Why I'm Passionate about HISTORY and What Got Me Into it 

*Sorry.* I want to say I’m sorry to all of you. I’ve been struggling to reply to a lot of comments in recent videos and I feel guilty for not replying to each and every one of you. I’m simply overwhelmed by the volume of them. Just know this - I do read _every_ single comment. So I absolutely get your message even if I don’t reply to you. I’m not ignoring you, I just have to be selective. I’ll be around for a few hours after this video releases, so be sure to comment and I’ll try get back to you asap. My time is limited (who’s isn’t?). Working a full-time job and these videos - it feels as though I have two full-time jobs. But I’m determined to bring you videos every Monday, and I’m working very hard behind the scenes on Battlestorm Operation Crusader, and videos on Stalingrad (including the BIG one), and others. And I want to do more. I am grateful to every single one of you who have watched my videos, even if you’re critical of them! Whether you agree or disagree, like or hate me, I hope you all can relate to my goals expressed in the video. My ‘agenda’ is to simply learn from the lessons of history. Having a bias towards a certain country or person or language is not ideal, and I’m fully aware of my biases (do you know yours?) and I want to work on them. I keep one eye on my biases at all times, questioning if I’m letting them affect my judgement. This is why my next big task is to learn German, which is actually the next goal on Patreon. If I get more support, I’ll hire a tutor and get practicing properly. Then I want to learn Russian. And then I want to dive into the sources in those languages. And I want to go to the next step, and then to the one after that, until eventually I really can give you something that currently no other channel on RU-vid brings - the full perspective of WW2! This is perhaps ambitious, but it’s not impossible. I’m determined to work hard, and I want us all to grow and learn together. Thanks for watching. Let me know what got you into history and why you’re still into it. I want to hear your story, and know your history! Cheers! :)

I wish u were my History teacher.

Impressive. You'd be wasted in a University, even though they need people like you so badly.

Truth, and humility and self improvement ... impressive!

I was 10 years old when I read an article about Estonia independence war, from that general interest for history started for me. Now 22 years later, I work in Estonian War museum.

Definitely in for a treat this week, two videos, you're spoiling us. For me, my journey in history started from birth. I was a brat, my father, my grandfather, my uncle, great uncle, numerous members of my family had or were serving and I was surrounded by it. I grew up on books, stories and movies that were related to history, especially military history. I went to parades, barracks, tattoos from such an early age it was bound to draw me in. I did my own service when I came of age, i immersed myself in military life. When I left and pursued a civilian career I kept a love for military history. Then since I moved to Finland, seeing how poor Finnish histrography is in English, I decided to attempt to help by doing Finnish Military History. But this journey has been like yours, it helps me improve myself. I see how I can improve my work life (I'm running a kitchen at present), how to deal with the unexpected, inspire my team, how to teach my son. How to be a leader that can effectively be the centre of his unit but also not need to be a hovering bee. The accusations you received of being bias (I have had similar in my answering of history questions online or running my blog) is normally a good indication that you are pushing their cognitive dissonance. When you are accused of being Pro-Finnish, Pro-Soviet and a Nazi apologist in the course of a single article, you know that you are doing right and presenting information that rubs individuals up the wrong way and that aren't comfortable with confronting their entrenched but wrong beliefs. I appreciate the time you take to create these videos, to help educate us, to dispel popular history myths. I wish I could do more to support you than my comments and likes but alas my own situation is difficult but the future is one of fluidity and so who knows what I may be able to do then. Keep up the outstanding work.

I like that you debunk myths, as long as there's no bias it's cool with me.

Interesting. I've never once thought you were biased. Quite frankly, the thing that attracts me to your channel is your strong desire to present an unbiased, detailed analysis of the subject matter. My reason for being a military history buff...not really certain. I love war movies, seeing armies/military thingies moving on a map, games(of course)...Combat Mission recently...TacOps from years ago..Squad Leader from decades ago...yup...I'm that old. ;-) I recall reading cover to cover an old WWII encyclopedia set by Marshal Cavendish(Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of World War II (25 volumes) ). I guess it's just in the genes.

The passion, research, and energy TIK puts into every video definitely shows off his love of history! Fantastic videos!

I admire your intellect, your research, and your scholarly attention to detail. You put in the work for others like me. Lastly, I love the exhaustive bibliographies that you provide. Shalom-Aleichem from the United States of America.

My father loves history and always had a tons of books and magazines about history and a lot of them were about WWII. As a kid, I loved books and reading so at the age of 10-12 years old, my favorite pastime was to browse those books and magazines. That is what got me into history. What I like about it is that is helps to understand what we are as human beings. Of course, human values changes through history but the core aspect of what we are stays the same. That is why the phrase: history repeats itself, has always been meaningful to me. By looking back at the challenge and decisions of our ancestors, I find it easier to understand the present world. I think human nature is bias by default but by being aware of it and challenging our points of views is a good way to overcome it. By looking at the history of different culture I found amazing stuff about different culture around the world and helped me to overcome many of my national bias.

