The Backtracker
50 episodes listed below
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Based in the UK, this self confessed history geek takes you for a stroll down memory lane and shares stories and interesting nuggets of information that has been discovered along the way. From tales of tragedy and sadness to epic stories of human courage or creativity, there are many people in history who have made their mark, however small. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to share or leave feedback. It all helps! Keep in touch via either Twitter or Facebook by using @BackTrackerUK
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Alice turns Bristol's pubs, prisons, streets and reform campaigns into closely observed narrative history with a strong sense of place.
Alice builds local-history narratives from Bristol and southwest England, using individual lives and tightly drawn settings to open onto British social and criminal history.
A pub stabbing pauses for Bristol street history; your curiosity gets its own side quest.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Bristol pub scoring dispute turns violent in a tightly focused 1878 account.
A scoring dispute in a Bristol pub in 1878 becomes a study in how quickly ordinary insult can harden into violence. The quarrel moves from taunts about literacy to the yard, where Alice follows as Ferris strikes Freegard after being mocked, Freegard later rushes forward with a…
Jessie Stephen's route from domestic workers' meetings to timed pillar-box attacks gives this reform story its most dangerous edge.
Two women tied to social reform shape this BackTracker History Show episode, with Jessie Stephen emerging as its strongest through-line. Her story moves from organizing domestic workers to the higher stakes of women's suffrage, first through meetings that helped members win two…
A Bristol pub becomes a revealing stop in Thomas Clarkson's campaign against the slave trade.
The Seven Stars Pub looks at how a Bristol tavern became a practical meeting point for Thomas Clarkson's campaign against the transatlantic slave trade.
A restless highway robber keeps slipping between escape, reinvention, and another return to the road.
Simms comes through as a restless highway robber, pulled again and again toward danger even when his life seems to be taking another shape. The episode follows him from the robbery of 102 guineas into gambling, military service, transportation to Maryland, escape, capture by a…
Outnumbered units, remembered under fire.
Battle maps, war films, and patient context.
War news, tested against military reality.
Antique European history, read aloud.
The host introduces the show and teases a story about a Bristolian connected to a major historical event portrayed in a top-grossing film.
A history podcast episode exploring events from 1860, including the Treaty of San Stefano and the first use of electric lights at Westminster Palace.
This episode profiles two women who brought about social reform, beginning with a woman born in 1772 and contextualizing the era with events like the Gaspy affair and the Mansfield judgment.
This episode explores major historical events from 1787, including discoveries by the Herschels and the departure of the First Fleet to Australia.
A history podcast exploring intriguing tales about people and events from the past, starting with events from 1747.
The BackTracker History Show examines executions at Shepton Mallet Prison, including Charles Squires's conviction for killing two-year-old Jim Cable and Henry Quarterly's 1914 shotgun murder of Henry Pugsley.
This episode tells the story of Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, a double Victoria Cross recipient and World War I doctor.
This episode explores the life of artist Emily Jane Harding and historical events from 1850.
The host introduces the show as a gentle stroll through historical archives, then begins discussing events from the year 1895, including the birth of J.
This episode explores the life of Francis Howard Greenway and other historical events from the past.
The host introduces the show and teases a story about an event in 1858, mentioning Brunel's SS Great Eastern and Charles Dickens' first professional tour.