EpicHistoryTV

'Five Great Viking Deaths' exclusive early access!

YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/STK4GBaqItk

Dear Patrons, 

I am pleased to present the world premiere of 'Five Great Viking Deaths' with Prof. Tom Shippey, I hope you enjoy! 

You'll see that I had some extra help with this one, so big thanks to my old friend Chris (camera), Milek (art), the Holy Rood Church and Tom himself. 

(Lord of the Rings fans may know that Tom is also one of ...

Vikings taster and Merry Christmas!

Dear Patrons, 

I was hoping to have 'Five Great Viking Deaths' ready for Christmas, but unfortunately, despite long hours of editing, it was not to be. I will get it to you here on Patreon in the next few days, but in the meantime, here's a little (work-in-progress) taster... 

And a very happy Christmas to you all! I hope your plans have not been too massively disrupted or ruined by Covid, and you manage to have a fun and festive break. And thank you again for supporting...

The Vikings are Coming!

Dear Patrons, 

Time to reveal a top secret project that I've been working on for the last few weeks. Later this week I'll be releasing a video that I've made in collaboration with historian Prof. Tom Shippey, whose excellent book 'Laughing Shall I Die - Lives & Death of the Great Vikings' I read in 2018, and have been wanting to make a video about ever since. 

In this video, we're going to examine five 'great deaths' from the Viking sagas, and unpack them to see what...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 4 Early Access

Terror belli, Decus pacis... 

It's that time again - the next installment of Napoleon's Marshals is available for Patreon early access right now, and I hope you enjoy it.  

Two quick things to say, which I hope will not cause too much disappointment: this episode only has 3 Marshals, not 4 as promised. That's only because I'm going into more detail about the big players, so don't worry, still plenty of history! Secondly, I always aim to provide...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 4 update!

Dear Patrons, 

A few sneak peeks at the next Napoleon's Marshals episode. This will be out on Patreon on Friday next week, and will feature four more Marshals. 

Now we're down to the last 9 it's difficult to give clues that don't seem completely obvious! But you can get 3 of the 4 from the images here. The last will remain a mystery for now...

I hope you all have a good weekend, and thank you again for your support! 

Toby

Poll Result!

We have a clear winner from our latest poll - HMS Victory! 

I'll be working with Simon from HistoryRebuilt.com to create a unique guide to the famous British warship. It will be an interesting challenge, and a great opportunity to talk about the naval dimension of the Napoleonic Wars. I've also just finished the audiobook version of Patrick O'Bryan's Post Captain, so I'm already in a nautical frame of mind..

There will be a few technical challenges to get to grips wi...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 3 Early Access!

Here it is, exclusive ad-free early access to the next installment of Napoleon's Marshals. This 30 minute episode covers four more heavyweights of the French army, including one whose relatively low ranking may raise a few eyebrows... he's a bit of a legend, but I won't spoil the surprise. (Watch video before looking at comments to avoid spoilers!) 

Our rankings seem to have been uncontroversial so far, but I suspect that may end here! In any event, I hope you enjoy the ep...

Napoleon's Marshals Update!

Dear Patrons,

A quick Napoleonic update - the next instalment of Napoleon's Marshals will be out late next week, exclusively ad-free here on Patreon first. I won't say much more about it to keep our rankings a surprise, but I think this episode may cause a stir...   hopefully I won't be pelted with rotten fruit. The preview images contain a few clues - one big clue, the others slightly more cryptic. 

And also - NEW POLL TOMORROW! 

I've be...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 2 early access!

EDIT: link to Napoleon's Marshals Part 2 on Youtube. 

Dear Patrons, 

I'm very pleased to present Napoleon's Marshals Part 2 - ad-free early access exclusively for Patreon supporters!

This episode covers 5 marshals, but in my opinion these are 3 or 4 of the most interesting (and controversial) of all, so I go into a fair amount of biographical detail, with many anecdotes and details from Revolution...

Napoleon's Marshals Update

Dear Patrons, 

A quick update on the Napoleon's Marshals series - Part 2 will be ready late next week, and you'll be first to see it here on Patreon. 

