The (real) Peaky Blinders

Alrightttt … this episode of Hot History is by order of the Peaky Fooking Blinders! Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is on Netflix tonight, so we’re covering exactly who the real Peaky Blinders were! We start by looking at the Industrial Revolutions impact on Birmingham and the origins of the Victorian street gangs, before covering some of the real figures and events in the TV series. From Billy Kimber to Diana Mitford and of course, Alfie Solomon’s, we get down and dirty with the big wigs of Steven Knights story! We’re also doing some light myth busting (sorry) about some of the series key Shelbyisms and so much more! If you're wanting more Hot History content you can follow along on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/hothistoryclub/?hl=en, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@hot.history?lang=en and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@hot.history and of course, right here! Til next week, Ainslie x

• 0:16Speaker 00

  Hi guys and welcome back to Hot History, the podcast covering all the things in history that you probably should know but don't. I'm Ainslie Harvey, your hot historian, ready for a super exciting day of history today, guys, because Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is coming out on Netflix tonight. Now, I am a huge Peaky Blinders fan, I'm a huge Stephen Knight fan, the guy who created the series. So when I heard the show was coming back for a film set during World War II, I was stoked and thought, what better pairing than first

• 0:57Speaker 00

  doing a deep dive right now on the real Peaky Blinders, followed by diving back into Stephen Knight's world for Peaky Blinders afterwards. So I'm here today in my Birmingham Brown suit and we are going to rewind all the way back to the late 1880s, so significantly further back than the start of season one in the show. Now, guys, at this point, it's the late Victorian era and the Industrial Revolution is in full swing with Birmingham becoming the very epicentre of manufacturing for the UK. In fact, it's largely regarded as the first modern manufacturing town in history. Renowned as the city of a thousand trades, Birmingham was driven by

• 1:38Speaker 00

  metalworking, brass, gun and jewellery manufacturing, often in small specialised workshops throughout the city. This meant that Birmingham was loud, it was dirty and most of all, it was busy, as the work opportunities brought people to Birmingham in their droves from all over the country. In fact, between 1801 and 1901, the population of Birmingham increased from about 70,000 to more than 500,000 people, which created a melting pot of both industrial and social reformation.

• 2:15Speaker 00

  You see, with the sweeping impact of industrialisation, the British government, and indeed governments around the world, were forced to make changes to their political systems with a push for more democratic process. We spoke about the Romanoff family's fall last week, and this inability to modernise and democratised in the face of sweeping industrial expansion is largely where it all went downhill for them. Well, like before Sir Nicholas II sat on the throne, it existed. But anyway, as part of this push in Britain specifically, Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act in 1884, extending the right to vote to many rural working class

• 2:59Speaker 00

  men, which increased the electorate dramatically. So this led millions more men across the UK to be engaged with politics, some for the very first time. Now, as a result of this and the significance of the industrial epicentres like Birmingham bringing in millions of dollars to the British economy, these cities demanded greater representation in Parliament, which led to the Redistribution of Seats Act in 1885, reorganising Parliament so that these industrial cities had fairer and greater representation. Now, with these expanding political powers and influence of democratic thinking more

• 3:44Speaker 00

  broadly, you also see an increase in labour movements and strikes, namely the 1888 Match Girls' Strike and 1889 London Dock Strike, which increased public debate about wages, hours and working conditions. There was also the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1880, requiring children to attend school up to age 10, which increased literacy and numeracy rates all over the country. So all in all, guys, you have at this point in time a more informed, empowered and educated society who are taking up residence in these cities.