Donald duck in ancient Egypt. Best history book ever. Got hooked when I was about 5. Read about ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome. In my early teens got into modern military history because of hearts of iron the first one. Didn't speak any English back then. I thoght dive bombers were anti-ship, because they.. Dived... Like a swimmer... Then the interest died down about 4 years ago. I was talking to my cousin who is 10 years old and he was telling me about the D-day landings.. I thoght to myself "oh how I've missed this" and yeah found your channel and now I'm back in the thick of it. Thanks for the quality content. You make great videos and know more than I ever have or ever will. Keep up the good work.

I don't watch TV because the documentaries are not good enought. Not enought details and well allot of clishees. I love your youtube videos. You learn the truth always that is what I like about this chanel

1. Passionate about WW2 and the idea of last stands/fighting against all odds. 2. I visualize everything that I read and nothing gets me moving more than war. 3. I want to learn more (day to day movement of units; their stories) on the eastern front.

Tik your videos are fantastic keep up the great work

I started reading about history when I was about 13. It started with the movie Nicholas and Alexandra. I stArted with Russian history and then grew into naval history. Started playing war games in high school (Panzer Blitz) and really got into WW2. Went to university and took two years of history, quit before getting my degree, to get into computers (I was lucky and got into the ground floor and worked my way up, avoiding terminal unemployment that a history degree would have gotten me). Kept reading about history, got into Roman history. So, basically I am an avid reader in history in general. Currently following your excellent videos and several other RU-vidrs, and several history podcasts. Have about 30 history books on my iPad to read and keep learning more. I really appreciate your videos and hope that you keep up the good work. Take care.

I really enjoy your videos, man. Never quit, these GOOD history channels are too rare!! My passion for history started with an interest in war as a child. I'm not sure why but I just thought war was really interesting. How the soldiers were feeling, how the commanders and generals made their decisions etc. Eventually I found some historical video games (Eu3, Hoi3 etc) and after that the ball just started rolling. To me history is like a good movie or book, except it has ACTUALLY happened and what I'm researching is facts.

I have a somewhat similar story, but mine was based on wanting to learn tactics for real life. As a young private and then later NCO I played war games to help learn tactics. For me it was Squad Leader and Advanced Squad Leader. This was before computers could run anything even remotely complex as the tabletop war games. That led directly into reading books by and about soldiers and leaders in combat. Slowly my interest grew from just tactics to strategy, and politics, and weaponry, and so-on. Love your channel. Keep up the great work.

your history research is really impressive, but what I actually like most is your integrity, humility, commitment to the truth and your courage to admit your own mistakes and biases. I've once heard someone say that that admission of your own mistake is not a sign of your weakness, contrary to what many people would say; it's actually a sign of your inner strength, because it requires overcoming your own (often semi-conscious) biases, and not many people are capable of doing that.

When I was "awakened" in the late 1970s (born 1967), there were no computer games. Later I never had the money to do that either. Nor did I see too many war movies, because as a child, I was not allowed to. And the cinema was too far away and too expensive. Instead, it was two very personal experiences: 1. My great grandma (1900-1988) telling me vividly the story how she lost her home in the bomb raid on Hamburg (in 1943, operation Gomorrha; but those details she would not even consider). So I started reading WWII books when I was 12: WHY was Hamburg being bombed? Why did the Germans bomb the UK? Why was WWII and WWI in the first place? Janusz Piekalkiewicz was my favorite author because: in contrast to other authors making a vivid novel-like narration, he presented facts and maps and details of both sides. As contrast, I had zero stories from my grandfather who actually had been Wehrmacht officer in France, Russia and Italy; I was isolated from him because they said he was a brutal man ... I met him only one year before he died, in 2005. 2. Growing up in a village in Northern Germany which had an area inofficially called "Ostlandsiedlung", which was inhabited mostly by WWII refugees from the Eastern parts of Germany that later were taken by the Poles and Russians; but noone would even mention that history to me. And it was that SILENCE that ignited my SUSPICION: what do they hide from me? Why were they so unpleasent as people? Why did some speak a strange dialect? I would learn that only some 40 years later - exactly by looking into history, but sources on that local history are hard to find. And, as the "integration" of the German WWII refugess (12 millions!) was a taboo as it failed, it was very difficult to find out anything on that, before the world became "searchable" with the internet. I was yet too young to know or grasp the word "bias". Piekalkiewicz had the least one. But he also focussed most on military and logistics, rather than "glory and honour in the heat of battles". The few other friends I knew who were interested in history took the very opposite stand, so much so that they became right-wing biased, on which we alienated from each other. So I had to make my way by large on my very own, as a hobby. And my only sources were books and some personal stories from my family. And the last cause was my own deep disappointment how history was "taught" to us in school. It was a very loose, incoherent and confusing bunch of some selected details, of which we never had the chance to learn the context really. Same was for literature: how can You value it or its "style elements", if You don't have a clew about its historical context? Can You imagine that the entire topic of WWII was "taught" to us in a one-hour monologue of our teacher and that was it? What destroyed my hopes entirely was when I found out that even he did not get facts right. But how do You criticize Your teacher? You just don't ... So that ignited me: questions left intentionally unanswered. Many answers I found, as an act of resistence =) But also, lots of answers I will never know, because the people I know who would have known, are gone, and I have no chance to ask them anymore. That is where history "ends": when there is an end of a road for traces. And it always ends in "gaps". The challenge is can I fill those gaps in some reasonable way, without making fiction? For me, I would let stand the final questions as they are, and say that they remain open.

