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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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, tells the story of the British soldier who made an art form of duping the Nazis.

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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