• 4:24Speaker 00

  Which all sounds amazing, right? It's new freedoms, democratic processes, further education are always amazing. But the problem with so many people swamping these manufacturing cities like Birmingham is that you end up with crowded, squalid spaces because there's no real infrastructure there to support them. Now, the response to this did see back-to-back housing for workers in the city centre established, but it also led to the establishment of slums for this overdraft, people who couldn't get into these back-to-back houses. So really, you have everyone here, living in each other's backpockets, and as competition

• 5:05Speaker 00

  for work and different social, religious, ethnic and political groups were forced to coexist, many people, mainly the young men, became disenfranchised and restless. And this is the climate in which the Birmingham street gangs emerged, beginning largely with pickpocketing as a way of earning money and fistfighting because they were drunk and bored. Classic. If only, like, they had Netflix. If only they could watch the Peaky Blinders back then, maybe they wouldn't have had actual Peaky Blinders. But the thing that these early gangs all had in common was their link to the immediate

• 5:47Speaker 00

  community, and the parts of the city where communities are tightly packed and economic opportunities are limited, is where we see the biggest surge in this gang activity, namely in the districts of Small Heath, Bordersley, Aston and Cheapside, who all became known for youth groups who defended their neighbourhood territory and for other rival groups. Small Heath will sound familiar to those of us who've watched Peaky Blinders because this is the community in which the Shelby family lived. Now, as I said, amongst these early gangs, street fighting was a common pastime and a way of inspiring competition between districts, kind of like a less lethal version of the Hunger Games, if you will.

• 6:32Speaker 00

  So in these fights, rival groups would meet in open areas, mainly outside pubs, to beat the shit out of another group with, you know, whatever they really wanted, whatever they had, fists, belts, knives, whatever they could get their hands on. And these kinds of violent street fights became incredibly notorious throughout the city, so much so that the Victorian newspapers frequently reported on their outcomings, referring to these men as rough youths or corner gangs. So decisively not the criminal organisation of Thomas Shelby, but you can see some of this, like, street-level, community-led violence in season one of Peaky Blinders, and how

• 7:17Speaker 00

  this can lead to, you know, a greater kind of organised group.

• 7:22Speaker 00

  Now, one thing that was very prevalent early on in these corner gangs was branding. There is a reason, guys, that armies wear the same uniform. It's so you can identify them and know on a battlefield who to kill and who not to kill. And when it came to the Birmingham gangs, this was no different. Each group began dressing in their distinctive clothing style and developing their own slang, which helped to not only reinforce their identity, but establish a clear brand about who they were and what they did.

• 8:01Speaker 00

  It also, like, scared the shit out of middle-class citizens, who believed these gangs represented a far greater threat to public order than the papers chalked them up, to be when they say, you know, they're simply rough youths or corner gangs. And I weren't wrong. Industrial work, for all its promise, was both dangerous and flippant, with some workers being injured and unable to work again, others being fired for their political or social views on the spot, and the rest paid pitiful wages. So poverty and a need to survive turned these once rough youths into thieves within these kind of larger criminal networks. Now, to address this rising crime, Victorian authorities bolstered the police force throughout Birmingham,

• 8:47Speaker 00

  who attempted to reform these gangs through stricter law enforcement and social programs, viewing these men as a symptom of moral decline rather than a result of social inequality. But the more they stole or swindled or evaded police capture, the better they became at navigating a life of crime. And soon, these petty criminals with matching jackets or ties became larger organisations, the best and most famous of which is the Peaky Fork and Blinders. So who are they? Where did they come from? And what did they actually stand for? Now, similar to the other gangs of the time,

• 9:32Speaker 00

  the Peaky Blinders rose to prominence, like I said, in the 1880s, with their name likely coming from their distinctive fashion, with the term blinder referring to someone who looked impressive or stylish or hot. So like this podcast, for example, could be called like Blinders History, but the alliteration doesn't really work there, so I'll stick with Hot History. But anyway, the Peaky Blinders absolutely nailed their fits. They wore flat caps, tailored jackets, collared shirts and pointed cap peaks underneath, which gave them the sharp appearance that Stephen Knight immortalised in the Peaky Blinders TV show. In fact, the reputation of their style was so great