Continue your work it is the best analisis I have seen, and for the first time I find someone that digs unto a the facts of history instead of just telling us the results. Congratulations

Documentaries,history teachers,reading biographies online,and musician biographies. I'm currently a History major,attending a community college in the US. I may or may not try to get a bachelor's degree. History is a awesome subject.

My father was in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. Listening to his stories and others that were war vets got my interest into military history. Great channel keep up the good work!

TIK your unbiased and research based videos are fascinating and very informative and your attention to detail is wonderful. The "Hitler" channel is what I still refer to it as and after watching your channel I am unable to watch the usual world war 2 documentary fodder. Thankyou for all your great work.

I actually remember the exact day, when my interest in military history and history in general started. My birthday is on May 9th, which is national holiday in ex-soviet countries - Victory Day (for the victory over nazis obviously). When I turned 6 it was a year of 50th anniversary of the victory so there were big celebrations, parade on tv, etc.. It was the first time I heard about this war, so I got interested. For me, the small child, war seemed something dramaticaly-exciting, so I wanted to know more about it. I remember asking my granddad if he participated in WW2 (he was born in 1945, so he didn't :)). Another thing that got me into history was book with ancient greek myths and legends, my mom's present. Through my interest in ancient in mythology I got interested in ancient history. And the rest just followed. History is something I can never get tired of. There's so much to discover. Certain topics, which I thought to be boring before (e. g. Vietnam War), turned out to be very thought-provoking. Learning history is a great way to figure out that world isn't black-and-white, and the humanity, though making a certain progress, tends to repeat itself over and over.

Replying much too late, but I only started watching your channel a few weeks ago. One of the reasons your channel is so interesting is that you're not just explaining and reinforcing the common, accepted narrative of the war; you're always questioning it, analysing it and reinterpreting it. Of course this upsets people. Mostly people who aren't aware of their own biases, and don't understand how to examine the information they have critically. Keep up the good work.

What had always triggered my curiosity is the very notion of understanding. Understanding why people did things and how. Why this or that decision have been made. What was the impact. Understanding when the path of history was relying on a tiny tiny tiny detail. So much examples and so much possibilities for events to get going an other way if that little detail not happened. Understanding how and why people telling the history tells hit the way they do. What are the goals, why it is still important for events sometimes thousand of years old. Understanding the things, so the knowledge you get from them is a real one and not a imposture.

Been huge history buff since I was young. I really got into WW2 when I was 12 and have been ever since. I discovered your channel as a suggestion recently and love your videos. You go into details of stuff I didnt even know and I thought I've read it all lol.

Hi Tik. I'm not really interested in history like most of your subscribers. I found you from a post in a sim racing forum. Your presentation style and your level of detail and factual info has me hooked. If only the education system in the UK could clone you and have you teaching history we would be a better nation for it. Fuel / oil shortage sealed the fate in ww2... Mind blown. Keep up the great work. So enjoyable. Justin

The thing that does it for me is this almost fractal level of detail available. I've heard about WW2, learned some more about it in general in school, watched movies with specific stories set during the period, then realized you can just keep digging into greater and greater detail.

Love your channel. One of the few truly accurate, dedicated, and indepth history channels on youtube. Please keep making videos!

I love everything World War II. From Arnhem to Stalingrad. So it's a no-brainer to follow your Channel. Keep up the good work and thank you.

You make this so interesting to be put into video format. Usually I learn from books, mostly about WW2 (I would, if possible, like a little book suggestion) but you make it so much more interesting. Keep it up!

I was honestly recently thinking where this TIK comes from. As usually a person's bias comes quite clear, and I honestly didn't know. Really feel I'm getting the true story that cuts through the bullshit.

You are the man!)) Massive respect, for you'r dedication and hardwork. You move forward.

its called the pawn star channel

..I've always been interested in history, particularly military history. I come from a military and education family background. You're either a teacher or military in my family. The interest in the books, movies and games are remarkably similar. From the age of three, I've wanted to be a soldier. Two books made a lasting impression that influenced my choices in my military career. The first was Brazen Chariots by Robert Crisp..a tank commander's story of his experience during Operation Crusader....heavily influenced my decision to be a tanker in the US Army...years later I fought in the First Gulf War as an M1A1 tank gunner. Later became a tank commander and a master gunner. The second book was the Seven Pillars of Wisdom...after my second enlistment as I was developing into a more mature and knowledgeable soldier and leader. I enjoy the passion, amount of attention to detail, and your open mind that you bring to this genre. I know your try your best to be un biased but that is nigh on impossible. In fact the only bias I usually see is that of viewing the events of history with the lens of a civilian. It's hard to understand why certain decisions are made without having the experience of being a soldier. The fog of war, uncertainty, human frailty, imperfect intelligence, the realities of logistics, the constraints of a military's doctrine....war is chaos....the side that is more flexible and able to take advantages of uncertainty, the side that can get inside the other side's OODA loop, ie. the initiative..wins..usually. Oh..management is not leadership...

