Tales of History and Imagination
History
About
Ever heard the Tale of the man who tried to kill time as we know it? The mysterious beast which stalked a remote French village in the 1760s? What about the time a prankster ‘Zipped’ two Chicago television stations?Tales of History and Imagination tells the Tales from history less told. We discuss strange, enigmatic characters, the cameo roles in life’s play, and, sometimes, major events from a viewpoint rarely seen.
Episodes
- The Sacred Band -Three
This week, on Tales we return to Thebes one last time to discuss what happens when others even the field, the life and death or our two heroes, a young man named Philip - and a giant lion.. This is part three of a three parter. Content War…
- The Sacred Band -Two
This week, on Tales we return to Thebes, to see how their Sacred Band is working out for them. We learn a little bit about Spartan King Agesilaus’ lost love, and we meet a warlord named Jason. This is part two of a three parter. Content wa…
- The Sacred Band - One
This week, on Tales we journey to ancient Thebes, a Greek City state suddenly - unexpectedly - under the control of their foes, Sparta. When you have lost your freedom to a despot, and are fighting for your very survival, what can you turn…
- The Tichborne Claimant - Two
This week, on a much waylaid episode of Tales we return to the Tichbornes,’ as Tom Castro makes his play for the land, money and titles. Does it turn out he was, in fact Roger Charles Tichborne - long thought lost at sea - or was he some l…
- Tales From The Patreon
The host explains that re-releasing old Season 1 episodes is delayed due to voice recovery from pneumonia and script updates. This episode is compiled from three Patreon bonus episodes: Stranded on ‘Ata, 400 Word Tales: Countess Zangari, a…
- Update: The 2025 Season Cliffhanger
Hi all, apologies for the delay. I posted up on the blog site I was unwell with pneumonia, then it occurred to me a lot of folk never visit the blog site and I better put something up here as well. Anyway, please hit play it explains it al…
- The Miser of Marcham Park - Revisited
This week on Tales we enter the vaults to revisit - and re-record - one of the five early episodes still on here that was recorded on my cheap, starter microphone. (We’ll knock the other four off next year in mid-season breaks.) With Chris…
- The Tichborne Claimant - One
Quick note all: This episode is approx 29 minutes long… I’ve accidentally left some background music or something muted at the end + will delete that and re-upload once home again… Sorry all, there is no secret Easter egg at the end of thi…
- The Polaris Expedition - Two
This week On Tales we return to the Arctic, the year 1871. Charles Francis Hall has passed on, mysteriously, after drinking a suspiciously sweet, yet metallic coffee. What will happen to the expedition as power passes to the hard-drinking…
- The Halifax Gibbet
This week On Tales we take a slight detour from the Polaris Expedition: I think where that Tale goes IS shocking, but not terribly in a Halloween horror kind of way… So this week we’re taking a ride to the town of Halifax, England to meet…
- The Polaris Expedition - One
This week On Tales we travel back to 1871, to take a journey to the top of the world. Our intrepid hero, Charles Francis Hall has dreams of becoming the first man to stand on the North Pole - but dreams can sometimes go horribly awry. Just…
- The Hammersmith Ghost
Last week when I covered the Tale of Spring Heeled Jack, I mentioned a couple of people in passing without explanation… Apologies all, I’ll be coming back to a few of those people sometime in the near future… But with regards the Hammersmi…
- Spring Heeled Jack
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to an episode from the first season to give it a new coat of (red) paint… speaking of, we’re going back to London in 1837 to discuss newspapers, the death of ‘Silly Billy,’ ‘painting…
- Murder in Belgravia
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we discuss a murdered nanny, the murderer… his awful ancestors, and said murderer’s mysterious disappearance. Trigger warnings: murder. Sources Include: A Different Class of Murder by Laura Tho…
- The Batavia: Part Four - Batavia’s Graveyard
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return one last time to the wreck of the Batavia. This is where things, finally, go all ‘Lord of the Flies’ on Batavia’s Graveyard. This is part four of a four parter - thanks for hanging in…
