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Rearview Mirror Chronicles
Keith Hockton, FRAS, is a publisher, podcaster, writer and author based in Penang, Malaysia. He is South East Asian Editor for International Living, a lifestyle based magazine. He lectures internationally on history and Malaysia (political and economic), and is passionate about making history fun and accessible to all. Keith is a Fellow of The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
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)
Episodes
86 episodes
Rome's Scandalous Emperors
How depraved was Caligula? More than Tiberius? How monstrous was Nero? The dark reputations of these emperors owe a great deal to the Roman writer Suetonius, whose 121 AD work, "Lives of the Caesars" offered intimate portraits of 12 rulers of R...
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Season 1
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Episode 86
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30:01
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Lord Lucan - what really happened?
In the dead of night on November 7, 1974, Lord Lucan vanished without a trace after the brutal murder of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, in a case that gripped Britain like a thriller novel come to life. Was this aristocratic gambler a col...
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Season 1
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Episode 85
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35:42
Slave, Slaver, Abolitionist - Three Scots in Africa
Today’s journey takes us deep into the heart of Africa – a continent rich in culture, but ravaged by the forces of empire, greed… and the struggle for humanity.Sir John Henderson – the nobleman who was a slave. Richard Oswald – Politicia...
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Season 1
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Episode 84
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47:55
J.R.R Tolkien - Part Two - The Lord of the Rings
Welcome back to Rearview Mirror Chronicles! Last time, we explored J.R.R. Tolkien’s early life and the war that shaped him. Now, we turn to The Lord of the Rings—a story born from his experiences of battle, loss, and faith.
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Season 1
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Episode 83
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1:02:30
J.R.R Tolkien - Part One - The Hobbit
In the quiet corners of a small English town, in the flickering glow of candlelight, a boy loses himself in the pages of myth and legend—unaware that one day, his own words will shape the greatest fantasy saga ever written.John Ronald Re...
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Season 1
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Episode 82
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54:07
Malta - The Greatest Siege in History
Picture this: A sun-scorched island in the heart of the Mediterranean. A desperate band of knights, vastly outnumbered, stands against the might of an empire. It is the year 1565, and the Ottoman war machine—30,000 strong—has arrived on the sho...
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Season 1
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Episode 81
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47:45
Nostradamus
For centuries, Nostradamus has loomed over history like a spectral prophet, his cryptic quatrains sending shivers down the spines of believers and skeptics alike. Did he truly foresee the rise of Napoleon, the horrors of World War II, or even t...
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Season 1
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Episode 80
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33:50
Banking Collapses - A History. Why they Happen and How to Avoid them in the Future
Money makes the world go ‘round… until it doesn’t.From the financial districts of ancient Rome to the stock exchanges of London and the skyscrapers of Wall Street, history has been shaped—again and again—by catastrophic banking failures....
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Season 1
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Episode 79
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35:32
Greenland
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has a history shaped by its harsh Arctic environment and the strategic interests of powerful nations. First settled by the Inuit over 4,500 years ago, it later became home to Norse settlers led by Erik the...
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Season 1
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Episode 78
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36:57
The Madman’s Library - Macabre Books and Bizarre Manuscripts
The madman’s library is a realm where the bizarre and the forbidden collide, a collection of history’s most unsettling tomes. Dusty shelves groan under the weight of grimoires devoted to demonology, their pages inked with occult symbols and sin...
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Season 1
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Episode 77
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45:10
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is one of the greatest engineering marvels in history—a saga of ambition, failure, and triumph. It all began in the 1880s when the French, fresh from their success with the Suez Canal, attempted to carve a passage through the d...
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Season 1
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Episode 76
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34:48
Greatness
Greatness is a concept that has shaped history, yet it feels increasingly rare in modern discourse. From Alexander the Great to Catherine the Great, history has bestowed this title upon figures whose vision, ambition, and impact transcended the...
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Season 1
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Episode 75
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31:28
Alexander The Great - Part 2
As Alexander the Great marched triumphantly into the Indian subcontinent, his ambition burned brighter than ever. He faced the fierce resistance of King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes River, where the Macedonian phalanx clashed with toweri...
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Season 1
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Episode 74
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55:56
Alexander The Great - Part 1
Alexander the Great’s story begins in 356 BC, born in Pella to King Philip II and the fiercely ambitious Olympias. From his earliest days, Alexander was surrounded by greatness—his mother claimed divine lineage from Achilles, and his father, a ...
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Season 1
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Episode 73
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54:02
The Great Fire of London
In September 1666, the heart of London became an inferno, devouring over 13,000 homes, landmarks, and centuries of history in just four days. But the Great Fire was more than just a catastrophe—it was a crucible of chaos, courage, and transform...
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Season 1
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Episode 72
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40:21
Christmas
This week on Rearview Mirror Chronicles, we unwrap the rich tapestry of Christmas history! From the sacred nativity stories in the Gospels to the Reformers’ bold attempts to redefine the holiday, we trace the evolution of this beloved ...
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Season 1
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Episode 71
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34:52
The Colosseum - Rome's Arena of Death
Step back in time to the heart of ancient Rome, where the roar of the crowd rivaled the clash of swords, and the sands of the arena were stained with the stories of bravery, betrayal, sheer spectacle and blood. The Colosseum wasn’t just a stadi...
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Season 1
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Episode 70
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53:01
Persia
Persia, the land of kings and legends, was a marvel of human achievement, blending unparalleled innovation, cultural sophistication, and vast empire-building. Stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley, the Persian Empire was a beaco...
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Season 1
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Episode 69
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44:45
Kipling's "IF" and "The Two Sided Man" - Your Questions Answered
Rudyard Kipling’s "If—" and "The Two-Sided Man" are masterclasses in poetic craftsmanship, distilling the essence of human resilience and complexity into words that resonate across generations. Join Keith as he ex...
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Season 1
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Episode 68
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8:44
What Ifs - Counterfactuals
What Ifs, Counterfactuals, are a gateway to the infinite possibilities of history, where imagination collides with reality to unravel the fragile threads of what might have been. They remind us that history is not a predetermined march but a ch...
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Season 1
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Episode 67
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55:00
Thomas Cochrane - Part 3 - Admiral
In the twilight of his turbulent life, Lord Thomas Cochrane stood as a testament to unyielding defiance and unrelenting ambition. Once jailed and cast out of the Royal Navy under a cloud of scandal, his indomitable spirit found new purpose acro...
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Season 1
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Episode 66
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53:22
Thomas Cochrane - Part 2 - Post Captain
Thomas Lord Cochrane's daring assault at the Battle of Basque Roads in 1809 was nothing short of audacious. Leading a fleet of fire and bomb ships, Cochrane, a brilliant but rebellious Royal Navy officer, spearheaded a bold night attack against...
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Season 1
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Episode 65
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59:08
Thomas Cochrane - Part 1 - Master and Commander
Thomas Cochrane's meteoric rise to Post Captain was a whirlwind of audacity, brilliance, and defiance. In 1801, after just a few years of service, Cochrane's relentless daring at sea earned him the rank, Master and Commander, of the tiny HMS
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Season 1
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Episode 64
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45:16