8 Entertaining History Shows on YouTube That You Should Subscribe To
Brought to you by SeriesoftheWeek.com — all the best web series in one place
I’m a huge history nerd, and I’ve always been a fan of history shows, films, books, and documentaries. There is a ton of history-related content on YouTube to choose from as well, and today we’re focused on highlighting eight excellent shows that will not just teach you who did what and where in the past, but make it exciting and entertain for you to watch.
The Great War
The Great War is one of the best, if not the best history show on YouTube. The show’s host Indy Neidell takes us through the history of World War One week by week, as if it were happening today. In addition to keeping viewers up to date with weekly events in the war from all theaters of battle, The Great War also has special episodes dedicated to prominent individuals, weapons, tactics, countries, and mustaches of World War One.
Its History
A sister channel to The Great War, It’s History takes you on a journey through a single topic per season with subjects like The Cold War, The Industrial Revolution, Chinese History, and more. Sadly I don’t believe the channel is producing more content, but it is still worth watching for its…historical value.
Epic History TV
Epic History TV brings you history’s most dramatic and awesome events, from giant conflicts like World War One to the epic history of nations such as Russia, to the true story behind legends like Blackbeard the pirate using animated maps, images and carefully researched scripts.
Feature History
Feature History tackles some less-well know and obscure topics in history such as the Emu War, Chechen Wars, and the Opium Wars. With some solid animation & Aussie narration, these 10min videos could teach you something.
Simple History
Simple History is one of the few history channels out there that is aimed at a younger audience, but is enjoyable by all. Creator Daniel Turner explores what it was like to be in the trenches of the First World War, a plundering pirate of the Caribbean or a factory worker in the Industrial Revolution through many excellent animated videos.
Extra Credits — Extra History
Extra Credits is a channel that is normally about video game design, however the creators have recently branched out to create some interesting history lessons for their audience. You’ll find playlists on some common topics like WW1, but they also feature areas of history that you may not have heard as much about such as the Punic Wars & the Zulu Empire.
Crash Course — World History & US History
Crash Course probably has the most well known history shows on YouTube, which are produced by the prolific YouTube creators John and Hank Green. Each episode is focused on a different time period and/or region, and they manage to squeeze in a lot of information into each episode (by talking kind of fast). Crash Course covers a number of topics that align with common school lessons, though they have two main history shows — one on world history, and one focused solely on the history of the US.
The School of Life — The Curriculum
This history show is a bit different than the others — rather than covering people, places, and wars, The Curriculum focuses on the history of ideas, religion, manners, & rituals. Even art history had to start somewhere.
SeriesoftheWeek.com is the one place where you can discover and watch all the best shows and web series from across the internet.
Discover even more great shows by following us here on Medium, on Facebook, or on Twitter!
