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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
Panama Canal: A Corridor of Corpses
The Panama Canal wasn't built, it was bled into existence.
What began in the 1880s as a grand French dream quickly unraveled into a nightmare. Led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who conquered the Suez, workers fell by the thousands, claimed by malaria, yellow fever, and the jungle itself. The earth collapsed. The money vanished. And the dream rotted in the heat.
Then came the Americans. But they didn’t just dig—they schemed. With silent backing, Panama was carved off from Colombia in a staged revolution. In 1904, with guns and contracts in hand, the U.S. took control. And where the French had failed, America succeeded—through industrial force, medical warfare, and raw political will. In 1914, the canal opened… a scar across a continent, a gateway to empire.
But the canal has never truly belonged to Panama. It has been a pawn, a prize, a pressure point in the global order. Even a century later, echoes of control, betrayal, and ambition remain. Presidents still argue over it. Nations still watch it.
Join Keith as he dredges up the true story of the Panama Canal, not just a marvel of engineering, but a monument to death, dominance, and the brutal price of progress.
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For books written and published by Keith Hocton