EpicHistoryTV

New Napoleonic Wars video out now!

The next episode in the Napoleonic Wars series is out now, and sees Napoleon make a bit of a mess of things in Spain... Then the British have to perform their trademark manoeuvre - a very hasty retreat to the coast for extraction by the Royal Navy. I hope you enjoy the video and feel free to post any feedback, comments or question. 

Thank you again for supporting the channel and making these videos possible. I'll be back with an update on future videos very soon. 

Toby 2019-01-17 15:13:34 +0000 UTC View Post

New Napoleon video on the way...

A very Happy New Year to you all ! I hope you had or are still having (I'm looking at you, Orthodox church) an excellent holiday season and will have a healthy and prosperous 2019. 

I am currently working on the next Napoleonic Wars video, which covers the opening phase of the Peninsular War and focuses on the Battle of Corunna - I'm hoping it will be out in time for the 210th anniversary on 16th Jan. Here are a few exclusive work-in-progress screenshots... 

More crows.....

Venice: Rise of the Republic out now!

Dear Patrons, 

Please use the link to watch the first part of the History of Venice - the topic proposed by Mike and voted for by you, the Patreon demos! (If you can remember back that far). I hope you enjoy it. Particularly the crows, with which I'm particularly pleased. 

This is a Patreon exclusive preview until about 6pm GMT when it goes public. So don't share the link until then.. then after 6pm, go mad.

You will see exclusive codes and links from our sponsor World of...

Venice is coming...

Hello Patrons! 

Quick update from me - work is nearly finished on the new Venice video. I've decided to divide the story into two parts, because as often happens, the deeper I went into the history, the more interesting stuff I wanted to share. I also wanted to get a video out before Christmas. So Part 1 - 'Rise of the Republic' will cover the history from the founding of the city to roughly 1500. 

Animation is finished, narration is recorded, today I'm doing music and sound ef...

First sneak peek at the History of Venice...

Dear Patrons, 

The history of Venice, as of so many things, begins with the fall of Rome... Here's a Patreon-exclusive sneak peek at the new video. Apologies for the slow progress - I'm also working on a WW2 series for television at the moment which is taking up most of my time. (Working full time on Epic History TV is still not quite feasible, but you're helping me get there!) However all possible weekends and evenings are currently going into the Venice and Peninsular War videos, and I ...

Epic History TV production update!

Dear patrons, 

A quick update from me, to reassure you that despite a lack of new videos there's lots going on behind the scenes. 

I've just finished the script for the next episode of the Napoleonic Wars series, which will be 'Corunna 1809' (but covers the whole opening phase of the Peninsular War). My collaborator on this series, HistoryMarche, has limited availability at the moment so this won't be out for a few more weeks. 

In the meantime I've moved on to the wi...

Epic History TV - buy the T-shirt (or the hoodie)!

I'm very excited to announce that we've just launched our first limited edition clothing range inspired by Alexander the Great's speech at Opis! (First time anyone's written than sentence.)

I hope you like the design (courtesy of Russel, channel artist), and I've done my research to find a merchandise partner with an excellent reputation for high-quality clothing and customer service. 

This is a limited-time offer - orders must be placed before the end of October, so don't miss out!...

Worthy in the Eyes of the Gods!

Dear Patrons, 

Delighted and a bit stunned that more than 7,000 people voted for their favourite Alexander the Great quote! The clear winner was...

'Glorious in the Eyes of Men, Worthy in the Eyes of the Gods.' 

We are working right now on the design for our first T-shirt, which we'll unveil soon. In other news, research and writing is underway for the next Napoleonic Wars episode - The Peninsular War Part 1. Unfortunately this will take a bit longer than usual due to som...

Help pick an Alexander quote for the t-shirt

Hello Patrons, 

Epic History TV is finally getting into the merch game - which, in English, means that I'm going to produce a limited edition Epic History TV t-shirt - inspired by the Alexander the Great speech at Opis, designed by channel artist Russel. 

And I want your help in choosing which Alexander quote appears on the t-shirt. I'm running a YouTube poll to pick a winner - please go 2018-10-02 09:53:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Napoleonic Wars: Friedland 1807 out now!

Dear Patrons, 

The next installment of the Napoleonic Wars series is out now - I hope you enjoy it. This one covers the Emperor's 1807 campaign in Poland, with particular focus on the Battle of Friedland - one of the most crushing victories of his entire career. 

