While I think Chrisrob has a good point about middle schools, they are not widely available as an option. I would suggest Milo that if you love History you might find its current status in most secondary schools very depressing - being dropped like mad at GCSE, crummy schemes of work dictated by DCFS and down to one lesson a week in year 9. On the other hand, in the primary school environment you have more flexibilty about how you teach, and your langage skills will be greatly appreciated as MFL is now compulsory in primary schools.
As you have observed, there are now many negative behavioural issues in secondary schools - I am not saying these are the fault of these schools, but circumstances are conspiring to turn young people off in KS3 / KS4. I would give primary teaching a go if I were you.