What did English merchants and mariners do when a Spanish invasion fleet menaced the South Coast in 1588? Well, as today’s long read written by Robert Blackmore reveals, they simply boarded their ships and carried on trading.
HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best articles from BBC History Magazine, direct to your ears. Today’s feature originally appear ... Show More
Nov 17
1066: who was the rightful king?
Which of four main contenders for the English throne in 1066 had the strongest claim? Was it the Anglo-Saxon strongman, the Norman duke, the ‘Thunderbolt of the North’ or a callow teenager? This Long Read, written by Caitlin Ellis, sizes up the rivals...
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22m 41s
Nov 10
Carthage: the making of Rome's monster
In the second century BC, Roman troops razed the city of Carthage and obliterated its civilisation. So why, asks this Long Read written by Eve MacDonald, did the victors remain obsessed by their conquered foes for the next 200 years? HistoryExtra Long Reads brings you the best ar ... Show More
20m 39s
Jun 2023
Wreck, Scandal & Mutiny on HMS Wager
<p>In 1740, the Royal Navy ship <em>The Wager</em> set sail for the Pacific to take part in the War of Jenkins' Ear. The unfortunate ship was separated from the fleet and, after pulverising storms and outbreaks of scurvy, ended up sinking near a small island off the coast of Chil ... Show More
27m 1s
Nov 2023
Abolition of The British Slave Trade
In the mid-17th Century, Britain dominated the Slave Trade, shipping over 3 million enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. Conditions on board slave ships were inhumane, and large numbers of enslaved men, women, and children died en-route. However, during the 18th and early 19th ... Show More
55m 45s
Jan 2023
Batavia: The Worst Shipwreck in History
<p>In 1628, a Dutch East India flagship called <em>Batavia</em> set sail from the Netherlands, never to reach her destination. Eight months into the voyage, the ship was wrecked on coral reef off the western coast of Australia. What then befell her surviving crew a ... Show More
26m 46s