• 10:17Speaker 00

  that Victorian newspapers frequently mentioned their outfits in reports of violent incidents. So the term Peaky Blinder really just meant sharp-looking dudes in peaked caps. Another thing the show gets right is the group's origins in Small Heath and Cheapside. This was prime Peaky territory. And they controlled the local streets with the majority of members typically in their late teens or early twenties. But what did they do? Well, unlike the TV show, the Peaky Blinders did not have a vast criminal mafia-style organisation that wield and deal all sorts of goods. Instead, they ran their illegal gambling operations to gain power and money, utilising

• 10:59Speaker 00

  extortion, theft and violence to expand their territory within Birmingham. So I am so sorry for all you Shelby lovers at home, but unlike the show, the real Peaky Blinders were not as influential or successful on a national scale. I really think it's more similar to season one, like season one is, you know, the Peaky Blinders at their height. But that doesn't mean that the Peaky Blinders weren't notorious. And like I said, of all the street gangs out there, they, even before the show, were the most famous of the Birmingham gangs at the time, with some of its members being equally as notorious. So, let's meet some of them, shall we?

• 11:43Speaker 00

  Let's start firstly with Thomas Gilbert, nickname Kevin Mooney. So, he is largely credited as one of the earliest leaders of the Peaky Blinders, being born in Small Heath in 1870, with police reports from the time describing him as being involved in robbery, assaults and gang activity as early as 1885, so he's 15. Now, we do know he was sentenced to two separate stints in prison for thievery and deception, with some historians believing he helped organise early Peaky Blinder groups and recruit members from the neighbourhood. And it is no mistake here, guys, that Thomas Shelby, as the early leader of the Peaky Blinders in the show, shares Thomas Gilbert's name.

• 12:28Speaker 00

  He is largely a direct inspiration for Stephen Knight's protagonist. Next, we have Mr Harry Vowles. Now, he was arrested in 1890 for stealing a bicycle and police records identify him as a Peaky Blinder, with his case being one of the clearest historical pieces of evidence that the term "Peaky Blinder" was used by authorities at the time to describe gang members. Vowles was renowned for looking particularly dapper in his Peaky uniform. I will post some pics on the socials. But again, he stole a bicycle, like this isn't some big criminal organisation like we see throughout the show.

• 13:07Speaker 00

  Another real Peaky Blinders that we can meet is Ernest Bales, who was charged with assaulting a man named George Eastwood by police in 1918. Now, the attack was described as violent and unprovoked, characteristic of the gang-based street violence, and this case was actually paramount in defining the Peaky Blinders' reputation for brutality. There was also Stephen McNichol arrested in 1890 as well, but unlike Bales, he was charged for petty burglary and theft. So again, not this big criminal organisation the show makes out. As for other members, we don't really know, to be honest, and it makes sense, right? This is a criminal gang. They're hardly like an organised syndicate with members lists that are being shared about.

• 13:52Speaker 00

  And while many young men were described as Peaky Blinders in police and newspaper reports, we don't really know much about these men.

• 14:02Speaker 00

  In the end, many historians believe the gang likely consisted of dozens of local youths who moved in and out of the group over time. So again, I am so sorry, Shelby fans, but the Peaky Blinders were not as we see on TV. So, what happened to them then, really, throughout history? Well, in the show, the major threat to the Peaky Blinders' expansion and indeed survival in Birmingham itself comes in the form of Sam Neill's character, Inspector Campbell, in season one and season two. And indeed, there was an Irish police constable who was contracted to gather information, keep a close watch and enforce law and order within the city,

• 14:47Speaker 00

  and his name was Charles Horton Rafta. But he was not sent by Winston Churchill, and he certainly was not the Peaky Blinders' downfall. While Rafta did bring new officers to the city and impose harsher penalties, in the end, Tommy's famous line,

• 15:06Speaker 01

  "Big fucks more",

• 15:08Speaker 00

  is indeed correct, with the Peaky Blinders being usurped by the real-life Billy Kimber and his very real Birmingham boys.

