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

HLV
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History's Living Voices is the ultimate, immersive history podcast that delivers firsthand, first-person historical accounts direct 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 helmet, guiding you through the troop positions in an ancient manuscript, his words grounded in actual historical records—like a weathered document sealed with a critical year, such as '1776'. From the front lines of global wars to the breakthroughs of visionaries, hear exactly what it felt like to be in the room where it happened. Perfect for fans of documentary storytelling and historical deep-dives who crave authenticity. If you want to know what it truly felt like to live through the moments that forged modernity, this is your journey. Hit follow to listen to the people who wrote the real story of humanity.

  1. 27m ago

    First Japanese Visitor to USA Describes American Life // 1860 Tokugawa Embassy // Primary Source

    Get your free trial of MagellanTV here: https://try.magellantv.com/voicesofthepast. It's an exclusive offer for our viewers: an extended, month-long trial, FREE. MagellanTV is a new kind of streaming service run by filmmakers with 2,000+ documentaries! Check out our personal recommendation and MagellanTV’s exclusive playlists: https://www.magellantv.com/explore/history ------------------------------------------- Here we have an extract from the autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi, famed Japanese reformer and a member of the first Japanese embassy to The United States after 200+ years of isolation. Extract from The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi translated by Eiichi Kiyooka, 1934 edition. If this channel is something you like, if you think saving primary sources is important, head over to the patreon and join up! https://www.patreon.com/voicesofthepast — Don’t forget to subscribe to my brother's channel History Time, where he makes full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — Music courtesy of:- - Epidemic Sound — Voice actor & editor:- David Kelly We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Thanks to: By World Imaging (talk) - Own work, photographed at Japan Currency Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9665770 Fumiya Fujihara / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) TANAKA Juuyoh (%u7530%u4E2D%u5341%u6D0B) / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) army.arch Mare Island Naval Shipyard, CA Hospital Historic Photo 1920s Cliff 3rd Floor Smithsonian American Art Museum Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 32m ago

    First-Hand Account of the Destruction of Pompeii // Pliny The Younger, Primary Source

    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 accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images. — Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future. — Don’t forget to subscribe to our other channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime. —Join our community on social media:- Twitter:- https://twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK/ Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial/ Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/historytime_ig/ — Music courtesy of:- - Epidemic Sound — Voice actor & editor:- David Kelly Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you. We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Thanks to: MapMaster [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  3. 1h ago

    The Death of Nero // Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars 121 AD // Roman Primary Source

    Following on from our video on Nero's treatment of the Christians, here we have Suetonius' vivid description of his despairing last moments. Infamous throughout history and vilified by many, the archetypal megalomaniac Nero finally met his end on the 9th of June 68 AD, after fleeing Rome following a revolt by his governors. 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 images. — Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future. — Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month & help keep this project going:- https://www.patreon.com/historytimeUK — Don’t forget to subscribe to our primary channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — History Time is now a podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts from. —Join our community on social media:- Twitter:- https://twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK/ Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial/ Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/historytime_ig/ — Music courtesy of:- - Epidemic Sound - Joss Edwards Music:- https://soundcloud.com/jossedwardsmusic — Voice actor & editor:- David Kelly We've compiled a reading list of our favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. If you do choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information then Amazon will send us a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as you do it through the link) (this means more and better content in the future) I'll keep adding to and updating the list as time goes on:- https://www.amazon.com/shop/historytime Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you. We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. 1h ago

    Herodotus on the Edge of the World // 440 BC // Ancient Greek Primary Source

    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 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 images. — Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future. — Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month & help keep this project going:- https://www.patreon.com/historytimeUK — Don’t forget to subscribe to our primary channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — History Time is now a podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts from. —Join our community on social media:- Twitter:- https://twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK/ Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial/ Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/historytime_ig/ — Music courtesy of:- - Epidemic Sound - Joss Edwards Music:- https://soundcloud.com/jossedwardsmusic Kevin MacLeod — Voice actor & editor:- David Kelly Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you. We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. 2h ago

    Charlemagne's Letter to Offa // Frankish Primary Source (796)

    In 796 the Frankish & Mercian kingdoms were two of the most powerful states in Western Europe. 100 years later they barely clung on to existence against an onslaught of Vikings. This miraculously surviving letter from Charlemagne to Offa of Mercia sheds light on the often neglected time of prosperity just before the coming of the Norsemen. Watch what happened next over on my main channel History Time:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfGRuWTV_rg&t=2265s —Join the History Time community on social media:- Facebook Page:- https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial/ Facebook Group:- https://www.facebook.com/groups/410224606007519/ Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/historytime_ig/ Twitter:- https://twitter.com/HistoryTimePete Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  6. 2h ago

    Mongol Perspective On Conquering The World (1206 - 1228) Veiled History Of The Mongols

    Play War and Order today: https://bit.ly/3P4xNpv  You can redeem rewards using "VoicesofthePast' be quick though, it's only valid until 17th June 2022 and for new players only. ------------------ Extract taken from Igor De Rachewiltz's superb translation of The Secret History of the Mongols published by Brill: https://brill.com/view/title/17746 Edited by our new editor Manuel Rubio. Lots of amazing stuff coming from him. Get excited. Art by the fantastic Alex Stoica. Thanks for watching.​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Mongol Perspective On Conquering The World (1206 - 1228) Veiled History Of The Mongols

