Queen Victoria was the sovereign of the UK at the height of British Empire, and until her great-great granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II overtook her in 2015, was the longest reigning monarch. She ruled over 400 million people! But her road to the throne was an unlikely one marked by a horrible childhood and controlling men. Listen in to learn the truth about one of the most recognizable yet misunderstood queens.

New episodes on Mondays. You can listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or Stitcher. Follow on Instagram or Facebook @storicalpodcast

Non-fiction

Victoria: Portrait of a Queen by Catherine Reef - https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/32887973

Rex Factor Podcast Episodes on Queen Victoria - https://rexfactor.podbean.com/e/54-victorias-biography-part-15-1817-61

History Extra Podcast Episodes:

Queen Victoria Behind Closed Doors - https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/queen-victoria-behind-closed-doors/

The Mourning of Queen Victoria - https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/the-mourning-of-queen-victoria/

Queen Victoria’s Dinners and Henry VIII’s Niece - https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/queen-victorias-dinners-and-henry-viiis-niece/

Victorian Secrets by Stephen Fry - https://www.audible.com/pd/Stephen-Frys-Victorian-Secrets-Audiobook/B07JH5JLD6

Fiction

Victoria, Victorious by Jean Plaidy - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/159850.Victoria_Victorious

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30841109-victoria

Movies & TV

The Young Victoria (2009) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962736/

Victoria (PBS 2016) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5137338

Pssst…it turns out Christmas is a super pagan holiday. On today’s episode we’re doing a brief overview of the origins of Christmas and how Charles Dickens brought the holiday back after Oliver Cromwell had Christmas canceled. For all those who think there’s a war on Christmas…just be glad Oliver Cromwell’s not still around.

Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas! I’ll talk to you in the New Year.

New episodes on Mondays. You can listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or Stitcher. Follow on Instagram or Facebook @storicalpodcast

Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece, The Raven, was inspired not by any ordinary raven, not by a harbinger of doom, it was a talking pet raven named Grip owned by none other than Charles Dickens. Tune in for the story of Grip…then go visit the real Grip who is still on display at the Free Library of Philadelphia!

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/blog/post/3554

http://www.openculture.com/2016/10/charles-dickens-edgar-allan-poe-met.html

Talking raven! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POiLhy3nfWQ

New episodes on Mondays. You can listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or Stitcher. Follow on Instagram or Facebook @storicalpodcast

It’s the holiday season which means that the roughly 9 billion adaptations of A Christmas Carol are on television playing in a continuous loop. But who was the man behind the season’s greatest ghost story? Charles Dickens is considered the greatest English writer, behind Shakespeare, to have ever lived. Tune in to learn about his time in the workhouse, how he influenced Edgar Allan Poe, and how his secret double life was almost his undoing.

Fiction

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34275234-mr-dickens-and-his-carol

Dodger by Terry Pratchett - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13516846-dodger

Grave Expectations by Heather Redmond - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42832913-grave-expectations

Non-fiction

Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11202585-charles-dickens

The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18630581-the-invisible-woman

Podcasts

Charles Dickens and a Christmas Carol by History Goes Bump - http://historygoesbump.com/charles-dickens-and-a-christmas-carol-ep-91

How the Dickens Stole Christmas by The Allusionist - https://www.theallusionist.org/allusionist/dickens-christmas

Eating with Dickens by HistoryExtra - https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/eating-with-dickens/

Charles Dickens was a Master of Social Media by The Bigg Success Show - https://biggsuccess.com/2009/12/21/charles-dickens-was-a-master-of-social-media/

Movies & TV

Great Expectations (1998) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119223/

Pip (Great Expectations retold by South Park) - https://southpark.cc.com/clips/151994/great-expectations

List of the best movie adaptations of Dickens’ work - https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/the-best-screen-adaptations-of-dickens-major-works/

New episodes on Mondays. You can listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or Stitcher. Follow on Instagram or Facebook @storicalpodcast

In 1901, two British academics had a strange experience at Versailles. Listen in to learn about the Moberly-Jourdain incident, a tale of time travel and Marie Antoinette’s ghost.

New episodes on Mondays. You can listen on Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or Stitcher. Follow on Instagram or Facebook @storicalpodcast