Hardcore History

[Fearvich]

I'm sorry ahead of time.

A reporter named Dan Carlin does a podcast every few months called 'Hardcore History.' While he is not a historian, it truly seems he tries to deliver very accurate information, with some pazaaz. This guy makes history SO INTERESTING AND INTENSE. He mostly focuses on military history. He's done several epic show series including the fall of the Roman Empire. (12+ hours on it) All chronologically. Love Mongolians? Want to learn their amazing history for 6-8 hours? Wanted the facts about Hannibal's assault on Rome (Though it was more about separating Rome from it's Italian allies)? Punic wars are for you. Interested in WW1? The series he is currently working on 'Blueprint for Armageddon' is in the process of covering it.

I cannot stress how great his show is. I wasn't particularly interested in history until I started listening to it. He keeps a rolling list of free shows, and the ones you have to pay for are 1.00-3.00 USD.

http://dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

I suggested starting 'The Wrath of the Khans.' It is by far my favorite, and still free! The reason why I'm sorry is... he takes 4-6 months for new episodes of hardcore history to come out. SUCH A LONG WAIT.

[Lord_Bernie_of_Voodoo]

I listen to him weekly, almost daily at work when I can - Dan is indeed the man. I just finished his Mongol series and am really looking forward to "Blueprint for Armageddon IV." To agree/support your point, Dan really does make his whole podcast extremely interesting if you're a history fan. I'm planning on buying his Roman/Caesar podcasts within the next few days.

His knowledge on both history and how to present it is really impressive. He claims to read about 30- 50 different sources and books on the topic between each recording.

[Torost]

Dan Carlin is great!

I have burned thru all the HH podcasts while playing crpg.
Just turn that music and repetative sounds off, and let Dan the Man expand you mind.

[Sandersson Jankins]

Oh fuck yeah, I'm gonna have to check out his WW1 shit. Great find, m8.

[Angantyr]

Alright, I had my usual scepticism for anything remotely pop-history at first, but decided to give this a chance.

The 'Wrath of the Khans' series was good, the 'Thor's Angels' was really good (Volkswanderung, Germanic dark age), but the 'Blueprint for Armageddon' about WWI was just amazing.

I highly recommend this podcast to anyone (Blueprint for Armageddon especially, WWI deserves more exposition), the thrill of military history that I remember from my childhood, but which at least in Scandinavian historiology has been almost completely neglected since 1945.

[Osiris]

History at school seemed to me to be mainly the world wars and everything about the Victorians etc that you could learn and avoid military history which is kinda sad to me I loved reading about the building of the Empire and battles of medieval europe etc instead we were mainly taught subjects like how they did their washing etc. no wonder people get turned off history.

Might give this guy a try

[Angantyr]

Women's movement of the 70s and war- and nationalism scare in Europe following WWII rewrote our history curriculum.

[The_Bloody_Nine]

haha, just listened to the first two minutes of blueprint for armaggeddon - anybody else thought of Tovi or murmillius?

[Angantyr]

edit: ha ha alright, just listened to it, think I mistook your meaning.

[The_Bloody_Nine]

mh, I don't know if you answered to my post. If yes: I was talking about the quote that he remembered from that author about the kennedy assassination. That people in general feel more confident about the thought that at least somebody (or a group) in charge is responsible for big things to happen, and not just random people.

[The_Bloody_Nine]

edit: ha ha alright, just listened to it, think I mistook your meaning.

 

[Angantyr]

Yes, history is out of control, for the most part. Small random events can have major historical consequences.

[Bittersteel]

That's a shame, missing out of alot of interesting stuff. The Romans, Greeks etc. Not to mention the Viking ages which I'm sure alot of young boys are gonna find interesting.

[Overdriven]

Any opportunity to learn more from outside whatever national curriculum you're in is fantastic. I know that in England we follow such a rigid pattern in history.

Year 7-9 (12-14 Years old): 1066, Norman Invasion
                                         Basic overview of Kings following that line for a bit
                                         Black Death
                                         Civil War
                                         Slave Trade
                                         Industrial Revolution
                                         Bit about WW1, very basic

Year 10-11 (15-16 Years old): WW1 and it's causes
                                            WW2 and it's causes (bit about post-war Germany)
                                            Cold War and it's causes (bit about Soviet Russia and the communist revolution)

Pretty much in that order, and it feels like that pattern hasn't really changed since our parent's generation. In England 'history' starts in 1066 AD according to our education system. Was so happy to finally step outside of those areas for Uni - I'm glad we have Stonehenge, otherwise i'm sure most people in England would forget we even had a 'prehistory'.

Pretty much my experience. However, in primary school each year my school would do a section about older history. One year was the Egyptians, one year the Romans, can't remember the others!

I always loved history and still regret not pursuing it past GCSE but back then I didn't want to do an A level in it because my god I find the Russian revolution and rise of einstein bloody boring and that was 90% of the course. Give me anything pre-20th century and I'd have found it more interesting.

Even GCSE though was bad. We covered Vietnam, civil rights movements in the US and the cold war. I always felt like it was far to US-centric for an British curriculum.

[Overdriven]

I nearly didnt take history to a-level just because it's the same WW2 and Russian revolution stuff you do at GCSE. But at the last minute my history department managed to get permission to move to a different experimental exam board that let them have more choice. When i heard we'd be studying the ending of Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxons, China under Mao and early US history i changed my mind and took it. Lucky i did or i'd have never done archaeology at uni.

Lucky bugger! I wish my department had done the same. My sister also ended up doing archaeology but she hated the Russian revolution and rise of H.itler stuff more than I would have I think.