Awesome channel, as a amateur historian i love the way you look at history. Your way is the scientific way, the way we should all look at history. Very dialectical and i adore it. Love your channel and i love how you try to get to the bottom of the true facts. I couldn't see anything politically biased on your end, so those who say that you are biased most certainly are offended by what you say. This video proves that you are looking for the true history and we should all applaud you for it. Just keep up the good work. There are people who love the work you put into your videos and you should get support from anyone that loves history. Greetings from xYugoslavia P.S. Would love if you could do the episode on Yugoslavia during the II WW. I would love to see with what information you will come up and most certainly you will get raging comments on it, but ignore Balkan folks, that's all we are capable of doing. Btw that's where my bias is, Partisan movement. And coming from you I might learn something because you seem as someone who will tell the truth.

My mother had a documentary on the Hoover Dam on, so I sat and watched it. Right after was a documentary on Guderian. Which was fascinating. I then picked up drawing and anything I drew came from things I recently saw. So I put military things into my drawing, then I found a book in the library at school on medieval armor. My mother got me a few games, noticing I played Warcraft and Starcraft. Shogun Total War, and the Close Combat trilogy came into my life. Starcraft is a masterpiece, but Shogun and CC taught me there was a moral layer to combat, positioning, context. In Starcraft the army doesn't go from battle to battle, its new each time. History became my way to realize how interconnected the world is and was. History is chock full of human drama. I want to get to the details to better get into their heads.

My interest in WW2 has led me to working with Bletchley Park. That then led me to start producing a monthly podcast for them which has allowed me to interview something like 60-70 BP Veterans. I get to share these amazing peoples stories with the world. It’s my way of thanking them for their service. It’s also now meant I’m a freelance Podcast Producer working for myself and so happy.

In my case, I got into history because of my dad. When I was a child, we used to go on these family trips, we would hit the road on the car, my mom would drive, and my dad would keep my sister and myself entertained by spending the whole time in the car just telling us different stories, mostly greek and roman. You know, myths, Troy, the olimpian gods, that kind of deal. That ended up becoming my favourite part of the trip, just being in the car, listening to those stories. I developed a huge curiosity for learning about those ancient guys, and I ended up becoming an avid reader of roman and greek history. My library is mostly filled (like 80%) with books from that period. But, once I got into my teenage years and studied WW2 in school, I found the lessons to be lacking, there were a lot of economics, politics, ideologic and military questions that were left unanswered, so, I also got deep into WW2 from that point onwards. And, so what is it that I find interesting in learning about history? I think that by studying it, by taking a peek at the past, we also can glimpse what may become of us in the future. All civilizations rise and fall, all follow the same patterns through time, all those people were subject to fears and desires we could all feel today; so, by studying what became of them, and of their csociety, we can also better understand our times, and, hopefully, fend off for a while the inevitable decay of our civilization.

Good Leaders desire to grow and adapt to evolving situations. Great episode! Thanks Tik for letting us know what makes you 'tick.' 😆 I read "Panzer Leader," Heinz Guderian's memoirs at 14yrs old. Changed my life forever. Became an Abrams Tank Commander and Instructor in time. Keep History close 💕

I concur... Wonderful presentation of yourself and your RU-vid Channel.....! keep on the good work..!

I can see this channel growing exponentially.

Generals and "leaders" did not always get where they were because of skill, in the old days (before 1900s or so I guess) they got there because of who their father was...and many did a bad job and were replaced by someone who might be better...or not so. As Winston said: You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. If you are making history videos you will sometimes be correct and sometimes be wrong, but you need to keep trying, and no one can ask any more of you! As I have already said on another video I love your videos - and I hope you keep them coming!

To be able to argue on RU-vid, of course. Joke aside. Primarily because it is a good exercise for a brain. I am a physicist and the bulk of my work is creating models and predicting outcomes based on various input variables. So when you are discussing a single event in history it is never A->B, it is more like an entire tree of events and decisions over sometimes centuries that led to something. So it was really interesting for me to go and look for all the little details, creating a model. Then, for a military history in particular, it was a love of chess and strategy games. Never really gave me the depth I required so when I turned to real world history, I was satisfied. When you come to the point where you discuss some operation but your first thought is "logistics" instead of type of weapons they carry, you know you've hit the level required. Because once again, that higher level of thinking, required to model complex things like a huge front, is what gets my brain wheels turning and makes me happy.

Fantastic video mate. I pretty much got into military history for similar reasons.....the world at war was it for me though,had me hooked. That long droning sound at the start before the music,still makes my hairs stand on end.Loved it and I still love it.I took an instant like for the German Uniforms,it sounds crazy I used to sit right up close to the screen and check out their kit.Then it was colonization and civilization (both great games)...then in my teens it was Osprey books. I really love your videos that break away from the usual narrative.I don't agree with all of what you say,but of course that's the beauty of opinion. I was very lucky in that my father (totally neutral,hes Irish) always told me Hitler could never have won. I'm not sure that is right, but I had a more balanced view. Anyway,keep up with the good work.

