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PODCAST

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who Lived It

History"s Living Voicesis the ultimate, immersive history podcast that delivers firsthand, first-person historical accountsdirect from the source. In every episode, we cut out the middleman and go straight to the primary documents: personal diaries, battlefield maps with handwritten orders, private letters, and last-will-and-testaments. Through these authentic, unfiltered voices, discover the true human behind the legend. Imagine a seasoned medieval knight storyteller, having just removed his

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All Episodes

5:00

Letter from Güyük Khan to Pope Innocent IV // 1246...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/17

A letter from a distant land. In 1246 Güyük Khan came to power in a lavish ceremony attended by many foreign dignitaries - something unthinkable for a Khan but two generations earlier. But in that short space of time the Khanate had expanded voraciously, consuming kingdoms and spitting out corpses at a record-breaking rate. Word of the glory and horrors of the kingdom had spread as far west as the Vatican, and the ears of the then Pope, Innocent IV. Franciscan friar John Of Plano Carpini was

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39:00

The Magna Carta (1215)

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/16

One of the most famous of all medieval texts. Magna Carta Libertatum (Medieval Latin for "the Great Charter of the Liberties"), commonly called Magna Carta, is a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England on 15 June 1215 after intense civil unrest within the kingdom. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to

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8:26

Adam of Bremen on Jutland // German Primary Source...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/15

Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (Medieval Latin for "Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg") is a historical treatise written between 1073 and 1076 by Adam of Bremen, 11th Century German writer. It is a history of the see of Hamburg and of Christian missions in northern Europe from the late eighth to the late eleventh century and is the primary source of our knowledge of the history, geography, and ethnography of the Scandinavian and Baltic regions and their peoples before the thirteenth

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12:05

The Story of Spartacus (73 - 71 BC) // As told by...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/14

A Roman account of a legendary rebellion. Differing accounts relay us his origins; supposedly born in Thrace (modern day Bulgaria) to a tribe called the Maedi, legendary Gladiator-cum-general Sparcatus was captured and enslaved some time before 73 BC. A heavyweight gladiator; he, along with around seventy other slaves threw off their chains and raised an army - roaming across Italy for three long years and entering into Roman legend. This is the Greco-Roman historian Appian's version of that

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3:50

The Tsunami of 365 // Ammianus Marcellinus // Roman...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/13

An ancient disaster.Here we have Marcellus Ammianus' account of the tsunami that followed the great earthquake of 365 in Crete. Still commemorated in Alexandria three centuries on as a "day of horror", the tsunami devastated the coastline of the southern Mediterranean, across Libya and Egypt. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do

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6:15

Baghdad under the Abbasids // Yaqut 1000 AD // Arabic...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/12

Here we have an account to echo History Time's upcoming video - a description of the wonders of Baghdad at the turn of the first millennium, under its Abbasid rulers. The first city to hit one million inhabitants, at the time Baghdad was the world's largest - the jewel in the crown of the Islamic Golden Age. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them

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11:31

Herodotus on the Edge of the World // 440 BC //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/11

Here we have some musings from the proto-historian Herodotus in his inimitable style. Speaking to us from two and a half thousand years ago, Herodotus regales us with his knowledge of the furthest corners of that ancient world; on the very edge of his society's understanding of the time - all the way from India in the east to a little island in the cold and windy north that was an excellent source of tin... How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to

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6:55

Leif Erikson discovers America // 999 AD // The Saga...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/10

As requested in our poll a few days ago, here we have some more Icelandic saga for you! Though not supposedly the first European to see America (that honour goes to Bjarni Herjólfsson), Leif Erikson is credited with being the first to make landfall on the American continent. As the saga tells it, Leif first sighted 'Vinland' (as it was later named after its supposed abundance of grapes) after being blown off course en route to spread Christianity to Greenland on behalf of Olaf Trigvasson. Located

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3:38

Trial Notes of a Slave from Judah // 549 BC //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/09

Here we have something truly ancient for you. The Neo-Babylonian king Nebachuchadnezzar II conquered Judah in 587 BC, causing massive damage and destroying the First Temple in Jerusalem. Here we have the account of a trial some thirty years later of a slave from Judah, most likely enslaved during that war, who has attempted to escape his bondage. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through

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15:03

Liutprand of Cremona meets Nikephoros II Phokas //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/08

Here we have a video heavily linked to the next History Time documentary - Liutprand of Cremona's account of his diplomatic mission to Constantinople; an effort to find a bride for his Emperor's son, Otto II of the Holy Roman Empire. Suffice to say, he and the then Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas do not see eye to eye... How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived

