Fireside History

As football fans (sorry, not soccer!) the world over prepare for an epic clash between England and Norway in the 2026 World Cup, it seems appropriate to revist another time in history when these nations came into conflict...

The latest Fireside History audiobook retells the story of the legendary Viking King Harald Hardrada's invasion of England, and the Viking victory at the Battle of Fulford.

For a brief moment, it genuinely looked as though England was about to become a Viking kingdom.

Settle in by the fire and hear the forgotten story of this extraordinary battle, why it mattered, and how it set in motion the dramatic chain of events that led to Stamford Bridge... and ultimately Hastings.

And here's a question for everyone:

If Harald Hardrada had defeated Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge, do you think William of Normandy would ever have become William the Conqueror? Or would history have remembered him very differently?

#EnglandversusNorway #EnglandVSNorway #MilitaryHistory #History #Vikings

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🎵 NEW SONG RELEASE 🎵

For years, thousands of soldiers hunted one man across the deserts and mountains of the American Southwest.

His name was Geronimo.

I've released a new original song inspired by his extraordinary story. Rather than focusing on battles and gunfire, this ballad explores the human side of the legend — survival, loss, endurance, and the determination of a people facing a rapidly changing world.

Have a listen and let me know what you think.

When you think of Geronimo, do you see him as a hero, a villain, or a man trapped by impossible choices?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, settle in and enjoy the music.

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Fireside History

🔥What would you do if the people who murdered your husband turned up at your door... and asked you to marry one of them?🔥

More than 1,000 years ago, Olga of Kiev faced exactly that choice.

What followed became one of the most astonishing and terrifying revenge stories ever recorded. Medieval chronicles tell of buried envoys, burning bathhouses, shattered kingdoms and a queen whose enemies made the fatal mistake of mistaking grief for weakness.

Yet Olga was more than an avenger. She was a ruler, a strategist, a reformer, and ultimately a saint whose influence helped shape the future of Eastern Europe.

Her story is one of power, loss, vengeance and survival in a brutal age where kingdoms rose and fell at the edge of a sword.

The latest Fireside History audiobook is now live.

Would you have feared Olga... or followed her?

Listen now and let me know your thoughts below.

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Fireside History

A shark attack in the ocean is terrifying.

A shark attack in a shallow inland creek is almost unimaginable.

In the summer of 1916, a series of brutal attacks along the New Jersey coast left America in shock. Young men vanished beneath the surf. Crowded beaches emptied in panic. Then, in the most chilling twist of all, the predator followed a tidal creek inland and struck again.

These real events inspired one of the most famous horror stories ever told: Jaws.

I've just released a new Fireside History audiobook exploring the full story - the victims, the panic, the hunt, and the legacy that still shapes how we think about sharks more than a century later.

Would you have gone back into the water after hearing these reports in 1916?

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🔥They trapped themselves inside the bend of a river… and waited for the American army to come.🔥

In 1814, nearly a thousand Red Stick warriors and their families made their final stand at Horseshoe Bend, surrounded on three sides by the Tallapoosa River with nowhere left to retreat.

What followed was one of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the American frontier - a brutal clash of musket fire, tomahawks, cannon smoke, and close-quarter combat that changed the future of an entire region forever.

This new Fireside History audiobook takes you directly into the smoke and chaos of that final stand, telling the story not as distant history… but as a human tragedy unfolding in real time.

If you enjoy immersive historical storytelling, frontier warfare, and forgotten last stands, this is one you won’t want to miss.

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Fireside History

🔥A ship carrying a fortune in California gold vanished into a hurricane… and helped trigger a financial crisis across America.🔥

In 1857, the SS Central America - later known as “The Ship of Gold” - fought for survival against towering seas, engine failure, and the full fury of the Atlantic. As the vessel began to sink, terrified passengers threw gold overboard in a desperate attempt to stay alive.

Some escaped.

Most never made it home.

This new Fireside History audiobook tells the full, harrowing true story of courage, greed, sacrifice, and disaster at sea - from the California Gold Rush to the hurricane that swallowed one of the richest ships in history.

Put your headphones on and listen now… if you dare face the storm.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🔥A whale - a giant Bull Sperm whale - sank their ship.🔥

What happened next was so horrifying that it inspired one of the greatest novels ever written… and even today, the real story is almost impossible to believe.

In 1820, the whaling ship Essex was rammed and destroyed by a massive sperm whale deep in the Pacific Ocean. Stranded thousands of miles from land in three tiny whaleboats, the surviving crew faced starvation, madness, and impossible choices as they drifted across one of the most unforgiving stretches of ocean on Earth.

This is the true story behind Moby-Dick - told as an immersive Fireside History audiobook.

Turn down the lights… and prepare yourself for one of the darkest survival stories in maritime history.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🔥Nine hundred men entered the water… and the sharks came before the rescue did.🔥

The new Fireside History audiobook is now live:

“USS Indianapolis, 1945 – The Worst Shark Attack in History”

This is one of the most horrifying true survival stories of World War II. A secret mission. A torpedo strike in the dead of night. Four days drifting in the Pacific Ocean under the burning sun… while sharks circled beneath the survivors.

But this story is more than terror. It’s about endurance, brotherhood, and the terrible cost of war even in its final days.

Put your headphones on and settle in - if you enjoy immersive historical storytelling, I think this one will stay with you long after it ends.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🔥What if the most feared pirate in medieval Europe… was a woman hunting a king for revenge?🔥

After the French crown executed her husband for treason, Jeanne de Clisson abandoned everything she once was and unleashed one of the most terrifying revenge campaigns of the medieval age.

She sold her lands. Built a fleet of black warships. And hunted French ships across the Channel with ruthless precision until her name became a whispered warning among sailors.

This is the unbelievable true story of “The Pirate Queen of Vengeance” - a woman who turned grief into war and forced a kingdom to fear her.

Our newest immersive Fireside History audiobook is now live. Step aboard the Black Fleet and sail into one of the darkest and most extraordinary stories of the Hundred Years’ War.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Fireside History

🔥Before America had borders… it had a war fought in the shadows of the forest.🔥

The Beaver Wars transformed North America long before the rise of the United States - a brutal struggle driven by fur, trade, muskets, survival, and revenge. Entire nations rose and fell as the Iroquois Confederacy expanded across the Great Lakes, reshaping the continent through fire and bloodshed.

This is one of the most important - and least talked about - conflicts in early North American history.

Our newest immersive Fireside History audiobook, “THE BEAVER WARS OF NORTH AMERICA - Fur, Guns and Blood”, is now live.

Expect burning frontier villages, desperate winter campaigns, ambushes in the deep forests, and the terrifying arrival of gunpowder warfare in the New World.

Put your headphones on, dim the lights and step into the smoke, the rivers, and the long shadows of the seventeenth century. Enjoy.

1 month ago | [YT] | 2