Thank you all again for your amazing support and helping to make this series possible. Next stop - the Peninsular War (then Venice!)

Toby

Work-in-progress update

Hello Patrons, and big welcome to all the new patrons who've signed up over the last couple of weeks.

A quick update from me: I'm working on the next Napoleonic Wars video, which covers the events of 1807 and focuses on the Battle of Friedland. As you can see from the screenshot, pre-unification Germany continues to be a major headache! And Napoleon was constantly redrawing its borders, which doesn't help. But the video is now nearly finished, and will be released first as a Patron exclusive n...

Napoleonic Wars : Jena 1806 out now!

Dear Patrons, 

The next installment of the Napoleonic Wars series - the Jena campaign of 1806 - is live now, with early access for Patron supporters only for the next few hours.

In this episode, Prussia's fearsome military reputation is torn to pieces by the brilliance of Napoleon and the combat skills of the Grande Armée. I'm not the first to use the term 'Napoleonic Blitzkrieg' for this campaign, but it seems an appropriate way to describe the overwhelming speed and force with wh...

'Alexander: Mutiny at Opis' out now for all Patreon supporters!

The new Alexander video is exclusively available to all Patreon supporters for the next few hours, before it goes live to the public. 

Thanks to your generous support, and the help of two very talented friends, I've been able to take a more original, bolder creative approach to this video - you'll see (and hear) that it's based around original artwork by Russel (who did the Patreon page artwork), as well as a brilliant dramatic reading of Alexander's speech by Patrick Kennedy, an old frie...

Top Secret project revealed!

Dear Patrons, 

I've been working on something behind the scenes for a few months now, which I didn't want to make public until I was sure it was going to work - and now I am... 

When I was researching the Alexander the Great series I was struck by a speech Alexander made to his mutinous troops at Opis (recorded by the Roman historian Arrian). It sums up Alexander's campaigns (though the words are almost certainly Arrian's rather than Alexander's), highlights his debt to his fat...

Exclusive early work-in-progress scenes from Jena 1806

Hello Patrons, 

I hope you are enjoying as fine weather wherever you are as we currently have in the west of England. Nevertheless I am spending most of it indoors working on the next Napoleon video - Jena 1806! A few exclusive  previews for your eyes only attached, hope you enjoy! 

<...

Napoleonic Wars Part 1: Austerlitz 1805 is here at last!

And it's still exclusive to all Patreon supporters for the next few hours, so be the first to watch it. Thanks again for all your support, I hope you enjoy the result. It's one of the longest and most ambitious videos I've made yet, covering not just the battle, but the 1805 campaign, and even the principles behind the French corps d'armee system! Next up is Jena 1806, when Napoleon turns his attention to Prussia... 

Toby

Austerlitz video sneak peeks..

Hello Patrons!

I'm very aware that the next video is taking even longer than usual to  produce, but to reassure you that behind the scenes it's all action, here are a few exclusive Patreon-only sneak peeks at the forthcoming Austerlitz video. I hope to record narration with Charles next week, then some music, sound effects and polishing... so hope to release in about 10 days.

Thank you all again for your support, and for your patience!

Toby

2018-06-08 09:52:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Napoleonic Bulletin from Epic History TV!

Hello Patrons, 

Quick update on the forthcoming Napoleonic Wars series. I'm hoping to make this the biggest, baddest EHTV series yet, with a mighty 9 episodes covering all major battles and campaigns from Leipzig to Lützen, and Badajoz to Borodino. HistoryMarche (who made the excellent Toulon siege map) is signed up, and so is Osprey Publishing (supplying more great images like the one above). Work is underway on Ep1 - Austerlitz, and I hope to have it finished in about 4/5 weeks. Sorry ...

Open Poll Finalist Poll!

Dear Patreons, 

I loved reading all your suggestions for new videos in the open poll, there were loads of great ideas and if I live to be 200 maybe I'll make them ALL. 

However, I'm not sure the poll was perfectly organised by me, and I think the only way to bring order to the madness is to now have a poll featuring the four top posts. (Unfortunately those voting for WW2 and Romans shot themselves in the foot by splitting their vote - but their time will come again). 2018-04-03 18:18:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Napoleon's First Victory: Siege of Toulon 1793 out now!

Here it is, the first episode of the new Napoleonic series, hope you enjoy, and thanks again for all your support! 