As an 11yr old I used to go to my Grandparents place for the weekends and my Grandfather showed me all of the World at War series. Also I had a Pc in my room from 1993 (grade 3) and played Chuck Yagers Air Combat and a plethora of other war games got me into it. Studied it at college too :) Loving you Channel and only discovered you 3 weeks ago :)

I relate to how and more importantly why you’re into history and your breakdown of market garden was the best documentary I’ve ever seen on ww2. Close combat is amazing and they’re making a new one, so maybe make a little time to give it a try!

my grandmother, a teacher, got me into history at a very early age (5 ish) and i was hooked ever since. i think what maintains my interest is the human factor, the psychology of it.

I think my first exposure to historical stuff was probably Battle of Britain (the 1969 movie) and Saving Private Ryan. Those movies really kicked off my interest in world history. After that my first historical and realistic strategy game was when I was digging through my uncle's junk and found Close Combat 3. I remember struggling and raging at the game cause the only other strategy game I played at the time was Red Alert 2. It took me quite a while before I really got good at CC3 but once I got there, it became my all time favourite game. I remember finding your channel because of your Let's Play of both CC2 and CC3. I was really surprised when you first did documentaries but I gotta say they ended up being the best documentary not just on RU-vid but perhaps of all time.

2 things stand out as things that got me interested in history: 1: the stories from family members about their experiences during the occupation of Denmark (several of them were active in the resistance) 2: a bit silly but I loved the pocket format comics with stories about WWII as a kid (and even have a quite good collection of them still some 25 years later, even though they are hillariously inaccurate about just about everything) from these inspirations I wanted to learn more and started reading various history books concerning WWII, and I started to seek out people to discuss what I've read with. This latter part being what I most enjoy. Thanks for your videos, and please keep it up, it have so far given me hours of good discussions with friends about the various aspects of warfare and history.

Fantastic Videos, thankyou for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm ...

I love history because my family taught me our family history. One of my grandpas fought in the Wild Division in the Great War and took part in the Ice March in the Civil War. His father fell at the Shipki Pass. Some of my bloodkin are buried at Piskorovskie. Our microstory meshed with the macrostory. History, especially our Russian history, is real to me and I've been in love with it all my life.

I think I got interested in history due to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." I'm currently writing my MA thesis on Vaubanian siege techniques, and I was introduced to your channel by my graduate committee chair. Keep up the good work!

Hey ! Big shout out for your Stalingrad airlift assessment. Very interesting. Caring is a powerful business advantage. This channel is going to be huge ! Aspire to inspire before you expire. If you want to learn about how things really work, or how to manage people in every possible situation, don't read the General's diary, just talk to a Sergeant Major. Non-commisioned officers run things. I became interested in World War Two because of movies and such, but I became fascinated about it when I realized that I knew people who had actually been at some of the famous places that I was reading about. To a Man, none of them realized what the real situation was at the time, and only learned about their roles in the big picture years later. I had a Scottish buddy that was in North Africa doing the Benghazi Gallop. Back and forth along the coastal highway. Another buddy that had finished his radio operator's course and returned to an empty barracks in England because his unit was on it's way to a beach at Dieppe. I met a German fellow that was in a famous engineering bridging unit, and they had set records for building bridges to sustain the advance into Russia. He had stories about the mosquitos around Leningrad. When I was a kid, my family doctor had served on a U-boat that had been to Japan. My neighbour worked at a factory in Southern Ontario that built Hurricane fighter planes. I had a friend that was a tail gunner on a Wellington bomber, and he would still cry in his sleep and he was in his eighties. Real people, and real stories. We must never allow politicians and factory owners to start wars again.

My Grandad, part of the 1/4 Essex Rgt used to share little snippets of his time in Egypt, Palestine, Italy and Germany when I was a kid. It was always fascinating and totally alien. This coincided with WW2 being covered in school which led to discovering the World at War and wanting to find out more details of where my Grandad fought (and partied going by most of his stories). Learning about a small snippet of WW2 was like pulling on a thread which has now been unravelling for just over 25 years and there is still so much more to discover.

It is always enjoyable to watch a well researched subject :)

i enjoy history now alot more because of the excellent way YOU present it. Thank you very much!!!

Dude... I played Civ 2 as well man. I've always had a knack for reading, ever since I was a kid and I have my mother to thank for that. Even though I liked reading I wasn't really school material. The only classes I passed was Social Studies and or History. I would read the whole fucking textbook. Over the years, I read more and more about History. Then I got into watching documentaries on History Channel. Then, RU-vid. All this led me to join the Military, serve and here I am. I'm not perfect but I always try to strive to be better myself. Let's see what the Future brings. I'll make sure to keep learning from our Past to be ready. Edit: I subscribed today bro. You're a pretty cool dude. Keep up the good work ^.^

