Dr David Musgrove, FSA

I’m Dave, and I’m broadly in charge of all the content we produce across the HistoryExtra portfolio, so that’s the print magazine, the website, podcasts, video output, apps and live events. Obviously I don’t make all of it - that would be ridiculous. However, I do write the occasional article, as well as regularly conducting podcast interviews and making podcast series, and producing videos every now and again. I tend to front quite a lot of our live events as well. As a sideline, I have a particular interest in the Bayeux Tapestry. I’ve co-written a book about it, with Professor Michael Lewis (The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry). With the loan of the tapestry to the UK in 2026, I spend quite a lot of time commenting in the media on tapestry matters and doing public talks about it too. I’m also quite an enthusiast about the history of toilets and Victorian long-distance wheelbarrow pedestrianism, and have been known to discuss those matters on national media. I have a doctorate in medieval archaeology. That was an investigation into monastic drainage and land reclamation in the Somerset Levels (along with a side hustle in prehistoric beaver habitats in France). I’ve worked for HistoryExtra in various roles and guises for over 20 years and in that time, I have also written a couple of popular history books.

Membership

Episode 1 The VIKING king of England: the story of King Cnut and the Danish conquest of 1016. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Defendants at the Nuremberg Trials listen to proceedings in 1946. In the front row sit Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner; behind them are Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, and Fritz Sauckel. Together they represent the senior leadership of the Nazi regime held to account for its crimes.

Second World War

“I hope I would have defended the Nazis at Nuremberg”

Membership

Was Robin Hood ACTUALLY real? The history explained. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two figures cut out from the Bayeux Tapestry and digitally rearranged, with one appearing to use an oversized needle and thread to embroider a mounted warrior below. The collage places the figures against a blank section of linen bordered by sections of the original tapestry.

Membership

Just how many Bayeux Tapestries were there?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

11th-century Europe: not just the Norman Conquest. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

The dark side of Samuel Pepys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration depicting five stone hands piled on top of one another, on a small patch of grass, against a pink background

Membership

Let’s get things done together, like the builders of Stonehenge did. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing a king dressed in green and orange, sitting on a blue throne made out of books. He is reading from a long scroll

Membership

Love learning like Æthelstan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry shows a group of men sitting at a high

Membership

Why you should avoid hair-pulling, and cannibalism, at royal banquets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

an illustration of a pale blue gravestone with several small drawings on it, including a moon, a heart, a ring and some flowers. Around the gravestone there are flowers and it is set against a bright blue background

Membership

Why we should be better about talking about death, with Dr Helen Gittos. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

The Amazons: wonder-women of the ancient world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white photograph shows two men standing with their faces very close together. They both have serious expressions on their faces and are staring down the lens of the camera. Across the bottom are the words KING & CONQUEROR

Membership

The wrong moustache in the Battle of Hastings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Shakespeare didn't do the Norman Conquest, but the Bayeux Tapestry did, so where does that leave the BBC's King and Conqueror?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Europe's last pagans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On a green background, there is a sketch of a human pyramid of people in togas, all balancing fruit on their heads, arms and feet

Membership

Be neighbourly like a Pompeian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Hug a tree like a pagan from the margins of Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Paint your own pot, like an ancient Etruscan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

The Minoans: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A monk with ginger hair and beard, dressed in blue, sits on.a bench with a book. He is against a pink background and around him are a fork, a yellow pencil and a brush

Membership

Riddle like an Anglo-Saxon monk. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustrated drawing shows 3 peasants, dressed in yellow, green and orange, exchanging goods including corn and chicken. A pink pig is in the foreground

Membership

Live locally, live sustainably, live medieval. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A surreal cartoon by illustrator Kate Hazell. The image depicts a peaceful, smiling figure in the middle of a pond, listening to the sounds of nature around them: a squealing pig, a honking goose, a buzzing bee and a thunderstorm.

Membership

Seek out the sounds of nature, like our early modern forebears. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Normans sailing across the channel

Norman

The Bayeux Tapestry: a political football for 900 years

A visitor looks at the Bayeux Tapestry

Medieval

The Bayeux Tapestry is finally coming home to Britain – and you can see it next year

Membership

Be wary of technology’s big promises, but roll with the changes. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Archaeologist Buzz Busby alongside two Roman swords.

Roman

A hidden Roman villa? A pair of "remarkable" swords might have just unlocked its ancient secrets

Membership

Magic beakers & Roman helmets: artefacts that shaped history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing Queen Elizabeth I. Her body has been replaced with an egg timer and her facial expression is looking worried.

Membership

Master the art of procrastination, with the help of the Virgin Queen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Make Mercia Great Again. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Fatherhood: a short history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A cartoon depicting an ancient Assyrian king sitting upright in bed. His eyes are wide open and he has an anxious expression on his face. An open window to the right of the scene shows the moon and stars

Membership

Give away your worries, like an ancient Mesopotamian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

You're currently on page 3

Prev Page

Next Page