After this I'm going to take on the Napoleonic Wars from 1804 through to 1814. 

Don't forget that the open poll for the next video after this series is  running for another 24 hours! If you want to suggest a topic or vote for one proposed by a fellow Patreon, there's still time! 2018-03-31 18:28:41 +0000 UTC View Post

Napoleon update!

Hello all Patrons!

It's been a while since you've had news from me, so quick update from the Epic History TV frontline - the first episode of the Napoleonic series, the 1793 Siege of Toulon, is very nearly complete, and will be out in just over a week. It's looking great, and I've had help from an excellent new channel called HistoryMarche to create the maps, one of which you can see above. This was Napoleon's first major battle, and his success here proved crucial to his meteoric rise to powe...

New Francis Drake video out now!

My two-part video collaboration with Simple History is out now, telling the tale of the first two successful circumnavigations of the world - one led by Portugal's Ferdinand Magellan, and the other by the English...hmm... pirate? Francis Drake. 

For those who like strict chronology you may want to watch the Magellan episode on the Simple History channel first - (but they work in either order) https://www.youtu...

OPEN POLL, closing 1 April 2018

Hello all, 

This is a completely new type of poll and a bit of an experiment, so let's see what happens... 

The idea is this: you can propose any topic you like for a future video simply by posting a comment on this thread and telling us what it is, and you can vote for a topic another Patron has proposed by liking it (click ♥️ ).

TWO HOUSE RULES PLEASE:

1. Be brief in your description - you don't need to summarise the whole topic for us, just enough so we clear...

Guess who won the poll...

As the posters on my walls indicate, Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars are a subject close to my heart, so I'm pretty happy that this won the poll. (for those that didn't vote for l'Empereur, the runners up are bound to appear again in future polls.) 

I haven't planned the series in any detail yet, but it's likely to be 3 or 4 parts. I'll keep you updated on progress. And tomorrow I'll be announcing the 'open poll', where anyone can suggest anything! 

Thanks again to all of you ...

Around the world with Magellan and Drake!

Dear Patrons,

I'm pleased to reveal that the next two videos from me will be collaborations with fellow YouTube history channel Simple History. If you don't know it, it's a great channel that uses cartoon-style animations to illustrate all kinds of different bits of history. It's a really popular channel, partly because they manage the baffling feat of putting out at least one video every week! 

We're currently working together on two videos that tell the story of the first circumna...

Happy New Year from Epic History TV!

First up, I just wanted to wish you, my fantastic Patreon supporters, a very happy and fulfilling 2018. I myself am planning to devote a large chunk of the year to the channel - so more videos on more topics, and more dramatic tales from the past to entertain and inform. 

I currently have a couple of ideas in development, which I hope to be able to announce within a few days. And there will also be a vote coming up on the next major topic. I'm also planning to introduce a 'free vote' - an...

Suez Crisis Part 2 out now!

The second and final part of the Suez Crisis series is now ready to view. This part deals with the events of autumn 1956, when the British and French secretly made a plan to attack Egypt, with the help of Israel, so they could overthrow Nasser, take control of the Canal and reassert their standing in the Middle East and North Africa. It's a pretty shocking story, I find, of democratic governments lying to their legislatures, planning a war of aggression, and very badly misreading the situation o...

Suez Crisis Part 1 live now

The new video is now available to watch on YouTube, I hope you enjoy it! Part 2 is already finished and will be available for early access very soon. Thanks to you all for your support and making this series possible!

New Patreon tiers and artwork!

Hello dear Patrons, 

A good friend of mine who is pretty useful at cartoons has created some excellent artwork for the Epic History TV Patreon page. There's a new history-themed title and image for every Patron tier - I hope you like them, they made me laugh. I've also tweaked some of the rewards - basically, a lot more people will be thanked on-screen at the end of each video, but I'm getting rid of the 'wall of fame' perk - who cares about having your name on a webpage, right? Early vid...

In-Depth or Just Basic Facts?

Hello Patrons,

When I started Epic History TV a few years ago, my first idea was to create videos that make complex historical events easy to understand - short summaries that don't go into too much detail, but give viewers a good, quick overview. 

HOWEVER - after a couple of years on YouTube, I'm wondering if that's actually what most people want - perhaps they actually want MORE detail, as long as the video is still interesting and engaging. So I'm asking YOU what...