I was born in 1951 and grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. From a young age I was always interested in history, especially the history of New France and the conflicts with the Indians and the British. I became interested in WWII through the excellent NFB documentary series 'Canada at War'. I can still remember trying to stay up late to watch an episode and being sent to bed by my dad.My introduction to wargaming came through playing Avalon Hill board games like France 1940 and Waterloo and S&T Magazine with a wargame in each issue. That was the Golden Age of wargaming. I then became a huge ACW buff after reading Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize winning novel 'The Killer Angels'. The movie 'Waterloo' by Dino De Laurentius ignited my life long interest in the Napoleonic Era. Since then I have really expanded my computer wargaming, spending most of my time playing the Napoleonic and ACW campaigns by HPS and John Tiller Software (JTS). I also enjoy many Gary Grigsby games like War in the East/War in the West and War in the Pacific AE. Still, my favourite wargame has to be Civilization. I have played every version of the game since the original and it's still my go to game when I'm waiting for a PBEM move to come in.Being a Canuck, I have an interest in anything to do with Canada and it's military history. This applies specially to the tragic Dieppe Raid and the reasons behind it. David O'Keefe's book One Day in August I believe finally draws back the curtain of the Official Secrets Act to reveal the real reason behind the raid as being a 'pinch' operation conceived by Ian Fleming of Naval Intelligence to capture the latest version of the German Enigma code machine. This book has many fascinating revelations that have only recently been declassified and I would love for TIK to do a review of the book and maybe his thoughts in general on Dieppe.Speaking of Canadian history, I would like to highlight the work of two Canadian historians, Mark Zuelke and Tim Cook. Zuelke has written over a dozen histories, most of them describing individual Canadian campaigns in Italy and NE Europe. Tim Cook has written what must be the definitive history of the Canadian Corps in WWI with his 2 vol. work, At The Sharp End/ Shock Troops. Both these authors represent a new wave of historical research presented with compelling narrative.

Love your channel. I have always been interested in History and particularly military history. I really began to study more when I was serving in the Army. I was an instructor in Combat team and battle group tactics, but I also liked to play 'close combat'. I have to say you are the best I have come across. Possibly that is because most of what you pass on agrees with my own conclusions. None the less you bring a lot of new stuff too. Thank you.

When I worked as a senior materials scientist for a well respected aerospace engine manufacturer I found the key towards developing a sound understanding of how a linked and non-linked progressive series of numbers formed an important and vital role upon the interaction of materiel shape, size, association and weight distribution in aerodynamics and aeronautical design was to closely and progressively study how series of numbers influences flora and fauna in natural selections reality. Similarly, if you want to understand how to become a better person that can manage and improve the limited world which becomes your reality in life you must clearly understand who you are, how you came to be and what you can learn from your experiences, the experiences of your parents, siblings and associates during and throughout an historical timeline of linked experiences. Where influential people in history matter because they are the realistic link which can be used to select their ability and capability traits that worked in similar scenarios faced today and those which need to be discarded or modified to work successfully in the future.

Collen McCullough got me into history with her "Masters of Rome" series about the late Republic period up through Octavian becoming Augustus. After that, games like Total War & others inspired me to also look into why a charge across an open field isn't the same for all soldiers, so I hear Tik on that. Nowadays I have a History bachelor's and am about to start grad school in this same field. I had to shore up Spanish a little bit, so good luck on your German & Russian Tik! Up next after a little more time should be Arabic for me but I'm looking to hopefully re-visit the Middle East again, this time with a suitcase instead of a rifle peeeero ya... Excellent video as always, sir! Thanks for the insight.

Great vids, great insight. Keep them coming! Great to know more about the war, it's hard not to let these things fade and repeat ,sadly. Also great to have some myths dispelled!

I like your honesty, thanks !!

We had an awesome history teacher in high school, he was really passionate and put a lot of effort into spreading that passion. He was a big fan of critical thinking. He encouraged disagreement with any and all sources, and subsequent debate. He would also do what he called a cause-consequence form of study, for any historical event we would have to write causes and consequences of that event. And he would just do awesome things, like one time he brought antique newspapers from 1943, one a Ukrainian newspaper printed by the Germans, and Pravda(Soviet newspaper). We then would compare the events written there, and try to come up with what the hell actually happened. Also Paradox grand strategies like Hearts of Iron develop an acute interest in history, much more than your average Total War.

TIK, I like your desire to understand history and people. I appreciate that you admit your biases in the process. Every one of us has biases, and we are better off when we accept that. I am a dual Canadian-American citizen currently living in Toronto. I have been interested in history since I was a pre-teen because I have wanted to understand people. The book that first got me interested in military history when I was 11 was "Famous Land Battles" by Richard Humble (published in 1979). I suspect that you would like it, if you haven't read it, although you now know better than this book about certain details. For example, here is an excerpt from its chapter on Stalingrad: "The man who sealed the 6th Army's fate was Goring, who curried favour by assuring Hitler that the Luftwaffe could drop and air-land the 700 tones of supplies per day needed by the 6th Army." And then: "Had Paulus now emulated Rommel at Alamein, ignored Hitler's stand-fast order and commanded a break-out himself, a fair proportion of the 6th Army probably would have escaped. Instead he shied away from the decision, claiming that the 6th Army could not move for lack of fuel."

Started to watch your channel and I am impressed by your dedication and the level of detail...and your objective view...I think you are pretty unbiased, which makes it very entertaining to watch your vlogs...looking forward to many more videos...would be interesting to see you working on The Korean or Vietnam war...

