History Rage

Samuel Pepys exposed: secrets, suppression, and the truth behind his diary. Samuel Pepys Was Not What You Think…
EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING - NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!

For generations, Samuel Pepys has been portrayed as a witty observer of Restoration London — a charming administrator who documented plague, fire, and naval reform.

But what if that version of Pepys wasn’t the full story?

In this explosive Gloucester History Festival Special, historian and author Guy de la Bédoyère joins History Rage to challenge the long-standing myth that Pepys was simply “a man of his time.”

Drawing on decades of research — including learning Pepys’s original shorthand — Guy reveals how editors suppressed, mistranslated, and obscured disturbing passages from the diary for over 200 years.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode
This episode goes beyond familiar Pepys anecdotes and digs into the hidden layers of his diary — and the people who shaped how history remembers him.

Inside this episode:
Why large sections of Pepys’s diary were deliberately removed or mistranslated
How 19th- and 20th-century editors shaped the public image of Pepys
The truth behind Pepys’s secret use of foreign languages and coded shorthand
Why the phrase “a man of his time” can dangerously excuse behaviour
Why Pepys’s record remains unique in early modern history
Guy explains how Pepys deliberately buried controversial actions within routine daily entries — making them easy to overlook unless carefully decoded.

Why This Episode Matters
Pepys’s diary is one of the most important personal records in English history — documenting events like:
The Great Plague of 1665
The Great Fire of London
The Restoration of monarchy after the English Civil Wars
But Guy argues that understanding Pepys properly means confronting the uncomfortable details — not sanitising them.
This episode challenges the idea that historical figures should be excused simply because of the era in which they lived — and asks what happens when historians uncover what earlier editors chose to hide.

About the Guest — Guy de la Bédoyère
Guy de la Bédoyère is a bestselling historian, broadcaster, and former Time Team presenter.
He is widely known for his work on Roman Britain and historical biography, and his latest research focuses on uncovering suppressed truths within Pepys’s writings.

📖 Buy the book here:
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9780349147406
Purchasing through the History Rage Bookshop helps support both the podcast and independent booksellers.

See Guy Live — Gloucester History Festival
🎟 Live Event Announcement
Gloucester History Festival
📅 Saturday 18th April 2026
🎤 The Confessions of Samuel Pepys
Guy will be speaking live about the hidden realities behind Pepys’s diary and answering audience questions.
🎟 Get tickets:
https://www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk/events/the-confessions-of-samuel-pepys/

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Listen Next
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:
Episode 241 — Quakers weren’t peaceful outsiders
Episode 284 — The forgotten women of the Restoration court

Both continue the theme of challenging historical myths and misconceptions.
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Titanic myths sink fast when the real evidence finally surfaces.

For decades, J. Bruce Ismay has been cast as the Titanic’s cowardly villain—but what if almost everything you think you know is wrong? In this revelatory episode, Paul Bavill is joined by Clifford Ismay, author of Understanding J. Bruce Ismay: The True Story of the Man They Call the Coward of the Titanic, to explore the real man behind the myths.

Drawing on family documents, maritime records, witness statements, and newly uncovered letters, Cliff exposes how false press narratives, Hollywood invention, and long-lived conspiracy theories reshaped Ismay’s legacy beyond recognition.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why the infamous “coward” label doesn’t match documented evidence
How J. Bruce Ismay actually spent the final hours on the Titanic
Why claims that he forced Captain Smith to speed up are baseless
The truth about “unsinkable” myths and who really said it
How William Randolph Hearst ignited a media assault that changed history
The bizarre “Olympic switch conspiracy”—and why it’s complete nonsense
How Ismay lived after the disaster, and why the recluse narrative isn’t true
How film portrayals from A Night to Remember to Titanic distort the facts

This is Titanic history stripped of melodrama and rebuilt from primary sources—the closest you’ll get to the truth without descending to the wreck yourself.

ABOUT THE GUEST – Clifford Ismay
Clifford Ismay is a maritime historian, museum director, and author specialising in Edwardian shipping history and the legacy of the White Star Line. As a distant relative of J. Bruce Ismay, he brings unparalleled insight into both the man and the myths that engulfed him.

Clifford Ismay – Contact & Follow
📘 Book: Understanding J. Bruce Ismay
👉 Order here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9780750998666

Listen Next
🎧 Episode 117 – Gareth Russell on Third Class “Locked Below Deck” Myths
🎧 Episode 91 – Anne Fletcher on the Widows of the Scott Expedition

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The Mercian king history reduced to a ditch—but changed England

Most people know Offa of Mercia for one thing: a giant ditch dividing England and Wales. But that familiar image hides a far more powerful—and fascinating—figure.
In this episode, host Paul Bavill is joined by Cambridge historian Rory Naismith to challenge the long-standing myth of Offa as a brutal warlord. Instead, we uncover a ruler who helped shape the political, economic, and diplomatic foundations of early England.

Why Offa of Mercia deserves a rethink
For centuries, narratives shaped by sources like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have painted Offa as a violent tyrant. But as Rory explains, that version of history is incomplete—and often biased.
Look closer, and a different picture emerges:
A king who ruled for nearly 40 years, stabilising a vast kingdom
A ruler who centralised power across southern England
A leader who pioneered systems later used by kings like Alfred the Great
Offa wasn’t just surviving—he was building something lasting.

