History Rage

Jungle warfare that reshaped the war – and history forgot it
Step into the dense, unforgiving jungles of Burma in WWII as Dr Richard Duckett and Duncan Gilmour uncover the astonishing, largely untold story of Lt. Col. Edgar Peacock – the man they argue was Britain’s greatest SOE commander. In this gripping episode of History Rage, we expose the scale, the bravery, and the strategic brilliance of Operation Character, the SOE mission whose impact rivals anything achieved in Europe… yet is almost never discussed.

Episode Summary
Hear how Peacock’s unique upbringing in the jungles of India and Burma forged a commander with unmatched environmental mastery; how SOE recruited thousands from 19 different ethnic groups; how Operation Character halted entire Japanese divisions; and why internal politics and secrecy kept these achievements out of mainstream military history for decades.
This is military history at its rawest and most revealing.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
The true scale of SOE activity in Burma—far larger than in Europe
Why Lt. Col. Edgar Peacock may be the most effective SOE commander of the war
The astonishing numbers: 12,000 Japanese casualties for just 22 Allied (Caucasian) losses
The pivotal role of Operation Character in enabling 14th Army’s race to Rangoon
The overlooked role of SOE’s 723 women working behind the lines
How ethnic groups long thought incapable of cooperation fought side-by-side
Why Peacock and his officers were deliberately denied recognition
The brutal post-VJ Day fighting few histories ever mention
How secrecy and missing archives buried Burma’s SOE achievements for 80 years

About the Guests
Dr. Richard Duckett - Historian, researcher, and leading authority on SOE operations in the Far East.
Website & SOE Burma Database: https://www.soeinburma.com
Follow Richard on X/Twitter: @RichardDuckett

Duncan Gilmour - Author, researcher, and grandson of Lt. Col. Edgar Peacock.
Follow Duncan on X/Twitter: @DuncanGilm4133

Discover the full story of Edgar Peacock and SOE’s epic Burma operations in
“Jungle Warrior: Britain’s Greatest SOE Commander”
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781916556843
This is the definitive account of the unseen heroes who helped turn the tide in the Far East.

Further Listening
Episode 126 – Richard Duckett on why SOE is not just France
Episode 150 – Claire Mulley on the Polish Home Army

Support History Rage
If you enjoy the show, spread the word—tell a friend, share the episode, or post online. Independent history podcasts grow because of you.

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When a respectable Victorian doctor became Britain’s most feared poisoner

Victorian England believed murder belonged to the gutters. Then Dr William Palmer shattered that illusion.
In this gripping episode of History Rage, award-winning journalist and author Stephen Bates exposes the dark truth behind the case of William Palmer — the Midlands doctor hanged in 1856 for poisoning his friend John Parsons Cook.

Known as the “Rugeley Poisoner”, Palmer was a churchgoing professional, a gambler drowning in debt, and a man suspected of killing far more than the one murder for which he was convicted. His weapon? Newly available strychnine — a terrifying poison that left victims writhing in agony and Victorian society gripped by fear.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode
Why Victorian Britain refused to believe a middle-class doctor could be a killer
How strychnine changed the landscape of 19th-century murder
The explosive Old Bailey trial that required a special Act of Parliament
The role of celebrity pathologist Alfred Swaine Taylor
How press sensationalism helped create one of Britain’s first “serial killer” panics
The disturbing class bias in Victorian (and modern) murder trials

Stephen also explores parallels with later cases, including Herbert Rouse Armstrong, the subject of his book The Poisonous Solicitor, and reflects on how professional status has long influenced public perceptions of guilt.

This is Victorian true crime at its most unsettling: insurance fraud, gambling debts, missing betting slips, botched inquests, and a public execution witnessed by 30,000 people.

About Our Guest – Stephen Bates
Stephen Bates is an award-winning journalist and former political correspondent. He is the author of:
The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England’s Most Notorious Doctor
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781837730285
The Poisonous Solicitor
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781785789601

The Poisoner was shortlisted for the prestigious Agatha Award for True Crime in the United States.
🔗 Website: https://stephenbateswriter.com

Why This Case Still Matters
Palmer’s trial raises urgent questions that still resonate:
Do we judge murder differently depending on class?
Are professionals given more benefit of the doubt?
How much does media coverage shape public opinion before a verdict is reached?

From Victorian strychnine to modern medical murderers, the uncomfortable truth remains: monsters don’t always look like monsters.