• 15:19Speaker 00

  Now, we do meet both Mr Kimber and his gang in the first season, but what were they actually like? So Billy Kimber was born in 1882. As part of Birmingham's lower working class, he grew up around gangs like the Peaky Blinders his whole life, learning the dynamics and inner workings of these community-based gangs, becoming involved first in petty crimes, where he built connections with various criminals and bookmakers as he climbed the ranks. It was around bookmakers that Kimber recognised the opportunity that illegal betting, particularly at horse racing events, offered him. He didn't want to be small-time. He wanted to make significant profit.

• 16:04Speaker 00

  And he wanted to be able to scale this small-time operation that the Peaky Blinders had into something bigger. But to do this, he had to get around the tight regulations of the gambling industry at the time. So he began his underground operation, protected by his group of loyal associates who became known as the Birmingham Boys. These weren't just gangsters, guys. They were businessmen. It was kind of like a pyramid scheme. And Kimber sold these men on the promise of an organised, high-profit organisation that they could be a part of. Not a street gang, but a business. Basically like Avon. Now, unfortunately for the drama lovers, myself included,

• 16:46Speaker 00

  there was no great showdown or take-down or street-fight between the Peaky Blinders and the Birmingham Boys like we see in the finale of season one. Really, the Peaky Blinders were just small-time dealers. And by the time Kimber and the Birmingham Boys rose to prominence, there were only a few blinders really left, who eventually joined Kimber and that promise of big business.

• 17:10Speaker 00

  Now Kimber did well for himself, which we'll get into further when we look at him like personally. But the key thing is that the Birmingham Boys represented an important stage in the evolution of organised crime in Britain. It went from small time to the big leagues under Kimber, who stepped away from the business when the Sabini gang came into the picture in the 1930s. Now, the Sabinis, of course, are the key antagonists in season two of Peaky Blinders, led by the very real Charles Derby Sabini, an Italian-British gangster based in London. So as Kimber expanded his betting operation across the country,

• 17:54Speaker 00

  he and his Birmingham Boys came head to head with Sabini and his men who controlled the neighbouring regions. There was mass violence between the opposing sides. One particular incident occurring at Epsom Racecourse, where members of Sabini's gang reportedly attacked Kimber's men. Epsom Racecourse, of course, being the event in the Peaky Blinders series that Polly dispatches Inspector Campbell, Grace tells Tommy she's pregnant, and Tommy finds himself facing almost certain death until he is saved by an agent of Churchill's. And while Epsom wasn't a significant turning point for the real Peaky Blinders as it was in the show,

• 18:37Speaker 00

  it certainly was a big event for Billy Kimber and the Birmingham Boys, with the conflict eventually weakening them, allowing the Sabini gang to gain the upper hand over their betting operation. But they too fizzled out with increased police attention, legal changes to gambling laws, and the gradual restructuring of betting systems, reducing the opportunities for organised criminal control of racecourses prior to World War Two.

• 19:06Speaker 00

  So there we have a bit of a look at the emergence of street gangs, especially in the rapidly industrialised Birmingham, along with who the Peaky Blinders were, why they're so famous, and how they fell with the likes of Billy Kimber and Darby Sabini levelling up the illegal bookmakers game. P S, I'm gonna interrupt myself here, because I realise I haven't said this in the last few episodes, but if you are watching, or if you're listening on Spotify, this is actually a full-length video, and if you're on Apple, then you can head over to YouTube and watch the full-length video. We include graphics and clips and things like that in, so. Brief, brief breaking of the fourth wall, but let's get back into Peaky's. So while some names and similarities from the actual history appear throughout

• 19:49Speaker 00

  the series, it's very much full of exaggerations and inventions, mostly derived from the local folklore of the blinders in Birmingham. So I thought, why don't we break down exactly what is true and what is false in the Peaky Blinders series, starting with the fact the Peaky Blinders had razor blades in their caps. Unfortunately, guys, this is a big old false. Contrary to popular myth, there is little evidence that they sewed razor blades into their caps, which they used to blind people with. In fact, disposable razor blades were not widely available until the early 20th century, with the cost of these

