James Osborne

I’m James, a senior content producer at HistoryExtra. Working with leading historians, I research, write and edit features that answer the questions readers are genuinely curious about, and I’m always looking for engaging ways to help readers keep pace with the latest expert insights and discoveries from the history they’re interested in. As well as writing, I’m a host on the HistoryExtra podcast, where you’ll find me speaking with historians about some of my favourite historical topics; namely ancient history and the Viking Age! I also work behind the scenes on our videos, curate our medieval-focused newsletter for 15,000 subscribers, and write a monthly historical game review for our print magazine. I’m a qualified archaeologist with a BSc in Bioarchaeology from the University of York, specialising in archaeological science. I’ve worked in digital journalism for more than five years, covering culture and entertainment for a wide range of publications — and at one point I even ran my own website dedicated to prehistoric animals and extinction. Before joining HistoryExtra, I was a staff writer at Network N Media, reporting on film, TV and gaming, writing reviews and interviewing industry figures. As a freelance culture journalist, I’ve also contributed to outlets including Vulture, The AV Club, Radio Times, Digital Spy and GamesRadar.

Statue of man

Roman

Was the story of Jesus inspired by Emperor Augustus? The clever trick early Christians used to convert ancient Rome

Detail of the Alexander Mosaic showing Alexander the Great charging into battle on horseback, wearing armour and staring towards the Persian forces.

General ancient history

Alexander the Great's empire crumbled into chaos after his death. How did it fall apart so quickly?

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Episode 2The rise of Alfred the Great. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American servicemen read copies of The Stars and Stripes carrying the headline “Hitler Dead”.

Second World War

The Soviets found proof of Hitler's death. So why did they hide it from the world?

Detail of an ancient Roman mosaic showing the Persian king Darius III in a chariot, surrounded by armed soldiers during the Battle of Issus.

Roman

Ancient Rome's founding fathers: the extraordinary stories of the city's first kings

Membership

Episode 1How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Japanese troops and tanks cross a makeshift bridge during the invasion of Burma in 1942, passing an overturned British vehicle.

Second World War

This was one of the most brutal battles of WW2 – so why have you never heard of it?

Western and Chinese ships gather off the Chinese coast during the 19th-century Opium Wars.

Victorian

Was the British Empire really built on drugs? The unlikely rise of an imperial superpower

Medieval manuscript illumination depicting a woman giving birth in bed, attended by several women who assist the mother and tend to the newborn child.

Medieval

This strange medieval ritual was designed to protect a mother from grief. How did it work?

Later artistic depiction of Alexander the Great wearing a plumed helmet and blue cloak, presented as a youthful military conqueror.

Membership

Was Alexander the Great addicted to sex? The truth about the conqueror's love life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Adolf Hitler delivers a speech in Nazi Germany, c1936, raising a clenched fist as he addresses an audience.

Second World War

Did Hitler really shoot himself? Here's why the Führer's death is more complicated than you think

A 14th-century manuscript illustration showing women preparing and cooking offal over an open fire while members of the household eat at a table.

Medieval

How long would you have lived in the Middle Ages? Our expert has some bad news for you

A portrait of Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex

Medieval

The Vikings mutilated and maimed their defeated enemies. So why did Alfred the Great spare their leader?

Medieval illustration showing a noblewoman dining in a great hall, surrounded by attendants, musicians, servants and other members of the household.

Medieval

Would you sleep in a medieval home? (There'd be no privacy and it might smell of bacon)

Early 19th-century illustration showing Chinese pirate vessels attacking and capturing a European boat in the South China Sea.

Membership

"Sodomy was a very widespread phenomenon": the secret sex lives of China's most infamous pirates. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crowds gather around Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin during his visit to Manchester in July 1961, months after his historic spaceflight.

Cold War

This Russian hero was a global superstar – but fame came at a heavy cost

Medieval manuscript illumination depicting King John on horseback hunting a stag with hounds.

Medieval

King John was a monster – but did he really murder his own nephew?

Black-and-white engraved portrait of Bristol merchant Edward Colston, shown wearing a long curled wig and formal dress.

General Early Modern

He made a fortune from Britain’s slave trade. But did he regret it?

Portrait of George III wearing a blue suit beneath an ermine-trimmed royal robe, with a crown visible beside him.

Membership

Hot sex and cold jelly: how a wobbly dessert ignited Georgian bedrooms. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Detail of the Alexander Mosaic showing Alexander the Great charging into battle on horseback, wearing armour and staring towards the Persian forces.

General ancient history

Alexander the Great died aged just 32 – but where had he been planning to conquer next?

In December 1929, investigator and ghost hunter Harry Price demonstrates an electric control device he designed to monitor a medium’s movements during séances. (Photo by Alamy)

Victorian

A Victorian ghost hunter investigated Britain’s most haunted house. This is what he found

A statue of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason stands atop a tall stone column, holding a cross-topped orb above the skyline.

Viking

He was one of the greatest Viking warlords – and his death is still an unsolved mystery

A cut-out portrait of Lady Jane Grey is superimposed over Edward VI's handwritten Devise for the Succession, visually linking the Tudor claimant with the document that underpinned her brief reign.

Tudor

The most important document in Tudor history? How a forgotten text triggered a royal crisis

A Roman mosaic depicting elegantly dressed figures surrounded by luxury goods, including shells, chests, vessels and other valuable objects, suggesting trade, wealth and domestic consumption.

Roman

The ancient Romans thrived on consumerism. Here's what was on their shopping lists

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Alliance and acrimony: the surprising history of Jewish-Muslim relations. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

After 20 years away, Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca. In one of the Odyssey's most dramatic scenes, he reveals his identity by stringing his great bow before turning it on the suitors who have overrun his household, bringing his long journey to a violent and decisive end | Credit: Getty Images

General ancient history

Is the Odyssey the first historical novel? How Homer recreated a world of gods and monsters

This ancient Greek vase depicts one of the most famous episodes in The Odyssey: Odysseus and his men blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus after becoming trapped in his cave | Credit: Getty Images

Ancient Greece

How the Odyssey's Cyclops became the ancient Greeks' worst nightmare

The fall of Troy marks the end of the decade-long war described in Homer's Iliad, but it is only the beginning of The Odyssey | Credit: Getty Images

Ancient Greece

Did the Trojan War really happen? Here's why even Odyssey experts can't agree

Matt Damon appears as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. The bearded warrior stands in a coastal encampment dressed in dark armour, with rows of tents, soldiers and moored longships stretching into the background.

Ancient Greece

Is The Odyssey based on a true story? The movie's historical accuracy explained

Robert Pattinson as Antinous in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, seated in Odysseus’s palace wearing dark armour with ornate gold detailing. He clasps his hands together and looks intently to one side, surrounded by other figures in the dimly lit hall.

Ancient Greece

Was Antinous a real person? The history behind The Odyssey character explained

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