More than Offa’s Dyke
Yes, Offa's Dyke is impressive—stretching coast to coast and rivaling Roman engineering in scale. But it wasn’t simply a defensive ditch.
It was:
A symbol of power and dominance
A political statement to neighbouring Welsh kingdoms
Part of a wider strategy to control borders and project authority
Offa wasn’t just reacting—he was sending a message.

The king who connected kingdoms
Far from being isolated, Offa operated in a deeply interconnected world.
This episode explores:
His rivalry and diplomacy with Charlemagne
Trade, coinage, and economic reform across his realm
A remarkable gold coin linking Mercia to the Islamic world
From Rome to Francia, Offa was playing the game of international politics at the highest level.

Offa’s real legacy
Forget the “bloodthirsty conqueror” cliché. Offa’s greatest achievement was something far more significant:
Creating a unified system of kingship
Bringing together multiple regions under one authority
Laying the groundwork for the future kingdom of England
Without Offa, the later successes of rulers like Alfred may not have been possible.

Listen More
Episode 16 – Eleanor Janega on the Dark Ages: https://pod.fo/e/11c7f3
Episode 240 – Dirk Hoffman-Becking on the Holy Roman Empire: https://pod.fo/e/3330ce

Guest details: Rory Naismith
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rory_naismith
📚 Buy the book “Offa: King of the Mercians” via the History Rage Bookshop:
👉 https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9780300257465

See Rory live
🎤 Gloucester History Festival
📅 Sunday 19th April
🎟️ Tickets: https://www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk/events/anglo-saxon-kings/

Follow & support History Rage
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Your support helps bring more expert guests and untold stories to the surface.

History isn’t just what we’re told—it’s what we question.
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The Cambridge Five were not heroes—just dangerous traitors with devastating consequences
The Cambridge Five have long been shrouded in myth, glamour, and intrigue—but what if the truth is far darker? In this explosive episode of History Rage, host Paul Bavill is joined by journalist, historian, and History Book Buffs co-host Antonia Senior to dismantle one of the most persistent legends of the Cold War.

From Kim Philby to Guy Burgess, these men have often been portrayed as charming ideologues or romantic anti-establishment figures. Antonia Senior tears that narrative apart, revealing a group defined not by idealism, but by betrayal, violence, and catastrophic consequences.

You’ll discover how these well-connected Cambridge graduates infiltrated the highest levels of British intelligence, why their crimes were overlooked for so long, and how their actions directly served Stalin’s brutal regime. This episode goes beyond the spy story—exposing the human cost, the institutional failures, and the dangerous myths that still persist today.

If you think you know the Cambridge Five, think again.

What We Cover:
Who the Cambridge Five really were—and how they infiltrated British intelligence
Why they’ve been wrongly romanticised in popular culture
The devastating impact of their espionage during and after WWII
The shocking personal behaviour and moral failures behind the myth
How class, privilege, and institutional blind spots enabled their success
The truth about their exposure, confessions, and escapes

About the Guest – Antonia Senior:
Antonia Senior is a journalist, historian, novelist, and co-host of the History Book Buffs podcast. With a background in intelligence history from Cambridge, she brings deep expertise and sharp analysis to Cold War espionage.

Follow Antonia Senior:
X (Twitter): @tonisenior
Podcast: History Book Buffs (available on all major platforms)

Book Recommendation:
Antonia’s latest book Stalin’s Apostles uncovers the true story of the Cambridge Five and their role in advancing Soviet strategy.

👉 Buy your copy from the History Rage Bookshop:
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781399727891

Listen Next:
Episode 203: Female Intelligence Operatives with Claire Hubbard-Hall
Episode 219: Post-War Berlin with Giles Milton

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If you’re tired of history myths and want the truth—raw, unfiltered, and unapologetic—this is the episode for you.
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Forgotten Restoration women reshaped power, culture, and scandal in spectacular ways.

Step into a vibrant, myth-busting journey through the 17th century as cultural historian Breeze Barrington joins History Rage to tear down the idea that the only women worth remembering from the Restoration were Charles II’s mistresses. Drawing on her new book The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court, Breeze exposes a world of creativity, politics, sisterhood, and survival that history has long pushed into the shadows.

From the resilience of Mary of Modena, to the poetic brilliance of Anne Finch and Anne Killigrew, to the raw force-of-nature independence of Hortense Mancini, this episode pulls you straight into the hidden engines of Restoration court culture—where women shaped politics, art, learning, and identity in ways that changed Britain.

You’ll hear:
• The truth behind the so-called “tragic” Queen Mary of Modena—and her remarkable resilience.
• How mistresses became only one slice of a much bigger story of women’s influence.
• The thriving creative world of the Duchess of York’s court.
• Why Restoration salons—especially Hortense Mancini’s—were radical, inclusive, and politically dangerous.
• How Sarah Churchill’s early years at Maria’s court set the stage for her dominance under Queen Anne.
• The explosive religious divide that shaped every personal and political decision of the age.
Breeze brings the fury, the humour, and the research to show why these women deserve to be household names—far beyond scandal and stereotype.

📚 About Breeze Barrington
Breeze Barrington is a cultural historian specialising in the 17th century.
Book: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court – available from: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/10120/9781526663788
Website: https://breezebarrington.com
Instagram: @breeze_barrington

🔗 Links & Further Reading
Order Breeze’s book: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court
Recommended episodes:
• Ep 127 – Charlotte White on Barbara Villiers
• Ep 80 – Linda Porter on Catherine of Braganza

🎧 Follow & Support History Rage
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Share the show, tell a friend, and help unleash more historical rage into the world.
Until next time—stay angry!
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