• 20:30Speaker 00

  blades at the time far too extravagant, even for the blinders. As we already said, the term blinder is Birmingham slang for basically good-looking, rather than like a literal blind-up site. Next, we have the Peaky Blinders with gypsies. This, guys, is also false. While there were Romany and traveller communities in Britain at the time, including in parts of the Midlands around Birmingham, the real Peaky Blinders were simply local Birmingham city residents, right? From neighbourhoods, like I said, such a small heath end. Cheapside, they were working-class men, with the traveller narrative

• 21:12Speaker 00

  by Stephen Knight through things like fortune-telling, mysticism and funerary practices being used for dramatic flair.

• 21:21Speaker 00

  Next, that they were war heroes. This is also false, guys. I can literally hear hearts breaking around the world. But as I said, the Peaky Blinders rose to prominence primarily in the 1880s, with most historians agreeing their influence had largely ended by around 1910, four years before the start of World War One, where Tommy Shelby is meant to have, you know, earned all of his medals from. It is almost certain, I do want to make space for the fact, that members of the Peaky Blinders did go to war, and some of them may have been heroes. But the gang was largely disbanded by that point in time, so the idea that the Peaky Blinders were, you know, headed up by these morally grey but still heroic patriotic men is pure cinema.

• 22:07Speaker 00

  Sorry. Okay, next. Were the Peaky Blinders stylish? That is very true. Yay, something that's historically accurate here. As we said, the term blinder is Birmingham slang for like, good-looking or hot or, you know, sharp. Of all the gangs at the time, the Blinders are the most famous exactly because of that. For their outfits, right? Their jackets, their caps, their shaven hairstyles, their boots, their long coats were all unusual for working-class men in Victorian Birmingham. So the fact the Peaky Blinders were dressed so sharply helped them stand out and helped them be remembered. Plus, it gives us those amazing like, slow-mo walking scenes with,

• 22:50Speaker 00

  you know, the long coats, the red right hand, just like, pure aura farming, obsessed. Next, were the Peaky Blinders involved with politics? The answer is yes, but also no. There is no historical evidence that the Peaky Blinders held any political power, influenced government decisions, worked directly with politicians, or ran political organisations like we see in the show. Basically, there were no OBE Peaky Blinders like Tommy Shelby. But.

• 23:25Speaker 00

  The expanding rights and representation of the Birmingham seat in Parliament we see in the back end of the Peaky Blinders series is accurate, right? We already spoke about this at the top. With the economic might of Birmingham's industrial wave becoming undeniable, the city was given greater power and with the expansion of education and lived in literacy rates, plus, you know, as we already said, the passing of the Representation of the People Act in 1884, extending the right to vote to the majority of working class men. We really see the Birmingham electorate dramatically increase. And the result of this was millions more men being engaged with politics, some of whom would have been Peaky Blinders,

• 24:08Speaker 00

  who wanted greater union rights or wanted certain acts not to pass. We do know that gangs like the Blinders engagement with politics was often in the form of election intimidation, standing at the front of electorates to sway voting or basically beating the shit out of certain candidates. But there was no Peaky Blinders holding a seat in Parliament, I am very sorry to say. Next, were the Peaky Blinders charitable? It's kind of the thing that makes Tommy Shelby so endearing, right? It's this like Robin Hood-esque guy who's happy to go and cut and maim someone, but then take care of his orphaned children and wife. After all, who can forget this scene? Let's have a listen.

• 24:50Speaker 01

  That is God, none of the Peaky Blinders. Mrs Sparkhill and Small Heath, we're much, much closer to God than God.

