Willy Willy Harry Stee...

Imagine you have two brothers. One of them is King of England, the other two want to be. What would YOU do?

Well how about this. You have the brother who is King killed in a convenient hunting accident, then lock the other one up for the rest of his life.

Farfetched? Then listen on as Charlie Higson continues his personal history of the extraordinary story of the Monarchs of England, assisted by this week's proper historian, Lord Charles Spencer.

And remember, Willie Willie Harry Stee, the book of the podcast, is out now, so you can read about Henry as well as listen!

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

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In this, the final episode of the Summer / Autumn History Book Club, Charlie Higson welcome a talented young historian who is really making waves in the social media world.

Katie Kennedy, also known on Tik Tok as 'The History Gossip' is dedicated to popularising history and making it accessible and relatable – and she’s done all this while being a student and studying history at university.

Earlier this year, she wrote her first book, called Was Anne of Cleves a Minger?

It presents a fun and interesting historical fact to cover every day of the year and Katie and Charlie talk about her work, her passion for history and her insanely busy life!

While Charlie is off around the country with the Fast Show tour, he'll be giving you another chance to listen to the original series of Willy Willy Harry Stee, which is a fine companion to the book of the podcast, Willie WiIlie Harry Stee, a book complete with illustrations from Jim Moir.

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

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In this second chance to hear episode, Charlie Higson continues his voyage through the rhyme of 'Willy Willy Harry Stee', stopping at the second Willy, King William the 2nd otherwise known as William Rufus.

This week's proper expert is James Hawes, author of the smash hit 'The Shortest History of England’, who’s been in the bestseller charts as both a crime novelist and a popular historian.

In this episode, find out how the Norman invasion directly led to Brexit!

It really is a real life version of Succession!

These episodes are best enjoyed while reading the new Book of the Podcast Willie Willie Harry Stee. You can buy the book here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

So do!

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In the special episode of Willy Willy Harry Stee, Charlie Higson digs deep into the way history is being used, or mis-used.

His guest is Dr Rachel Moss, a medieval historian at the University of Northampton, who has been awarded a prestigious joint research grant from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust to investigate how far-right groups in Britain have historically misused medieval imagery and narratives to promote extremist ideologies.

Rachel explains just how long this has been happening and explores some of the root causes of the appeal of this hijacking of history.

REMEMBER: Charlie's new book of the podcast, Willie Willie Harry Stee, with illustrations by Jim Moir is in bookshops NOW! Click below to buy.

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

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With the publication of the book of the podcast, Willie Willie Harry Stee, (available now in ALL bookshops, both those made of bricks and those made of data), Charlie Higson thought it would be a good idea to give you another chance to hear the podcast version of the monarchs, in order, starting with William the Conqueror, otherwise known as William the Bastard.

The question is WHY was he known as this?

The answer is.....well, Charlie will explain along with proper historian, Judith Green.

You can buy the book here. https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

So do!

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Welcome to this very special episode, timed to coincide with the official launch of Charlie Higson's book of the podcast, Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History of Our Kings and Queens.

Charlie is joined by the book's illustrator, formerly known as Britain's Top Light Entertainer under his stage name Vic Reeves, the acclaimed artist Jim Moir.

The book is OUT NOW so order it here..... https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603 ..... or go and buy one, its available in all great booksellers.

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And so it came to pass that Charlie Higson's epic podcast Willie Willie Harry Stee made its long awaited transformation from Podcast to Book!

Yes, on October 9th, Charlie's personal history of the monarchy becomes a literary work, with deliciously witty illustrations by Jim Moir.

It's a rip-roaring romp through history that takes in the Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and Windsors, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?).

But hang on......how can Charlie interview himself about his own book?? Well, he can't, which is why the excellent Al Murray returns to probe the author.

You can pre-order or buy the book here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/willie-willie-harry-stee-an-epically-short-history-of-our-kings-and-queens-charlie-higson?variant=55169046708603

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In this episode of his Willy Willy Harry Stee Book Club, Charlie Higson looks at a new book which uses eye-witness accounts to paint a stark picture of the start of World War 1.

As war broke out in the summer of 1914, not a nation on Earth understood the magnitude of what they were about to face. To win it, whole populations must be mobilised, and neutrality was impossible to practice.

Our understanding of this complex conflict has been coloured by a blinkered approach to popular history. It has ignored the fact that Denmark actively participated in laying minefields as soon as war began; that the first British shots were fired in West Africa, by a black man; and the first Australian casualties occurred not at Gallipoli, but in the Pacific.

Charlie's guests are books authors Alex Churchill & Nicolai Eberholst, who have scoured the globe in search of an enormous quantity of fresh material, bringing us history not as told by 'great men', but as a people's view of the war which tells a touching and surprising tale of events that many us may have thought we already knew.

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In this edition of the Summer History Reading Book Club, Charlie Higson is on a witch hunt.

As a woman, if you lived in Scotland in the 1500s, there was a very good chance that you, or someone you knew, would be tried as a witch. Witch hunts ripped through the country for over 150 years, with at least 4,000 accused, and many women's fates sealed by a grizzly execution of strangulation, followed by burning.

In their book How to Kill A Witch: A Guide For The Patriarchy writers and podcasters Claire Mitchell, KC, and Zoe Venditozzi, have delved deeply into just why the trials exploded in Scotland to such a degree and with wit, and a sense of outrage, they attempt to inhabit the minds of the, often male, persecutors, revealing the inner workings of exactly why the Patriarchy went to such extraordinary lengths to silence women.

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In this episode of the Summer Reading Book Club, Charlie Higson is looking at a book which explores art history in a unique way.

It's called the History of Art in One Sentence: 500 years of art - but funny, written by Verity Babbs.

Verity has carved out her own cultural space as an art historian, comedian and presenter. To quote from her website, Verity's work focuses on making the art world more accessible and bringing laughter into cultural spaces. 

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