How's the summer reading going? Well, today's episode of The Willy Willy Harry Stee Summer Reading History Book Club features a book that will grip you from start to finish, one definitely worth adding to your suitcase.The book is Sceptred Isle and the author chatting to Charlie Higson is Helen Carr who's been a guest on the show a few times.Helen's big interest is the Middle Ages and her book is A New History of the Fourteenth Century, an extraordinary time with some extraordinary characters right across the board. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Summer Book Club - The 'Brief History' series
In this episode of The Summer History Reading Book Club, Charlie Higson is talking to Tom Phillips, author of a series of very funny books known as the ‘Brief History’ series.These books include Humans - A Brief History of How We Fucked It All Up which was published in 2018. He followed this up with Truth - A Brief History of Total Bullshit, in 2019 – and then Conspiracy - A History of Bullshit Theories and How Not To Fall For Them, published in 2022 and as his most recent book is A Brief History of the End Of The Fucking World published this year, it's pretty clear what the main topic is in each book!Tom is a journalist with a passion and dedication for fact-checking, which makes these books even more interesting as they separate fact from fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Summer Book Club - The Sun Rising
Yes, Summer is here and for many, that means a break and the chance to dig into a good book.In this special set of episodes, to run through July and August, Charlie Higson delves headfirst into some of the current crop of history books and invites the authors onto the podcast.In 1603 England was on the edge of crisis. Queen Elizabeth I had died, bringing the Tudor line to an end.Enter King James, who reached London after an unprecedented procession from Scotland. James established a new dynasty on the English throne and the first 'united' kingdom of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales was born. The Stuarts had arrived.But first, this new 'Great Britain' had to play catch up. England was behind, but James's global ambitions began to shift the tide. Ships departed London for America, Russia, Persia, India and Japan, and as the fledgling East India Company became ever closer to the crown, the seeds of the future British Empire were sown.Professor Anna Whitelock's new book The Sun Rising: James I and the Dawn of a Global Britain tells this fascinating story and is the subject of this episode of Willy Willy Harry Stee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Gilles de Rais
In this episode, Charlie Higson digs into the dark world of a man sometimes called the first serial killer.Gilles de Rais was accused of, and eventually confessed to some awful, depraved crimes, and this was a man who was a companion in arms of Joan of Arc!At his trial, he was hanged for the murder of 140 children, both young men and women, killed for sexual pleasure and to help him in satanic rituals. So did he do it? There were confessions, many of which you can read even today, full of disturbing detail, but nevertheless, from nearly 600 years ago, still there for us to try and decipher. A far easier route however is to press 'play' on this podcast as Charlie and Matthew Lewis try and separate fact from hearsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Margaret Beaufort
In this episode, Charlie Higson shines a light on the life of Margaret Beaufort, a really extraordinary woman who was a major figure in the Wars Of The Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of Henry VII the first Tudor monarch.But she was so much more than that, and became instrumental in orchestrating the rise to power of the Tudor dynasty. To help Charlie tell her incredible story, he welcomes Amy Licence back to the podcast. Amy has written extensively about this period, including the book "Tudor roses – from Margaret Beaufort to Elizabeth I." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Charlie Higson's History of the Monarchy. In each new weekly episode, Charlie and his friendly experts....(ie REAL historians)...learn all about one of our Kings or Queens and ask searching questions like:Were they any good?What did they actually do?Why did so many die from an exploding stomach?It's the story of families at war....literally! New episodes every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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