• 24:58Speaker 00

  But the truth is, there is no historical evidence that the real Peaky Blinders were charitable. Again, the men who formed these gangs were often in poverty and overcrowded housing, barely able to afford things themselves. Yes, they had their bookmaking operation, but they weren't sharing those proceeds with widows and babies, with contemporary newspapers and police reports suggesting that many residents within Birmingham at the time viewed the Peaky Blinders as troublemakers who make neighbourhoods less safe rather than protect those who need it.

• 25:32Speaker 00

  This kind of reputation of gangs being charitable throughout history really emerges from the very immediate care they gave to friends and family, or like the economy they bring to their local areas by purchasing with local vendors. But the reality is that the Birmingham gangs, including the Blinders and Willie Kimber, were not visiting orphanages to make sure their donations were being spent accordingly. Which kind of answers our last question, guys. Were the Peaky Blinders a full-blown criminal organisation making a shit-ton of cash? No. Sorry. Their poverty was well-known, like I already said, and while groups like the Birmingham Boys

• 26:14Speaker 00

  and the Sabini Gang did manage to make quite a bit of money, the Peaky Blinders were a small-time, low-profit street gang, which never managed to stretch its influence beyond Birmingham. Okay, guys, so lastly, it would be remiss of me not to deep-dive into each of the characters in the series and look at who's real and who's not. So let's start where it all begins, with the Shelby family. Were they real or not? Unfortunately, guys, and no one's heart breaks more than mine when I say this, but the Shelby's are pure fiction. However, while Killian Murphy's Tommy Shelby tragically exists only on our screens, they do have a reality in Stephen Knight's own family tree.

• 26:58Speaker 00

  Now, he revealed that both of his parents grew up in Birmingham, and his mother at eight years old was a bookie's runner. Basically, she'd carry like a washing basket down the street, people would drop their bets into the basket because the police weren't likely to arrest a child. Stephen also tells us that the Shelby's are a direct inspiration from his dad's uncles, the Sheldons, who were bookies linked directly to the Peaky Blinders. Now, he said- That his parents mythologised their lives and relatives into something that felt almost like a grand adventure, right? A game of cat and mouse with these morally grey heroes,

• 27:38Speaker 00

  which he has then taken and mythologised further with the Shelby family on the show. But as we said, Tommy Shelby is largely modelled off of one man we know for certain as a Peaky Blinder, Mr. Thomas Gilbert, with other men like Henry Faust, also living on as notorious Peaky Blinders. Next, guys, kind of an obvious one, but Winston Churchill. Yes, of course, he is a very, very real man, but he had nothing to do with the Peaky Blinders, as the show suggests. In this, he is played by a few different men, actually, including Andy Nyman, Richard

• 28:18Speaker 00

  McCabe and Neil Mascol, with Churchill's dealings with the Shelby family occurring post-World War One, after the devastating failure of his plan at the Dardanelles. Now, at this point in Churchill's life and in history, he was in fact working as military and air secretary, which is the kind of role which would manage the theft of machine guns and ammunition, which is basically like the whole plot of season one of the show. But the truth is, guys, Peaky Blinders were usurped by Billy Kimber by that point, around 1910, when Churchill was in fact only 35 years old and working as Liberal Home Secretary, well before World War One.

• 29:02Speaker 00

  So while, yes, he is a very real historical figure, he did not have anything to do with Peaky Blinders and the timelines just don't match up. Next is Billy Kimber, who, as we already said, is a real guy and possibly the biggest crime boss in England, but he is so much more than that. In fact, Billy Kimber is not only a real guy who was not killed in a street-to-street battle with the Peaky Blinders, but after the Sabini gang took over his illegal bedding operations, he became Charlie Chaplin's bodyguard, with Chaplin himself being born in a gypsy camp just outside of Birmingham.