  7. 3h ago

    Marco Polo Describes the Mongols // 13th cent. Primary Source

    Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Go to Squarespace.com for a free trial and when you’re ready to launch, go to http://squarespace.com/voices and add code “VOICES" at checkout to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. ------------------------------------------------- Here we have the famous explorer Marco Polo describing the Mongols as he knew them, under the great Kublai Khan. Taken from the translation by Henry Yule. Video actor and editor: David Kelly If this channel is something you like, if you think saving primary sources is important, head over to the patreon and join up! https://www.patreon.com/voicesofthepast — Don’t forget to subscribe to my brother's channel History Time, where he makes full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — Music courtesy of:- Epidemic Sound Artlist.io We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Thanks to: Date 25 June 2019 Source Own work Author KoizumiBS By Chinneeb - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18793938 By Khiruge - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35549943 By SY - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61617380 By Shizhao - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5879422 By Angus Cepka - Photo taken by Angus Cepka, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4167062 By gongfu_king - DSCN0069, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7234520 By PHGCOM - Own work, photographed at Tokyo Currency Museum, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9520436 Globegroup1 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  8. 3h ago

    Japan and the West: The Initial 500 Years // Japanese History Documentary (1298 - 1854)

    00:00 Introduction (1853) 06:57 Marco Polo and the Land of Endless Gold (1298) 11:15 First Contact (1543) 16:04 Arrival of the One God 21:03 The English Arrive (1604) 28:04 Japanese Travellers (1614) 32:50 A Closed Country? (1639) 37:26 The Dutch Take Advantage 41:06 Studying the West (1709) 47:06 Russia (1791) 50:57 The Napoleonic Conflict Reaches Japan (1808) 56:09 Planning for When Written by Thomas Lockley Edited, script edited and narrated by David Kelly Art by Matthew Cartwright Check out Thomas Lockley´s fantastic book: https://www.amazon.com/African-Samurai-Yasuke-Legendary-Warrior/dp/1335141022 Citations and sources: Aizawa Seishisai: H. Paul Varley (2000). Japanese Culture, 4th Edition. University of Hawai'i Press; Updated and Exp edition (2000). The Travels of Marco Polo (1298) https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo Tanegashima: The Arrival of Europe in Japan Olof G. Lidin NIAS Press, 2002 The life and letters of St. Francis Xavier by Coleridge, Henry James, 1822-1893 Toyotomi Hideyoshi quote: Japan: A Documentary History: The Dawn of History to the Late Tokugawa Period, edited by David J. Lu (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997) pg 196-197 Memorials of the Empire of Japon in the xvi and xvii Centuries, ed. with notes by T. Rundell. London: Hakluyt Society. 1850. Part II. The Letters of William Adams 1611 to 1617. Pages 17 – 88 Japanese travellers in sixteenth-century Europe. A dialogue concerning the mission of the Japanese ambassadors to the Roman curia (1590). Edited by Derek Massarella and translated by J. F. Moran. (The Hakluyt Society. Ser. 3, 25.) Colloquium IX Anthony Farrington The English Factory in Japan, 1613-1623 The Invention of Religion in Japan Jason Ananda Josephson Storm University of Chicago Press, Oct 3, 2012 (Quotes from extract of Arai Hakuseki, Tidings from the West) Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 2 1985, Japanese Interpretation of the American Revolution (Tadashi Aruga) pg. 6 If this channel is something you like, if you think saving primary sources is important, head over to the patreon and join up! https://www.patreon.com/voicesofthepast — Don’t forget to subscribe to my brother's channel History Time, where he makes full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — Music courtesy of: Epidemic Sound Artlist.io We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit. Image credits: By Bernard Gagnon - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5685041 By User:20nana75 - Image:H2A11001.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2729994 By Loco Steve - Flickr: 039;Sir Walter Raleigh039; Statue Greenwich London, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31311627 By Mccapra - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75749994 By Mccapra - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75749995 Muyo（会話） - アップロード者自身が撮影, CC 表示-継承 3.0, https://ja.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3545508による By antmoose - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27929344 By Justin Vidamo - Flickr: Sunset at Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya, Thailand, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24954594 By Bourrichon (atelier graphique), CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76729079 By 663highland - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6988118 By Bruno Cordioli - Shunga Arte ed eros in Giappone nel periodo Edo, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8163109 By Stephencdickson - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72939415 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Japan and the West: The Initial 500 Years // Japanese History Documentary (1298 - 1854)
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About

History's Living Voices is the ultimate, immersive history podcast that delivers firsthand, first-person historical accounts direct 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 helmet, guiding you through the troop positions in an ancient manuscript, his words grounded in actual historical records—like a weathered document sealed with a critical year, such as '1776'. From the front lines of global wars to the breakthroughs of visionaries, hear exactly what it felt like to be in the room where it happened. Perfect for fans of documentary storytelling and historical deep-dives who crave authenticity. If you want to know what it truly felt like to live through the moments that forged modernity, this is your journey. Hit follow to listen to the people who wrote the real story of humanity.

Information

  • Creator
    HLV
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    147