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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In this special episode of Willy Willy Harry Stee, Charlie Higson takes a moment to look at the history of the English flag, the Union Jack and the Cross of St George.

Where did they come from? What do they mean? What do they represent?

With the current outbreak of flag raising around the country and furious arguments about what these flags represent, Charlie un-furls the truth to help us understand the real origins of the flags of the United Kingdom.

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In this edition of Charlie Higson's Summer Reading History Book Club, he looks at the history between England and India.

Before the East India Company and before the British Empire, England was an unimportant backwater. Seeking better fortunes, 16th and 17th century merchants ventured to the empire of the mighty Mughals, attempting to sell coarse woollen broadcloth that nobody really wanted.

It was a land ruled from the palatial towers by women – the formidable Empress Nur Jahan Begim, the enterprising Queen Mother Maryam al-Zamani, and the intrepid Princess Jahanara Begim. Their collision of worlds helped connect East and West, launching a tempestuous period of globalisation spanning from the Chinese opium trade to the slave trade in the Americas.

Joining Charlie to explain this fascinating story is Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami, whose book 'Travellers in the Golden Realm' traces the origins of a relationship between two nations – one outsider and one superpower – whose cultures remain inextricably linked to this day.

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Joining Charlie Higson on this edition of the Summer Reading History Book Club is comedian, musician and writer, Al Murray.

As well as being the man behind the Pub Landlord, Al is also able, in his own words, to 'bang on' about his love of World War II history for a long time.

Which suits us just fine.

Al is the author of Watching War Films With My Dad, Command: How the Allies Learned to Win the Second World War, Arnhem, Black Tuesday and Victory '45 - The End Of The War in Eight Surrenders, co-written with his We Have Ways podcast co-host, James Holland.

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