Spy, hero, rebel, traitor: the story of Roger Casement

From a celebrated knight of the British Empire to a condemned traitor, the story of Irish diplomat and nationalist Roger Casemont is a complex one that has been told from many angles in the more than a century since his death. In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Eleanor Evans is joined by Rory Carroll, a correspondent for The Guardian, and the author of A Rebel and a Traitor, a new book on casement and the rebellion often known as the 1916 Easter Rising. It's wonderful to be talking to you today about your book, A Rebel and a Traitor. And the rebel and traitor, both of those in question, is Sir Roger Caseman. I wonder if we can start the story of today's episode by introducing this figure to us, his career as part of the British imperial machine.

And in 1914, 1915, where do we find him in your story? Roger Caseman, one of the most intriguing figures in Irish history. And I grew up in Dublin and I remember in our school books, you know, he would appear as this kind of almost will of the wisp figure, a kind of very noble, yet with a hint of scandal. And he's always he didn't quite fit the template of the other Irish rebel leaders.

And so it's always this kind of vaporous smoke about him. And this happened when I was as a foreign correspondent for The Guardian. I was, you know, at different postings, I was in Africa and Casement's imperial career as a as a consul, as a consul for the British government. I mean, he was still remembered in Congo for his work there exposing human rights abuses in the 1890s.

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