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Hezekiah Moscow, a Jamaican immigrant whose journey to the East End was driven by dreams far removed from the blood and grime of the boxing ring. Moscow arrived in London with an unlikely ambition: to become a lion tamer. In the dazzling, dangerous world of Victorian music halls and traveling shows, exotic animal trainers were treated as stars, commanding both fear and admiration. For a man from the West Indies, a career among London’s entertainers promised a path to fame and financial stability - a far cry from the backbreaking labor offered to most immigrants.

Moscow’s rise in the ring was meteoric. By 1882, he was a household name - at least in East London - celebrated not only for his prowess as a lightweight boxer but also for his larger-than-life personality.

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London, 1888.

The city breathes in gaslight and exhales fog. Cobblestones glisten with rain. Somewhere, in the twisting maze of Whitechapel’s alleys, a footstep echoes—measured, patient, unhurried.

A woman—cold, tired, desperate—leans against a brick wall. She doesn’t notice the figure in the shadows. No one ever does, not until it’s too late.

Moments later, silence. Then a whisper of movement… and blood on stone.

By dawn, the city will wake to horror. Again.

The newspapers will scream of slaughter. Politicians will argue. Priests will pray. The police will fumble through the darkness, searching for a phantom.

He has no face. No name. Only a message, scrawled in red ink.

“Yours truly, Jack the Ripper.”

This is the story of Jack the Ripper, the most infamous and mysterious serial killer in history. But this is not just the story of a killer. This is an anatomy of fear - of five women whose names became footnotes, and a city that tried to forget them.

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The flickering glow of candlelight danced along the cold stone walls, casting long, twisting shadows that seemed almost alive. The air was thick with the scent of wax and wine, mingled with the faintest trace of something more ancient - something forbidden. Beneath the vaulted ceilings of Medmenham Abbey, men in monk’s robes gathered around an altar, goblets in hand, laughter echoing through the darkness. A woman’s voice - commanding, captivating - intoned a mock blessing. A toast was raised, not to God, but to something far darker.

Deep beneath the English countryside, in the labyrinthine tunnels known as the Hellfire Caves, this secret society thrived. The Hellfire Club, as it was infamously known, was no ordinary gathering of aristocrats. It was a place where the powerful and the privileged indulged in excess, where mockery of religion met whispers of the occult, and where Britain’s elite could engage in pleasures and plots hidden from the prying eyes of the outside world.

For centuries, rumours have swirled around the Hellfire Club - tales of black masses, secret initiations, and even human sacrifice. Was it simply a decadent drinking society, a place for influential men to cast off the constraints of their public lives? Or was there something more sinister lurking in the shadows?

This, is the story of the Hellfire Club - a dark secret society of satanism and sexual debauchery. 

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This is the story of a woman who was sharp-tongued, quick-witted, a woman who stood firm in her beliefs and convictions, against society and the King’s church, who was tortured to such a degree that she could not hold herself up against the burning pyre. A woman who said, in the face of torment and death: ‘I would rather die than break my faith’. This is the story of Anne Askew, an ardent reformer, a steadfast martyr, and a unique figure in the history of women’s education and involvement in religious debates.

City Ambience by  @MichaelGhelfiStudios   

https://michaelghelfistudios.com/

https://dscryb.com/MichaelGhelf i

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Music by Kieren Peatling ( @kierenmusic  )

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This is the story of usurping generals, emperors, pirates, mercenaries and kings. It is the story of political and military turmoil. This is the story of Roman Britain's Pirate King.

Simon Elliott:

http://www.simonelliott20.com

https://x.com/simonelliott20

https://www.instagram.com/simonelliott8671?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Roman Britain's Pirate King Book: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Roman-Britains-Pirate-King-Hardback/p/21384

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Welcome to Dark Britain, the podcast that looks back on, and tells the stories of the darker parts of Britain’s history. It's historical true crime, and it's criminally accurate. 

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