Willy Willy Harry Stee...

In this Brand New Series of Willy Willy Harry Stee, Charlie Higson examines in more detail some of the characters surrounding our monarchs. In this first episode, Charlie welcomes regular guest Marc Morris back to get under the skin of the leader of the Norman resistance, Hereward The Wake and to find out how strong this resistance to William I really was.

In this special, final episode in Series 2, Charlie Higson chats to a legendary TV Historian, Michael Wood OBE. From epic TV series like Michael Wood's Story of China, to books including In Search Of The Dark Ages, Michael has made history more accessible and made over 120 TV documentaries.

To round off Series 2 and our delve into our Anglo-Saxon past, Charlie Higson looks at the extraordinary life of Harald Hardrada. King of Norway and if things had gone differently, he may have been King of England, but, as you will hear, he didn't quite make it.Helping Charlie to look into this fascinating character is Don Hollway, author of The Last Viking and Battle For The Island Kingdom

In this episode of Charlie Higson's canter through Anglo-Saxon England, he reaches the end of the Wessex dynasty.Edward The Confessor. He died without an heir, which triggered a real life Game of Thrones, although it was more like Musical Chairs.Ably assisting Charlie in understanding Edward's motives is David Woodman, author of the Penguin Monarch's edition on Edward The Confessor.

Yes, this episode in Charlie Higson's romp through the pre-Norman monarchs lands on another one we've kind of heard of. King Cnut, sometimes called 'The Great' due to his North Sea empire, also the one who sat on the beach and commanded the tide to stop coming in......or did he???Assisting Charlie in untangling the facts from the nonsense is

Egbert's name our list will head then Ethel's Wolf, Bold, Burt and Red. Alf the great and elder Ned, Athelstone. Edmund and Red, Edwig, Edgar, Martyred Ned, never ready Æthelred. Edmund Ironside and Swain and after them Canute the Dane.In this episode, Charlie Higson examines the mess that happened between the death of Æthelred and the reign of Canute. it was a short period of turmoil and carnage, but luckily Charlie has Justin Pollard on hand to help decipher it.

In this very special 100th edition of Willy Willy Harry Stee, Charlie Higson looks at a huge and hugely important topic in all our histories, The British Empire, and who better to join Charlie, on this special occasion, than historian and host of the Empire podcast, William Dalrymple. If you've ever wondered what the British Empire was all about, start here.

Battling his way through the Anglo-Saxon monarchs, Charlie Higson arrives at one we're all familiar with, Æthelred the Unready.As with many monarchs of this period, we know his name and his amusing nickname, but not much else besides.Luckily for us Charlie and his guest Levi Roach author of Æthelred: the Unready are on hand to explain what turns out to be a hilarious medieval pun!