- The Batavia: Part Three - The Longboat
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to the wreck of the Batavia. In part two we follow the adventures of the 48 in the longboat as they make their way along Australia’s Western coast; learn a little more about Francisco…
- The Batavia: Part Two - The Heretic
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to the wreck of the Batavia. In part two we discuss heresy, and the harrowing life of under-merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz. This is part two of a four parter. Trigger warnings: Murder,…
- The Batavia: Part One - The Shipwreck
This week on Tales of History and Imagination we return to Australia for a real life soap opera that was considerably more bloody than Neighbours or Home and Away. First we need to take a cruise on a Dutch VOC flagship called The Batavia,…
- The Ballad of Tom Wills
This week we travel to Australia for a game of Marn Grook, to discuss origin stories; perhaps the archetypal troubled sportsman - and horrific massacres. Trigger warnings: Murder, suicide, colonialism, and to the Aboriginal and Torres Stra…
- The Cancellation of Ilda Orme
The American actress Ilda Orme knew a thing or two about being cancelled, a long, long time before social media put the cancel button in the hands of the public at large. Her cancellers, she suspected were two hateful former in-laws and a…
- Archias The Exile Hunter
On, or around 11th June 323 BC Alexander the Great died in Babylon. While there are mysteries surrounding his passing - did an Indian holy man prophesy his passing a year prior while self immolating in Alexander’s presence? Was he poisoned…
- The Fall and Rise of Aimee Semple McPherson
On May 18th 1926 the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson took a trip to Santa Monica Beach, California to work, seek inspiration and have a little fun in the sun. However, the day would end in tragedy when Aimee disappeared without a trace.…
- The Ace of Spies - Two
Hi all, welcome back (again) - sorry it’s a week later than planned… a few ongoing voice issues from the cold. This week we conclude the tale of Sidney Reilly and the ‘Red Terror.’ Sources Include: R.H. Bruce-Lockhart ‘ Memoirs of a Britis…
- The Ace of Spies - One
Hi all, welcome back - sorry it’s a week later than planned… I had a nasty cold. This week we’re in Russia just after the October Revolution. The Bolsheviks have taken over, plunging the nation even further into disarray. They’re determine…
- The Greenbrier Ghost
Hi all, Happy Holidays! This year I’ve got a ghost story for you all. Today we travel to Greenbrier County, West Virginia in 1897. Sources Include: Again this week I’ve gone from a handful of online articles, a few online genealogy pages -…
- John Frum… Messiah
This week we travel to Tana Island, Vanuatu (then the New Hebrides) in the midst of World War Two. God has returned - and not a moment too soon. Having abandoned them decades earlier, just as bad men with awful intentions arrived to steal…
- How Margaret Sanger & Katharine Dexter McCormick Saved the World
This week, how do I sum this up? I was freewheeling a little today, but have I got a tale of resistance, and a weird little man for you all. Anthony Comstock was a weird, joyless guy - and his ‘Comstockery’ ruined many ordinary lives - but…
- Admin: A Slight Change of Plans…
Hi there all, just dropping a quick note, before I return to the writing desk… USA I’m aghast… and worried, and saddened by recent turns of events. And tonight I just wanted to send you all my love (well, obviously not all of you… some of…
- Murder in Room 1046
This week, it’s Halloween! So, naturally I’ve got a tale of… well, historic hotel rooms in Kansas City, Missouri… And a notorious murder carried out in Room 1046 of the Hotel President.. Sources Include: This fantastic article by John Horn…
- The Missile Crisis - Part Two
This week we return to Cuba to conclude our miniseries on the Cuban Missile Crisis. This week we discuss arctic explorers, nuclear test sites, saboteurs, spy planes gone awry, submarines and why I think having such power out there in an ag…
- The Missile Crisis - Part One
On 16th October 1962, American President John F Kennedy was presented with three indistinct photos taken of several tubes laid out in a field in Cuba. Kennedy at first took the scene for a football field. His brother Robert, on viewing the…
- Pledge Week: A Nude Horse…
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 droppi…
- Pledge Week: Does Anyone Live Beyond You?
