History Rage

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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💥 History Rage – where historians demolish myths, one episode at a time.
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Forget the katana myth — Japan’s samurai didn’t shun guns, they embraced them. 🔥

Were the samurai really noble warriors who turned their noses up at guns? This week on History Rage, host Paul Bavill sits down with historian, author, and YouTuber Matt Okuhara to demolish the myth of the “honourable warrior.” From matchlocks and martial arts to gun control laws in the 1600s, Matt reveals how Japan’s most famous warriors were some of the earliest adopters of firearms — and how Hollywood got it all wrong.

Matt takes us through the real evolution of samurai warfare — from their rise as Japan’s ruling military elite to the fall of their class during the Meiji Restoration. Along the way, he explains why Tokugawa’s gun laws were among the world’s first, how firearms shaped the great battles of Nagashino and beyond, and why the “sword-only” image is pure cinematic fiction.

If you’ve ever wondered what happened when the sword met the gun in feudal Japan, this is the history lesson you didn’t know you needed.

🎯 In this episode:
Why the samurai did use guns (and loved them)
How firearms arrived in Japan in 1543 and changed warfare
The truth about Bushido and “honourable combat”
The real reason Japan’s navy lagged behind
The decline of the samurai — and how they became bureaucrats
Women warriors, ronin, and Japan’s early gun control laws

📚 Guest Info – Matt Okuhara
Matt is a British historian, author, interpreter, and YouTuber based in Japan. He’s a member of the Matsumoto Castle Gun Corps, one of Japan’s largest historical shooting teams. His work explores Japanese military history, samurai culture, and the global myths surrounding them.

👉 Find Matt Online:
🌐 Website: gunsamurai.com
📺 YouTube: @Gun_Samurai
📸 Instagram: @gun.samurai

🎧 Listen to Related Episodes:
Ep 154 – India in World War I with Adam Prime
Ep 213 – Hiroshima with Ian McGregor

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Discover how drugs shaped empires, creativity, and chaos throughout history.

From ancient battlefields to Victorian medicine cabinets, this week’s episode of History Rage dives into the surprising — and often shocking — role of substance use across the ages. Host Paul Bavill is joined by historian and writer Sam Kelly (@humanhistoryondrugs) for a deep, thought-provoking journey through how drugs influenced the world’s most famous figures, ideas, and empires.

Together, they uncover how Alexander the Great, Sigmund Freud, Queen Victoria, and even Pope Leo XIII all encountered (and indulged in) mind-altering substances — often with world-changing consequences. From Freud’s cocaine-fuelled psychology to the British Empire’s opium trade, from religious visions to artistic inspiration, Sam and Paul reveal the hidden highs and devastating lows that shaped history’s greatest moments.

You’ll learn how drugs were once tools of power and creativity, but also instruments of destruction. And, as Sam reminds us, it’s never a simple story — these substances weren’t inherently good or bad, but they were always influential.

If you’ve ever wondered what connects emperors, popes, poets, and programmers — or how LSD helped inspire modern computing — this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

🎧 Episode Highlights
The Pope who publicly endorsed cocaine-infused wine 🍷
How opium funded the British Empire’s expansion into China 💰
Freud, Alexander the Great, and the deadly cost of indulgence ⚔️
The link between artistic creativity and chemical experimentation 🎨
Steve Jobs, LSD, and the psychedelic origins of the personal computer 💻
Why understanding substance use gives us a truer picture of history 🔍

📚 About the Guest – Sam Kelly
Sam Kelly is a historian, writer, and host of Human History on Drugs, where he explores the complex and often surprising intersections between humanity and its intoxicants. His work brings wit, nuance, and compassion to a subject too often oversimplified.
👉 Follow Sam on Instagram: @human_history_on_drugs
🎙️ Check out the TikTok Channel: @human_history_on_durgs
________________________________________
💬 Connect with History Rage
📱 Follow for more history myth-busting and expert rants:
Instagram: @historyrage
Twitter/X: @historyrage
TikTok: @historyrage
📧 Contact Paul Bavill: [email protected]

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🎧 Subscribe on your favourite podcast app so you never miss an episode — and leave us a rating or review to help more listeners discover the truth behind the myths.
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Anne Boleyn myths destroyed live at Katherine of Aragon Festival
Recorded live at the Katherine of Aragon Festival, this special episode of History Rage sees host Paul Bavill joined on stage by Owen Emerson (Assistant Curator, Hever Castle) and Alfred Hawkins (Curator, Tower of London) to challenge the biggest myths surrounding Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Tudor England.

Anne Boleyn remains one of the most mythologised figures in British history. Was she a ruthless schemer? A Protestant heroine? A tragic innocent? Owen Emerson argues that much of what we “know” about Anne was shaped by Victorian historians. Far from being a woman without substance, she was highly educated, shaped by Renaissance France, politically aware and deeply engaged in religious reform — though not the architect of the English Reformation.

The panel explores:
Anne Boleyn’s relationship with Catherine of Aragon
Whether Anne pursued Henry VIII — or resisted him
The political reality behind the Break with Rome
The truth about her execution and burial
Why we don’t actually know what most ordinary people thought of her

Alfred Hawkins also tackles a major misconception: the idea that the Tower of London is simply a grim execution site. While Anne’s death looms large, the Tower was a royal palace, administrative hub, armoury, archive and community for centuries. Reducing it to a Tudor “theatre of death” ignores over 1,000 years of English history.
This live discussion is packed with Tudor historiography, debates about historical “expertise”, the limits placed on queenship, and why applying modern labels to early modern women can distort more than it clarifies.

If you’re interested in Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, the English Reformation, Tudor queens, or the Tower of London, this episode restores complexity to one of the most dramatic periods in British history.

Guest Details
Owen Emerson
Assistant Curator, Hever Castle
Visit: https://www.hevercastle.co.uk
Alfred Hawkins
Curator, Tower of London
Visit: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london

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Recorded live at the Katherine of Aragon Festival.
Stay angry.
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The Desert Fox legend endures, but how much of it is true?
In this landmark 200th episode of History Rage, host Paul Bavill is joined once again by military historian and author Peter Caddick Adams to dismantle the enduring myths surrounding one of WWII’s most famous — and most misunderstood — figures: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox.

Rommel has long been painted as the daring genius of North Africa and even as a “good German” who stood against Hitler. But how much of that is reality, and how much is myth-making? Paul and Peter dig deep into the legend, the propaganda, and the politics that shaped Rommel’s reputation during the war — and long after it.

The Strategic Genius?
Rommel’s early victories in North Africa cemented his reputation, but Peter reveals the other side: his lack of staff training, his tendency to lead like a battalion commander even at army level, and how much his success relied on captured British equipment, Allied weakness, and signals intelligence.

The Propaganda Machine
Rommel wasn’t just lucky; he was a propaganda dream. From his days as Hitler’s bodyguard in Poland to his carefully staged desert photographs, he cultivated the Desert Fox image with Nazi backing.

Politics and the July Plot
Did Rommel oppose Hitler? Peter explains why there’s no evidence he joined the July 20th plot — a post-war myth shaped by biography and politics.

The Post-War Reinvention
After 1945, Rommel was recast as the “clean Wehrmacht” figure NATO needed. Churchill himself called him “a daring and skilful opponent,” sealing the legend.

Packed with anecdotes — from a dachshund in the classroom, to Coronation Street’s “Rommel the cat” — this milestone episode strips away the myth to reveal the complex man behind the Desert Fox.

🎧 Celebrate 200 episodes of History Rage with a myth-busting deep dive into Rommel’s real legacy.

Guest Information:
Follow Peter Caddick Adams on X: @militaryhistori and Instagram: @pcaddickadams

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