Epic History Newsletter #19

Dear Patrons,

First, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all our US patrons! We hope you had a great one.

This newsletter is packed with updates and announcements, the most obvious one being - we got a new channel trailer! ☝️ I hope you like it! You're the first to see it - we're going to launch it on the channel this weekend.

Other news...

Epic History on Spotify

We've had a few requests for this over the years, from those who prefer to get their videos via Spotify (or just want to fall asleep listening to Charles?!) Well I'm pleased to announce Epic History is now available on the platform:

https://open.spotify.com/show/3AiebW813htXx9g1BPuKQQ

We're releasing one video a week from the back catalogue - and as we're a newcomer to Spotify, any new subscribers and reviews are most welcome!

New 3D video poll

I'm delighted to say, we've got the opportunity to work with (another) very talented 3D VFX artist in the next few months. And we need your help to pick a video topic! So if you're Citizen tier or above, look out for a new Patreon poll next week.

Soundtrack poll results

Thank you to all those who suggested EH soundtracks for release on Patreon. Winners are 'The Battle of Marengo', 'The Battle of the Nile', and 'World War One', which we'll release to the Lords and Ladies tier over the coming days.

Other production news

WORLD WAR TWO

The big news here is that Professor Richard Overy is signed up to be our series consultant. Richard is one of the UK's foremost WW2 historians, and has published many great books on the conflict. His most recent, Blood and Ruins, has had a big influence on the opening sections of the series!

The other news is that we're going to be spending more time in the 1930s than originally planned - in fact, Episode 1 covers 1931 - 34. For the simple reason, the context and motives of WW2 are unintelligible without it. And here's a sneak peek at an early test map...

RISE OF CHINA

As you can see, we're not shying away from the big topics! This series has been a long time in the research, writing and planning - but I'm pleased to say we are now well into the animation, and Episode 1's looking great. We may have something for you before Christmas..

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

No previews to share with you yet, but our first scripts have been approved by Professor Frank Cogliano, which means we are ready to get editing. Updates soon.

BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR

David - our 3D naval maestro - is constantly being sent to Hong Kong to work on prestigious VFX jobs, which has unfortunately delayed release of the third and final (?) episode of Nelson's Battles in 3D. But we hope to have this for you in January.

One Cool History Thing

After James's epic account of his visit to Pennsylvania in the last newsletter, something a bit more modest from me. This may look like just a hill in the woods to you...

... but it is in fact Randwick Wood Long Barrow. Many of you will know the sinister barrows and barrow-wights from The Lord of the Rings, and of course Tolkien was heavily influenced by historical remains and myths that surrounded him in England. This particular barrow is probably about five THOUSAND years old - older than Troy, older than the Pyramids - and was probably a burial place for local Neolithic farming communities. There are barrows scattered absolutely everywhere in England - there is said to be at least one barrow in every parish, and often more. So, maybe not much to look at, but IMHO, a mysterious and fascinating link to the deep past...

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That's all for this week, but plenty to look forward to as you can see! Thanks as always for your continued support.

Toby