HistoryExtra Long Reads

Robert the Bruce is famed as a national hero, and lauded for his military exploits against the old enemy of England. But how true is this perception? As Scotland marks Bruce's 750th birthday, this Long Read, written by Fiona Watson, reveals the shadowy side of a ruthless noble who schemed and slaughtered his way to the throne.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the August 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you place a letter in the hands of your local postal worker, you have faith that they won't take a sneak peek at your messages – but what if these well-trusted characters were secretly spies of the state? Well, that's exactly what people had to be wary of in Cromwell's England. This Long Read, written by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman, tells the story of a 17th-century intelligence gathering unit which deployed an array of cunning tricks to intercept and decode enemy communications.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the August 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The crusades sparked centuries of violence and chaos, and not just on the battlefield. This Long Read, written by Steve Tibble, examines the surge in criminality, from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that accompanied the warring armies to the Holy Land.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the August 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For so long, women have been excluded from ancient tales of extraordinary world-changing events. Writing them back into the narrative, this Long Read, written by classicist Daisy Dunn, tells the story of the Greco-Persian Wars through the deeds of the extraordinary female figures who shaped them.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the July 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the morning of the 10 June 1944, the residents of Oradour-sur-Glane were going about their lives as normally as was possible in occupied France. Cooking, washing, shopping, playing. Little did they know that they were about to become the victims of one of the most infamous massacres of the Second World War. In this Long Read written by Robert Pike, we record that fateful day eighty years ago.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the July 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The passing of the English crown from Elizabeth I to James VI and I was welcomed by a nation hungry for change. But, as historian Susan Doran argues in today's Long Read, it wasn't long before tensions began to rise between the incoming king and his new subjects. HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the July 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the 2024 Summer Olympics taking place in Paris, this Long Read, written by David Goldblatt, describes how the 1900 Games, the first held in the French capital, almost defeated the Olympic ideal before it was even out of the starting blocks.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the August 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 19th century, a Royal Navy squadron was sent to West Africa to hunt down ships carrying enslaved people to the Americas. The operation was hailed as an act of pure, unselfish philanthropy. Yet, argues this Long Read written by Mary Wills, the reality was far more tangled. HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the July 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From cruising down the Nile to carving names into historical monuments, ancient leisure habits don't seem too far from our own. This Long Read, written by Mary Beard, describes what happened when a party of elite Roman holidaymakers – led by the emperor Hadrian – descended on ancient Egypt’s tourist hotspots in AD 130.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the June 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hours before the assault on Normandy’s beaches got under way on 6 June 1944, British airborne troops launched an attack on targets in the French countryside. And as Saul David writes in this Long Read marking the 80th anniversary of this pivotal moment, the success of the entire D-Day landings was at stake.HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appeared in the June 2024 issue, and has been voiced in partnership with the RNIB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices