Hi everyone, this week we’re doing things a bit different. I’ll be back from my mid year break with new episodes in two weeks’ time. In the meantime we’re running a pledge week for the Patreon channel.

Tuesday through Friday I’ll be dropping on old Patreon minisode per day - today we’re discussing one of history’s stranger What if’s. Thomas Johnson was a renowned smuggler, a talented escape artist - and it is rumoured he had a submarine - in 1820. Was he hired to bust Napoleon Bonaparte out of St Helena?

Check out my Patreon! For just $2 a month* you get a minimum of one tale every month

(we’re committed to 20 a year there this year, and will start releasing two a month every month when we hit my first stretch target.)

As a patron you are helping to keep independent creators like me keep going, in my case Patreon money helps me with the rental costs of the blog page - Speaking of blog pages, though I used half a dozen texts for this Tale - I first read this tale on the incomparable
Mike Dash’s A Blast from the Past.

Emilio Ocampo’s The Emperor’s Last Campaign
And F.W.N Bayly’s Scenes and Stories by a Clergyman in Debt were also very useful… book based resources.

Unsure if you want to join up? Try a 7 day free trial.

*Dollars quoted in USD.