HistoryExtra Long Reads

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? ...

2 Des 202425min

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 reach...

25 Nov 202420min

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 Doll...

18 Nov 202414min

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 b...

11 Nov 202418min

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 ...

4 Nov 202420min

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 cistern...

28 Okt 202414min

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 Parti...

20 Okt 202421min

Dummy tanks at El Alamein, bogus generals in Algiers, sham armies on D-Day – all were ruses masterminded by World War II's master of deception Dudley Clarke. This Long Read, written by Robert Hutton, ...

13 Okt 202422min