The series has become slightly larger than originally planned! This is because there are so many interesting facts connected with each Marshal, and I'm finding it difficult to leave any of them out. I hope most of you will relish this level of detail, and apologies to anyone who feels they've already had enough Na...

YouTube link for 'How to Build the Perfect Castle'

Dear Patrons, 

I know some of you prefer to watch the new videos on YouTube, so here's a private link to the latest castles video. Please don't share this link until after the video goes live on Friday. Enjoy! 

Cheers, 

Toby

How to Build the Perfect Castle early access

Dear Patrons, 

Here it is, Epic History TV's guide on how to build the perfect castle! I hope you enjoy it and find it informative. I was able to use my dad as a script consultant for this one, as he was a historical architect with English Heritage for many years (and looked after several famous sites, including Dover Castle). 

Big thanks to Simon of HistoryRebuilt.com, who created the brilliant 3D model and animations. This is the sort of collaboration made possible by ...

Exclusive Castles sneak-peek...

Dear Patrons, 

I'm very pleased and excited to share some first looks at the upcoming Castles video with you. As usual you are the first people anywhere to see this stuff. This video is a 'how to...' guide on building the perfect castle - should any of you ever find yourself needing to consolidate hold of your feudal fiefdom! 

The centrepiece of the video is a brilliant and evolving 3D model of a castle, created by Simon Edwards of Historyrebuilt.com. This allows us to c...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 1 YouTube link

Hello patrons!

Thank you for the many kind comments about the first Napoleon's Marshals video, and special thanks to the several patrons who pointed out typos and other errors in the video, which have now all been fixed. I know some of you prefer a YouTube link which I can now share here. Please keep this link under your hats until tomorrow when the video goes live. 

The next video is going to be our guide t...

Napoleon's Marshals Part 1 - Patreon Early Access

Dear Patrons, 

I'm very pleased to share with you the first (ad-free) instalment of the Napoleon's Marshals, er.. series? Well, as you will see, what was supposed to be a quick video ranking all 26 Marshals has become something a bit bigger: mini-biographies of every Marshal, with what I hope you'll think are some interesting details along the way. 

In this episode, for example, you'll find out what's inscribed on every French Marshal's baton; which Marshal was friends w...

Napoleon's Marshals update

A few little sneak peeks at the next video - all 26 Marshals neatly lined up, plus 12 generals who get a special mention in the introduction - examples of men who didn't  make it to Marshal during Napoleon's reign. Incredibly, more than 2,000 generals served in the French armies in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Obviously most were French, but there were also Swiss, Dutch, German, Italian, and Polish generals and even two Americans, one Greek and one Venezuelan! 

I've ...

A tiny Marshals preview.. and new EHTV merch!

Dear Patrons,

A  quick update from me - work has begun on the Napoleonic Marshals video, and most importantly, our ranking of all 26 Marshals has been finalised! There are only two people in the world who currently know this important secret - myself, and Lieut.Col Rémy Porte. We will not be sharing it with anyone until all videos are finished, but you'll be first to find out here on Patreon. (Although it would be a good guess that Marshal Pérignon, featured in the screenshot, co...

Latest addition to the Napoleonic side-table...

A mini-update to show off my ever-expanding collection of Napoleonic books. 'Napoleon's Marshals' is the newest addition, and is the most comprehensive account in English of the 26 'big hats' (as the Marshals were nicknamed by young officers), so will serve me well for the upcoming videos. I have also recruited Lieut Col Rémy Porte to serve as historical consultant, and keep an eye on my English bias! He is a former French Army officer, and military historian with the Service historique de l...

Napoleon rides again...

We have a decisive poll winner... 'more Napoleon!' 

I'll be starting work soon on 'Napoleon's Marshals - Ranked!', followed by a similar treatment for his top 20 enemies, and then the Vitoria campaign. At the same time I'll be  working on the Castles, Salamis and Apollo projects, as mentioned in the  production update. 

Thank you to all those who participated. I hope you enjoyed the process. For those who voted for other options, I can promise you there'll be a...

'Napoleon: Endgame' France 1814

I know some of you prefer to watch the new videos on YouTube, so here is the link... Enjoy! 

Big Production Update and News on the Next Poll!