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Victorian crime wasn’t just about back alleys and desperation. Sometimes it wore a respectable face, attended church — and carried a vial of poison.
Listen now and stay angry.
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Britain’s upper class isn’t a relic of the past—it’s still here, still powerful, and still shaping the land beneath our feet. In this gripping episode, journalist and author Eleanor Doughty dismantles the pervasive myth that the aristocracy simply “disappeared” in the 20th century. Spoiler: they didn’t. They just got quieter.
Eleanor takes us inside the private estates, inherited titles, and soft power that still define the modern British upper class. With first-hand insight from years spent interviewing dukes, earls, viscounts and secretive landowners, she exposes how much influence remains—and why we’ve failed to notice.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why the British aristocracy never died out—and why people think it did
How 3 million acres of the UK remain in hereditary hands
The difference between the “Premier League” and “Super League” of landowners
Why stately homes aren’t all romance and Downton glamour
How Wentworth Woodhouse became ground zero for political and industrial conflict
What domestic service really looked like—far from the usual Upstairs/Downstairs tropes
Why land, not politics, is the true modern source of aristocratic power
How soft power, titles, and inherited prestige shape British society even today

About Our Guest: Eleanor Doughty
Eleanor Doughty is a journalist and the author of
👉 Heirs and Graces: The History of the Modern British Aristocracy

Her work explores the lives, estates, and enduring influence of Britain’s hereditary elite. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind the big gates of the great houses, she’s the one to follow.

Connect With Eleanor
All Social Media: @brushingboots
Buy the Book: Heirs and Graces – https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781529153040
(Supporting the author via your preferred retailer helps independent journalism thrive!)

Looking for more high society rage? Try these:
Episode 175 — Guy Walters on the Mitfords: https://pod.fo/e/2a19c6
Episode 227 — Anne de Courcy on Coco Chanel : https://pod.fo/e/30f594

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Love what we do? Help keep the podcast independent and ad-free.
Become a Supporter
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If You Enjoyed This Episode…
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The vampire didn’t rise from Transylvania — it crawled out of the Balkans.

Forget Count Dracula — before Stoker’s gothic horror came centuries of chilling folklore, blood-soaked superstition, and very real vampire panics. In this spine-tingling episode, travel writer and award-winning author Nick Jubber joins Paul Bavill to rage against the myth that vampires were born in Transylvania.
From Serbian graveyards and Croatian legends to the age of Enlightenment and Hammer Horror, Nick traces how fear, politics, and imagination turned the undead into one of history’s most enduring monsters. Discover how the printing press helped spread vampire hysteria, how priests profited from graveyard rituals, and why monsters mirror humanity’s deepest desires and darkest fears.

Whether you’re a folklore fan or just love a good supernatural tale, this episode will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about the vampire myth.

🎙️ In This Episode
The real Balkan origins of the vampire legend
How Enlightenment science and superstition collided
Why Bram Stoker didn’t invent Dracula’s fangs — he borrowed them
What connects Byron, Polidori, and the birth of gothic horror
Why monsters never die — they just evolve with us

👤 Guest: Nick Jubber
Nick Jubber is a writer, traveller and author of Monsterland, a journey through history, folklore, and our fascination with monsters. His work has taken him across continents exploring how stories shape societies.
📚 Buy his book: Monsterland: A Journey Around the World’s Dark Imagination
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781915590299

🌐 Website: www.nickjubber.com
📸 Instagram: @NickJubber

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A conqueror, a god, or just a man lost in myth?
Alexander the Great: the name conjures images of conquest, charisma, and an empire that stretched from Greece to India. But how much of what we “know” is actually true?

In this episode of History Rage, host Paul Bavill is joined by Dr Stephen Harrison, lecturer in Ancient History at Swansea University and author of Alexander: The Lives and Legacies, to rage against the myths that have defined Alexander for over two thousand years.
Stephen dismantles the biggest misconceptions about the Macedonian conqueror — from his supposed divine ambitions and romantic legends to the illusion that historians can truly know what drove him. Together, they explore how unreliable ancient sources, political storytelling, and centuries of retelling have turned Alexander into a mythic figure rather than a historical one.

This isn’t just another tale of military glory — it’s a journey through evidence, propaganda, and how history becomes legend.

🎧 Listen now to discover:
Why we can’t possibly “know” what Alexander thought or felt
How ancient storytellers invented famous scenes like taming Bucephalus
Why his marriage to Roxane wasn’t a love story at all
The truth about Alexander’s relationship with Hephaestion
What his empire reveals about ancient power, identity, and mythmaking

About Dr Stephen Harrison
Dr Stephen Harrison is a lecturer in Ancient History at Swansea University. His research explores the legacy of Alexander the Great and the politics of memory in the ancient world.
📘 Book: Alexander: The Lives and Legacies — available now from Bloomsbury.
👉 Order here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781789149975
📸 Follow Stephen on Instagram: @stephenharrisonhistory

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If you love what we do, help us keep raging against bad history!
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💥 History Rage – where historians demolish myths, one episode at a time.
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