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Rearview Mirror Chronicles
Keith Hockton, FRAS, is a writer, publisher, and award-winning podcaster based in Penang, Malaysia, with a deep passion for uncovering the stories that shaped our world. As the Southeast Asia Editor for International Living magazine, Keith explores the intersections of history, culture, and modern life across the region.
A dynamic lecturer and storyteller, he speaks internationally on Southeast Asian politics, economics, and history—bringing the past to life with clarity, wit, and insight. Keith is also a proud Fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and is on a mission to make history not only accessible but genuinely entertaining for everyone.
His published books include:
• Atlas of Australian Dive Sites - Travellers Edition (Harper Collins Australia, 2003).
• Penang - An inside guide to its historic homes, buildings, monuments and parks (MPH Publishing, 2012; 2nd Edition 2014; 3rd Edition 2017).
• Festivals of Malaysia (Trafalgar Publishing, 2015).
• The Habitat Penang Hill: A pocket history (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)
• Alana and the Secret Life of Trees at Night (Entrepot Publishing, 2018)
• Penang Then & Now: A Century of Change in Pictures (Entrepot Publishing, 2019; 2nd Edition 2021
• Bersama Lima - Five Together (Entrepot Publishing, 2022)
www.entrepotpublishing.com
Rearview Mirror Chronicles
Nelson’s Last Command: Blood and Glory at Trafalgar
October 21, 1805. The sea churns red off the coast of Spain. Smoke coils through the rigging. The air is thick with fire, splinters, and screams.
This is Trafalgar.
In a daring break from tradition, Admiral Horatio Nelson orders his ships into two columns—charging headlong into the heart of the Franco-Spanish fleet. It’s a suicide maneuver. But it works. Chaos erupts. Hulls are smashed, decks drenched in blood, and the ocean becomes a floating graveyard.
At the center of it all, aboard HMS Victory, stands Nelson—undaunted, exposed, and resolute. As cannon smoke blinds the sun, he leads the assault with ruthless precision. But even legends bleed. A single musket shot from a French sniper rips through his spine. He dies hours later, carried below decks, whispering of duty and of country.
His death would immortalize him. His victory would shatter Napoleon’s dreams of naval supremacy.
In this haunting episode, Keith guides you through the brutal heart of the Battle of Trafalgar—not just the tactics and triumph, but the human cost, the silence after the guns, and why this blood-soaked day at sea changed the fate of empires.
Nelson did not live to see the victory—but he made sure the world would never forget it.
Referral Links:
For books written and published by Keith Hocton