• 29:43Speaker 00

  So Kimber gets done over by the Sabini gang and you know hits up his old mate Charlie, who historians suggest was a friend from his youth, spending time together at London's music halls and entertainment district. And guys, really Kimber is even in one of Charlie Chaplin's films. The former crime boss can be seen basically going through the background of a shot. So unlike the show, He Did Not Meet His End by Thomas Shelby's Gun, rather doing what many men of the criminal underworld never did, dying at old age from a prolonged illness. Now, speaking of the Sabini gang, let's look at its leader,

• 30:25Speaker 00

  Darby Sabini, played by Noah Taylor in the series as the Italian kingpin. Now, as we said, he was a real English criminal who clashed with Kimber and his Birmingham boys over control of racecourses for years. But before that, he was an Italian immigrant born in 1882, raised in the London areas of Clerkenwell and Soho, where communities formed around restaurants, cafes and small businesses. Now, it was here that Sabini became involved in criminal activities, starting small with petty theft and later leading the group. Again, seems to be like the entire trajectory of these kind of gang leaders. Now, under Darby Sabini, the gang expanded their remit into bookmaking, which is where he meets Mr Kimber.

• 31:09Speaker 00

  After deposing him, Sabini's gang ruled the roost throughout the 1920s, with Sabini himself being known as a tough but intelligent leader, with the nickname, the king of the racecourse. He opened nightclubs, imported goods, and had his 300-strong gang fit out with the very best protection, allegedly hiring Sicilian gunmen to join their ranks. In 1926, however, he was declared bankrupt following an unsuccessful legal battle, and with World War II eventually squashing his operation, which really relied heavily on an alliance of Italians and Jewish bookmakers. Speaking of alliances with the Jewish community at the time,

• 31:51Speaker 00

  we have to talk about Alfie Solomons, who was a real guy, albeit not with the accent and flair that Tom Hardy brings to the role. But Mr Solomons is based on a real-life gangster named Alfred Solomon.

• 32:08Speaker 00

  Now, he was the leader of the Yiddishes, the early 20th century's criminal organisation operating out of Camden Town in London. Mr Solomons himself was born around 1895 to a Russian Jewish immigrant family, running around with the Yiddishes until becoming their leader. He was arrested and later acquitted in 1921 for attempting to murder Billy Kimber. God, can that guy catch a fucking break? He then was convicted of manslaughter in 1924 after a fatal brawl involving another bookmaker, largely the inspiration for the famous Passover scene where Alfie's men beat the shit out of Arthur. Unlike Tom Hardy's charismatic theatrical Alfie,

• 32:52Speaker 00

  the real Mr Solomons was described as a terrified figure who ultimately broke the underworld's greatest code of silence by becoming a police informant. He was also generally clean-shaven and wore secular clothing, unlike the bearded orthodox-looking portrayal by Tom Hardy. Let's be real, guys. Alfie is everyone's favourite character, and for good bloody reason.

• 33:21Speaker 02

  Tommy, when a pikey walks in with hair like that, you've got to ask yourself, have I made a mistake? Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck am I? Who the fuck is this?

• 33:29Speaker 00

  He's incredible. Alfie has a particular wonderful run-in with some Russians in the show as well. In particular, Grand Duchess Tatyana Petrovna, played by Gabe Jensen. She is forced to flee Russia after the revolution alongside her aunt and uncle, Grand Duke Leon Petrovich Romanov and Grand Duchess Isabella Petrovna. Now, Tatyana is a real person, but she famously was the daughter of the Tsar who was shot and killed by Bolsheviks with the rest of her family. Although, guys, really, Tatyana is a popular Russian name and could have been any number of aristocratic women who fled. So while she may not be one, like, specific historical figure, again, if she is Tatyana Romanov,

• 34:14Speaker 00

  she was like 15 at the time and died. Um, but she really is modelled after those who were in the same position as her. Her aunt, also entirely fictional, as is her uncle, but he is largely based on Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia, who was saved by the British government with the aid of the royal family aboard the HMS Marlborough.

