyère tells the story of this brutal form of mass entertainment through six of its most significant and surprising moments.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the December 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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New BBC series Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley tells the stories of female criminals from the 18th to 20th centuries. Their chicanery often earned them great riches, yet, their schemes didn’t always go to plan… This Long Read, written by series consultant Rosalind Crone, examines six case studies that reveal a dark criminal underworld of drug-deals, sly-grog and a queen of thieves.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the November 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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The 1499 execution of Edward of Warwick snuffed out the final embers of the Wars of the Roses. In this Long Read written by Sarah Norton, we introduce the last male heir to the House of York – and explain why he “had to perish” to secure the crown for Henry VII.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the November 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Booby-trapped tombs, eviscerated corpses and terrifying curses – countless ‘facts’ swirl around the burial practices of ancient Egyptians. But which are based in fact, and which are a tissue of lies? In this Long Read written by Campbell Price, we unwrap the truth about mummies.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the November 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Dan Jones reveals how Henry V's youth helped shape him into the pious warrior king we know today
Held hostage at 12, deciding the fate of captives at 14, maimed in battle at 16 – by the time he reached adulthood, the future King Henry V had already learned a series of violent but valuable leadership lessons. In this Long Read, written by Dan Jones, we trace the evolution of ‘Prince Hal’ into a medieval warrior monarch.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the October 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Dolly Jørgensen considers why the pig was so vital to urban life in the Middle Ages
They killed children, exhumed dead bodies and caused an almighty stink. So why, asks this Long Read written by Dolly Jørgensen, were our medieval ancestors so dependent on the urban pig?
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the October 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Jerry Brotton explores the origins of the four points of the compass
Why did the ancient Chinese associate north with power? And what led early Muslims to pray to the south? This Long Read, written by Jerry Brotton, takes us on a journey through the history of the four points of the compass.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the October 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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Eleanor Barraclough reads the runes to find out more about day-to-day life during the age of the Vikings
Mysterious characters inscribed on stone, wood and bone have revealed little-known details of everyday Viking life. This Long Read, written by historian Eleanor Barraclough, deciphers the runes to recount tales of love, lust, travel and tragedy from a millennium ago.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the October 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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David Musgrove takes a tour of the historic water closet to uncover how our toilets habits have changed over the centuries
From Roman latrines and medieval communal privies to modern flushing cisterns, the toilet has been completely transformed over the past two millennia. In this Long Read, written by David Musgrove, we head down the u-bend in the company of leading historical experts to explore four different aspects of our changing toilet habits.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the October 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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From Magna Carta to Parliament, taxation to the law courts, the 13th and 14th centuries laid the foundations for the modern British state. In this Long Read, written by Caroline Burt and Richard Partington, we explore the political revolution that transformed a nation under medieval monarchs from King John to Richard II.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the September 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB.
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