Dear Patrons, 

First I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's posted such kind comments about the 'Napoleon: Endgame' video. It's great to hear how much you've enjoyed it, and I hope most of you feel it was a fitting culmination to our Napoleonic Wars series, which has now been 2 years in the making! And also a big welcome to all the new Patrons who've recently signed up to support the channel - thank you!

I'll get straight to what most of you want to hear about, the next ...

Napoleon Endgame: France 1814 Early Access!

Dear Patrons, 

Hot-off-the-press, here's the new episode of the Napoleonic Wars series. The final audio mix was completed literally minutes ago, and you are the first people anywhere to see this apart from me, so looking forward to your thoughts and feedback. It's another big episode, more than 30 minutes long, and though there's no featured battle, there's plenty of operational strategy and history packed into it.

If you spot any typos or errors, please let me know! This epi...

Napoleon update!

Dear Patrons, 

I know many of you are eagerly awaiting the release of the next (last??) Napoleon video, so here's a quick update and some exclusive screenshots. This will be another 30 minute episode, covering the 1814 France campaign in detail, and tracing the movement of all the armies at the corps level. I also cover the diplomacy, betrayals and defeats that led up to Napoleon's abdication. The video will be available exclusively for Patron supporters this time next week (22 May...

France 1814 sneak peeks!

Dear Patrons, 

I hope everyone is keeping safe and sane amid the current crisis. Work continues here on the final (?) installment of the Napoleonic Series - Napoleon's 1814 campaign in France. There's a lot of detail in this one - both diplomatic and military - which I hope you'll enjoy. Here's a few sneak previews... This episode is still a few weeks away from completion, but hope to have it ready for Patreon early access by middle of May. 

Thank you again for your amaz...

Quick Napoleon update and map poll

Dear Patrons, 

I hope you are all safe and well during this strange and difficult time. It's not always ideal to be living through history..

Here work continues on the final episode of our Napoleonic Wars series: the French campaign of 1814, which many regard as Napoleon's finest. 

In what may prove a controversial decision (!), I won't be focusing on a single battle, but will attempt to cover the whole campaign in detail at the operational level. (This is where it...

Leipzig 1813: Battle of the Nations early access!

Here it is, the long-time-coming next video in the Napoleonic Wars series. This is probably the longest and most complex one so far - four days of battle, nearly half a million troops, seventeen music tracks... Here's what it looks like in the editing software, for those interested in such things... 

I think I'm also right in saying - this is the most detailed English-language video about ...

Snap Poll - orders-of-battle...

Hello all, 

Your thoughts please - which visual look do you prefer for the orders-of-battle? Old paper...

... or white on black?

You have less than 24 hours to vote! Whichever wins will be the look for the next video.

I'm now in the final phases of the Battle of the Nations, just...

Epic History TV's 5th Birthday!

Five years ago today Epic History TV sprung into existence as a YouTube channel, with 0 videos, 0 views and 0 subscribers. It was a bit of an experiment, a place for me to make  videos about the kind of history I loved in between my usual TV work. Now Epic History TV is my full-time job, and the channel has nearly 50 videos, 48 million views and more than 600,000 subscribers from around the world. 

None of this would have been possible without the help of my Patreon supporters...

Battle of the Nations - work-in-progress shots

Here's a few behind-the-scenes shots from the Battle of Leipzig video that I thought you might enjoy. There's some cool artwork from Osprey (Young Guard vs Russian jaegers in Golden-Gössa), an overview of the battlefield at end of Day 1 (all work-in-progress), my order-of-battle notes and a screenshot showing troop movements in the editing software, which gives you a sense of the scale and complexity of the battle! (Blücher's Army of Silesia in green at the top, French troops in blue and Sc...

Battle of the Nations early screenshots...

A few very early sneak peeks at the upcoming Battle of the Nations video. As you can see, Napoleon has got himself in a corner... For those that don't know, Leipzig, aka the Battle of the Nations, was the largest battle fought in Europe before the world wars. It was roughly FIVE TIMES the size of Austerlitz! And for that reason, this video may take a little longer to produce... Your patience is much appreciated, and I hope it will be worth the wait. More updates soon, and thank you for suppor...