Just want to say your your channel is great. Blessings from 🇩🇰

My father was a 442nd Regimental Combat Team member and served in Italy and France during World War II. At veteran's gatherings, war stories were common as battles and "absent friends" were remembered. The 1950's and 1960's were a 'hop,skip, and jump" from the reality of "a world on fire." The Cold War was a mile or so away, since Oahu supported a number of military bases. (Then there's Pearl Harbor, where World War II began for the U.S.A. early one Sunday morning.) History on American TV featured the "Victory At Sea" series, which predated the superior "The World At War" series. I'm a sucker for a good story, and have learned to tell a few for IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 flight simulator players. Finding Indy Neidell's "The Great War" series has been an eye opener on Modern Total War that first appeared during the U.S. Civil War. A "biased person" who admits it, then finds a way around it is a great find, illuminating dark corners and searching for truth "buried under layers of falsehood." (See: The Angry Photographer.;)

Avalon Hill, Simulation Publications. My Grandfather had a farm 4 miles west of Gettysburg PA. I met Eisenhower when I was 5 yrs old. Grandfather was his friend. Loving history just sort of fell into place. Studied History in college for 3.5 years. My dad asked me what I was going to do to get money with a history degree. Ma said get tenure, Pa said go into law. I went into computer science. Still love history. But actually make money. Subbed, liked and notified! Whistling the theme song of Bridge to Far as I write this.

The amount of CC2 games I played are seemingly countless. Many great memories of playing with all the top guys of this game and not to toot My own horn but i was pretty badass at it myself lol.

Thanks for this video. It's truely rare to see a person open-up like this. My interest in particularly WWII, was because my father was in it and all I ever got was anecdotes. He never spoke of action or interaction with comrades. The sum total of his involvement in WWII that he imparted to me was that he was conscripted into the Army, applied for the Air Force and was drafted into the Navy. His first ship was the Ladybird, sunk in Tobruk harbour and the was transferred to minesweepers based in Haifa.

Hi from South Manchester! Your videos are fantastic, it's great to see someone talk about what they love. No need to reply btw. Wishing you all the best, could easily see you ending up with 1m+ subscribers; your content is fantastic.

My father served in the Royal Navy throughout WW2. & then Korea When I was a kid I'd often tell him about a good war film I'd just watched (the Americans winning the war...). He'd say. "It wasn't like that son..... He never really spoke of his time during the war, but every now and then he'd come out with something? Which later in life has made me curious. Sadly my Dad is no longer around to ask, I regret not doing so. Therefore I'm very interested to learn as much as I can.... Keep up the good work.

I've always been fascinated with battle tactics and strategy. From an early age I read about battles like Gaugamela. Reading it like a murder mystery almost, to discover the tactics a heavily outnumbered Alexander used to beat King Darius. Video games furthered my interest too like the Total War games and Combat Mission. What really obsesses me is how generals identify the objectives they need to master in order to with the campaign, how they identify and structure the operation. How do they know where to direct their armies and how to organise them? Which roads and cities to take and in which order? How can an amount of men that could occupy a football stadium encircle and destroy and army of thousands over a huge geographical area as happened in examples of blitzkrieg in operation Barbarossa? You've made so many deeply informative documentaries that are fascinating from start to finish. I especially loved your documentary on the significance of oil to the Wehrmacht's war effort. The way you laid out the case was brilliant and you made a very strong argument and shed light on those events in a way I hadn't seen before. I hope you carry on making these documentaries, they're better than anything else out there I've seen. Thanks very much!

There's always something new to discover for the same pivotal events.

if you forget the past you repeat it and its very interesting and knowledge is a powerful thing

Personally always been interested in history, started with Hellenic, Roman etc until I tried reading Homers Illiad, since then I have expanded into most time frames. As I've got older its the question of what make ordinary people do extrodinary things, both positive and negative, so rather than the detail I tend to read personal accounts. These have tended to be German accounts from the Eastern Front as they are easier to get hold of and the ordinary Germans motives are harder to understand given the regime. I stumbled across your channel and just wanted to say I have been very impressed with your videos and learnt some detail that I wasn't aware of, really looking forward to your Stalingrad documentary.

My passion for history started with pictorial books that my grandfather left me (my granddad died a few weeks before I was born). The books were primarily about Britain in WW2. However, with my interest kindled in WW2 and a pictorial bible, thrown in. I developed an insatiable appetite and interest in history. Especially when I had a book - pictorial - in British history. From the iron age to WW2. I joined the history club at school, visiting galleries, museums and events. Then I used to watch the documentaries like World at War and The Great War. All of this unleashed a near obsession in history, which I read copiously. I read AJP Taylor, who wrote history in a modern, easy-to-understand way, with interjections of both wit and opinion. Then the films, just like you, where I watched All Quiet on the Western Front...which began an obsession with World War One...and then honed my need to learn, as I discovered that to understand the history of WW2, you were compelled to understand WW1 and in order to understand WW1, you had to understand the causes of WW1, from there you found yourself having to understand Napoleon and the French Revolution and to understand these events, you had to understand both Counter-Reformation and the Reformation itself. From there I discovered my passion for medieval history - especially the Crusades, which is way under-studied. From both that event alongside the great black death....you would find yourself going back to the history of both antiquity and the rise of Christianity, whose theological influence and philosophical endurance has snaked its way down into our own millennia. Like you, I was a shift-leader and applied my private pleasure to studying a degree in history in which I gained honours. I then applied my history to my social, cultural and political influences and studied social science, where I gained an honours degree. At the moment, I'm in the middle of AJP Taylors history of Germany and I have also developed a burning interest in the American Civil War , the Eastern Front 1941-45 in WW2 and anything to do with WW1.