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. Monday through Thursday I’ll be dropp…
- Pledge Week: Captain Johnson
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 droppi…
- Pledge Week: The Devil Comes to Milan
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 droppi…
- Re-Upload: The Max Headroom Incident
Hey all I’m on holiday, though I’ve got a few things programmed to drop while I’m away… including this; a re-upload of this episode from October 2021. “On 9:14 pm, 22nd November 1987, Chicago’s WGN TV was ‘zipped’ by a mysterious attacker…
- Tycho Brahe’s Universe
Hey all I’m on holiday, though I’ve got a few things programmed to drop while I’m away… including this, my short ode to the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Sources include: Apologies all, this is from an old blog post where, now very much to my sh…
- The American Mafia - Three: The Castellammare War…
This week we conclude our mob Tale. With the bosses banged up, the Morello family must do their best to navigate a rapidly changing world - and several vicious wars. How will they deal with upstarts, Kings, The Camorra, prohibition - and t…
- The American Mafia - Two: The Ballad of Antonio Comito
This week, (sorry all, please bear with me- day job’s running me a little ragged, but I should be on track again in August) we’re returning to our mobsters - Giuseppe ‘The Clutch Hand’ Morello and the 107th Street Gang. In part two of this…
- The American Mafia - One: The Clutch Hand
This week, (apologies for the delay all, I’ve been an absolute wreck the last couple of weeks) we’re returning to Little Italy; the year 1903. In part one of this two parter we discuss the early life of America’s first Capo di Tutti Capi,…
- Temujin (an Origin Story)
This week, we take a magic carpet ride into the wilds of the Central Asian Steppe - timeframe? the mid 12th Century. Today we’re taking a (rather hagiographic) look at the early life of a young man named Temujin… Sources Include: Genghis K…
- Murder in Hartlepool…
This week - we travel to the British Seaside town of Hartlepool. The date?? Sometime around the Napoleonic Wars. A French ship has run aground, leaving bodies strewn across the beach. Legend tells one survivor was found - a small, hairy ma…
- Adrian Carton de Wiart
This week - Adrian Carton de Wiart was a lifelong soldier; acknowledged for his bravery across the 2nd Boer War, the Somaliland Campaign, Poland’s several wars for independence - and both World Wars. The man started out with a cavalry sabr…
- A Dangerous Liaison
This week we travel to the Germanic Duchy of Hannover, the year 1694. Under cover of darkness, a dashing, aristocratic young soldier named Philip Christoph von Konigsmarck makes his way to an illicit meeting with his lover; the deeply unha…
- The Triptych
Trigger Warning: Death by misadventure, and an execution by guillotine. I make no concessions for calling Aotearoa… Aotearoa. I mention this as in Aotearoa (New Zealand) news sites are having to shut down comment sections on Maori language…
- The Secret Path
Trigger Warning: Talk of executions, religious extremism and cannibalism. This week we return one last time to the city of Münster. With everything going to hell in Münster, Henry Gresbeck risks his life in a dash for freedom. The Prince B…
- The Tailor King
This week we return to the city of Münster, in the Holy Roman Empire. Now we’ve got all the context out of the way - let’s discuss the war between the Prince Bishop, and the city’s new rogue Prophet - the Tailor, Jan of Leiden. This is Par…
- Jan Matthias Rides Out…
This week we travel to the city of Münster, in the Holy Roman Empire. The year, 1534. Tensions have ratcheted up between the City’s Prince Bishop, the City Council and a rogue preacher to the point where the people have gone rogue - having…
- Charles Lightoller’s Worst Day Ever
Hi all, I’m technically still on holiday (Tales will be back for Season 5 on 1st February.) - but I was on the mic on Sunday, and had a little downtime … and a spare script or two. This week we meet Charles Lightoller, a remarkable sailor,…
- The Stone of Destiny
Happy Holidays all! This week we travel to Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950. It’s four in the morning when a policeman comes across a young couple huddled together in their car. Like another young couple a few millennia before, they…