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5:05

A Letter from Iwo Jima // Major Charles Williamson //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/07

Here we have something a little different to our usual videos. To complement The Armchair Historian's recent video on Iwo Jima, here we present a letter from an American soldier who took part in that fateful day. This is part of a World War 2 collaboration, enjoy these videos for more content! The Armchair Historian's Battle of Iwo Jima: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fghJ1c02KQ House of History's video on the 20th July Plot: https://youtu.be/6g52o62ZHLE History House Productions' video on

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8:00

Caesar on the Druids // Roman Primary Source (58-49 BC)

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/06

This is an extract from Julius Caesar's 'Commentaries on the Gallic Wars', first published between 58 and 49 BC. In 60 BC Rome was not yet an empire, but soon it would be. The momentous events of the next decades, many of which were put into motion by the famed politician Julius Caesar, were some of the most important and formative of the Western World. We tell this story directly from the words of Caesar himself. Starting with his masterpiece ‘Commentaries on the Gallic Wars’ - first published

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4:45

Assyrian God-King Speaks of his Conquests // Ancient...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/05

In the 7th century BC the Neo-Assyrian empire was the most powerful in the known world. Stretching from the heartlands of modern day Iraq to the fertile shores of the Mediterranean, it boasted the first professional standing army in history and a foreign policy steeped in excessive cruelty and fear. This inscription from King Sennacherib, a god in his subjects' eyes, encapsulates the Assyrian propagandistic penchant for brutality and flowery violence in order to instill fear in their enemies and

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8:19

Dinner with Atilla the Hun // Priscus 448 CE //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/03

Here we have particularly special primary source describing a meeting with one of the great leaders of history - Atilla, leader of the Hunnic peoples. Priscus was a Roman diplomat from the fifth century, who took part in a diplomatic mission on behalf of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II to the court of Atilla himself. This is his story - in his words. This is part of a collaboration with nine other History Youtubers on the incredible history of the Pannonian Basin - centred on modern day

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11:04

Cortés Meets Montezuma // Cortés' letters // 8th...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/03

In the early Sixteenth Century a force of hundreds overcame an empire of millions. This is the story of one of the most momentous events of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire - the meeting of Spanish leader Hernán Cortés, an obscure career soldier from the Castilian badlands, and Montezuma, the ruler of the Aztec Triple Alliance, a man revered as a god upon earth by his millions of subjects. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the

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12:45

First-Hand Account of the Destruction of Pompeii //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/02

Here we have Pliny the Younger's account of the heroic death of his famous uncle Pliny the Elder in the chaos of a volcanic eruption, the same that flattened Pompeii - as related to the legendary Roman historian Tacitus in one of his numerous letters. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an

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9:06

Joan of Arc's Sentence // May 1431 // Primary Source

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/08/01

On the 30th May 1431 the French national heroine Saint Joan of Arc, canonised in 1920, was burnt alive at the stake for heresy under the instruction of the bishop Pierre Cauchon. She rose to prominence during her brief life for her effect on the battlefield during the Hundred Years war, and the widespread belief among the French that she was able to receive messages from the divine. Here we have notes from her trial and execution, written by Guillaume Manchon, which describe the sentencing and

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10:40

The Orkhon Inscriptions // Göktürk Primary Source //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/07/30

After the Huns, before the Mongols, the Second Turkic Qhaganate ruled the Steppe. Here we have an extract from an ancient memorial stone found in the very centre of Mongolia, The Orkon Valley. The entire inscription speaks of the legendary origins of the Turks, and gives us the first recorded example of Turkic script in history. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived

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7:19

Herodotus on The Pyramids // The Histories 440 BC //...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/07/30

Here we have 'The Father of History' Herodotus relating to us his understanding of the story of the pyramids at Giza, specifically those of Cheops (the Greek version of Khufu) and his son Chephron (Khafra). How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and

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4:13

The Behistun Inscription // Darius The Great (550 -...

History"s Living Voices: The Past, Told by Those Who... ·

2026/07/29

This is an extract from the Behistun Inscription, an inscription and large relief in three separate languages by the Persian king Darius I (the Great). Incorrectly attributed in antiquity and for many years after its creation, it was finally deciphered by the army officer Henry Rawlinson in the 19th century - and due to its trilingual nature became a keystone in the decipherment of cuneiform. It was commissioned by Darius himself, and acts as a mini autobiography, describing his lineage and deeds

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