Rudyard Kipling

Context:

Mentioned as the source material for the animated film Disney was immersed in when he died in 1966, described as his most committed animation project since Bambi.

Context:

Referenced as Kipling's stories about Roman Britain published in 1906, described as casting Hadrian's Wall as a monument to civilisation - Kipling is called 'the great laureate of the British Empire'

Context:

Mentioned in discussion of Freemasonry in the British Empire. The hosts note that Kipling's story begins with a section about Masonry and features characters who use Masonic rituals to establish authority.

Context:

Referenced alongside Heart of Darkness as an example of more morally complex imperial literature compared to boys' adventure stories

Context:

Referenced briefly by Tom as an example of the 'adventure' framing of imperial history—British adventurers going off to exotic, far-flung places. Used to characterize a style of children's history writing that presented colonial encounters as exciting adventures rather than examining the perspectives of colonized peoples.

Context:

Described as 'a very George R.R. Martin story' in discussion of Kipling's influence and British imperial writing about frontiers

Context:

The poem is read aloud by Dominic at the opening and closing of the episode, with Alex Preston noting that Kipling's house Bateman's is visible from where he's sitting. While a poem rather than a book, it is a published work that frames the entire episode's discussion of the romanticized image of smuggling versus the brutal reality.

Context:

Hugh Wilford mentions that the early generation of CIA officers had all read Kipling's Kim and saw themselves in the same tradition of adventure and espionage, influencing how they approached their work.

Context:

Tom reads an excerpt from this short story and both hosts discuss it extensively as a powerful work about grief following World War I. Tom mentions he reads it every November 11th and recommends it to listeners, saying it's available online and is 'one of the great short stories ever written.'