• 34:36Speaker 00

  The stockpiling of jewels and Faberge eggs is also historically accurate. There's that incredible scene down in the cells with Alfie and Tommy. Although the sheer volume in which the show depicts does not reflect what the majority of even the most senior imperial and aristocratic families managed to take out of Russia. You should actually listen to last week's ep if you want to know more about what happened to Therman of Fortune after their deaths. Speaking of ladies, let's keep it going with Jessie Eden. Now, she is absolutely real and responsible for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent strike of 1939. She also led 10,000 non-unionised women on a week-long strike during which she joined

• 35:19Speaker 00

  the Communist Party of Great Britain and travelled to the Soviet Union in secret, where she spent two and a half years rallying women there. However, despite her skills here, her work did very little to speed up the progress in Moscow, largely due to language difficulties. After which, she returned to Britain and she remained committed to improving conditions for working people and supporting the labour movement, dying in 1986 at 84 years old. Jessie's pretty incredible. She leaves behind a legacy as one of Birmingham's most influential labour organisers and just like a badass woman. Now, a bit of a random one and perhaps a deep cut for Peaky Blinders' stance.

• 36:02Speaker 00

  But remember when Arthur, John, Michael and Polly are about to be at the beginning of season four? And the scene goes between like them and an old guy being woken up in his dressing gown, being told that Tommy has all of this information about, you know, the king and the government, and he wants his family spared. And, you know, it's going back and forth between this scene and then Tommy wants to be made an OBE. Well, that guy's name in the dressing gown is Arthur Vigg. And he was one of the most influential figures of the 19th and 20th centuries. So, he began as an officer in the British Army before becoming private secretary to Queen Victoria.

• 36:43Speaker 00

  He then left her employ to join British troops in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, serving for a year before being recalled by Queen Victoria, he was like so good at his job as a royal handler, that he later went on to also become private secretary to King George V, British King during World War I. So, while his role in Peaky Blinders is small, big is actually among like the more notable historical figures in the series. Now, what about Sir Oswald and Diana Mosley? Now, they were both real figures, both of whom were actively involved with the fascist party in Britain and considered close with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party itself.

• 37:29Speaker 00

  So Oswald was the founder and leader of the British Union of Fascists and during World War II, he was detained due to his position being considered a threat to national security during the war. His wife, Diana, played by Amber Anderson brilliantly, if I may add, was not only an in-real-life fascist, but a member of the famed aristocratic Mitford family. Her sister, Unity, was ingrained in Hitler's inner circle, with the Fuhrer referring to Diana as his angel, even attending her and Oswald's wedding. She was also interned during the war with declassified MI5 documents

• 38:09Speaker 00

  showing that the government considered her an even greater threat than her husband. So that's it, guys. The real Peaky Blinders do not hold a single flame to the Shelby family, but their notoriety and style earned them great levels of attention before Tommy, Arthur, Ada and Polly were even a thought. And whilst their power faded with time, their namesakes now live on across both TV and, as of today, guys, film.

• 38:41Speaker 00

  I am so excited to go and watch Peaky Blinders The Immortal Man on Netflix tonight. If you too are watching, please DM me your thoughts after. I'm desperate to hear and discuss. I may even drop a surprise review episode in your feeds, who knows? But what I do know for certain is that we will be back next Friday. Because we are going to finally chat about the most important iconic and tragic couple of the 1990s. Carolyn Berset and John F Kennedy Jr. Now, Love Story, the show by Ryan Murphy about the famed couple, has been out for weeks and I have been itching to cover the real history for you guys.

• 39:27Speaker 00

  But I wanted to do so when the finale was out, when I've, you know, consumed the full, the full like series. Um, so next week is the final episode and the pod will be out for you that morning. So you can continue the CBK JFK journey before I then drop my review of the entire series in a bonus episode for you guys a few days after that. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. Thank you so much for following along with me on this episode. If you are looking for some more hot history, then you can always follow us on Instagram at Hot History Club and on TikTok at Hot dot history.

• 40:08Speaker 00

  It has been a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and I will speak to you all next Friday. Thanks, guys. Love you. Bye.