That is a nice question to ask... I've been asked myself many times since I am a collector and I work at a military museum in the UK. My passion about military history started since I remember myself and the reason is my grandad. Spending time with my grandad was all about stories about the war and visiting military museums (and museums with dinosaurs ;) )... I remember when I first saw the Greek military leader and strategist Kolokotronis! He was the leader of the Greek forces during the struggle for independence against the Turks in 1821 and he is a figure we learn about from the very early grades in school. So, there I was starring at his helmet in a museum behind a glass! I just couldn't believe it... My child brain couldn't comprehend that the guy who used to wear that fought the Turks and is the same person I was taught about in class! Another important factor was, as I mentioned before, the stories my grandad used to tell me about WW2. I just couldn't believe how these things happened not that long ago and yet seem so alien to us now. Every time I watched a movie or played a game I couldn't help but to think that when the things in the movie/game happened in reality somewhere was a young man who eventually became my grandad... That was another thing that was very difficult for my young brain to understand and seemed weird! Ever since I love reading books, watching movies and playing games about WW2 beacuse they trigger that same thought in my mind "when these things happened my grandparents were young and the stories I grew up with were happening to them"... And then I found the WW2 collectors' world!!! And a blow that was... A small fortune has gone there and many more fortunes are yet to be spent in WW2 military items! Every time I hold something or sit back and stare at them there are thousands of thoughts triggered in my mind about all these I've read, played and watched and how they connect with these items! It's a fascinating world and I love your work... Keep it up! btw this is by far the longest comment I've ever written on YT!!

I got into WW2 military history in a similar way. I played the game Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII, and I loved the history of the airplanes in the game! For the longest time I was a numbers guy with planes in WW2. I could tell you the service ceiling, max speeds, and type of armament on the most commonly spoken of aircraft. To keep it short once I realized there was a war being fought on the ground before D-Day I became interested in these theaters. Since, let’s face it, not a whole lot of interesting stuff happens solely in the air. What’s more interesting is the impact it had on the outcomes of battles and the war as a whole. Now in the present day I’d say I’m learning the context in which history happened and it makes so much more sense than what people normally tote around as “the way it happened.” Btw don’t feel obliged to reply to me. Most of the time people don’t get responses anyway. Keep up the good work!

I got into history, partly growing up as a cold war kid, but also having a History teacher in secondary school who made it interesting, taught me the basics of looking for bias in sources and the difference between primary and secondary sources. All things that have set me up nicely.

I am enjoying your videos, I have been binging on them lately. Having worked in call centres for 15 years or so, I have seen many managers who have reached their level of incompetency. So it is good to hear your strategies in improving your skills. Talking about management in wartime and especially your examination of North Africa. Have you thought of looking at how say, the resources of the Corps of Royal Engineers, were utilised. I am relying on anectdotes from my late father who served in the Royal Engineers, he volunteered in September 1939. With relevance to the North Africa campaign, he was seconded to the Australian 6th Division, then seconded to the Anglo Persian Oil Company and then to the Americans, not sure which army, I think he was at Monte Casino, which might mean the American 5th Army?, then he became part of REME on its formation. In some videos you have looked at how Divisions of various armies were restructured. But maybe looking at how a Country that has an abundance of expertise, used that expertise to help other allied or axis armies strengthen their partners. For example, did Germany help other Axis armies, improve their tank strategies and if so how. Nowadays, we hear a lot about the use of Military advisers helping restructure other countries armies, did this occur in World War 2.

Great video. I became interested in history, particularly military history, for several reasons. First, I was and still am a huge Star Wars fan. I know that seems weird to acquaint the Original Trilogy with military history, but when I watched the movies I was very curious about the movies' backgrounds, what inspired George Lucas and his team to bring this fantasy series to life. The World War II and Vietnam connections really surprised me. Second, I was living near the city of Boston, Massachusetts, a place filled with significant historical events and people. This, along with my family, caused me to be very interested in history. Third, I was raised as a patron of museums, which always seemed to be exciting places for me as a child. Finally, my eighth grade history teacher named Mr. Stash, who was an American Civil War nut, got me interested in the literary and film works associated with the topic. Because of this, as well as my own endeavors in the middle and high school, I became known as the most knowledgeable person on the subject.

I'm passionate about history mostly thanks to a love of machines. Very early on in my life I was introduced to Cars and that turned to a love of anything with Piston engines- *especially* World War II Fighters. THAT translated into Computer games which furthered and broadened my interest in history. It started with equipment, then the great individual feats,and kept broadening until I ended up at the greater geopolitical concerns and how the two world wars shaped where we are now. My biases, and my love of a good story, prevent me from considering myself a proper historian, but I'll always be seeking new information and new topics to delve into. Also, Close Combat is why I'm here. Glad I stayed.

Why do we love the Seven Years War? I think Christopher Duffy asked this question at a history conference but you could apply this question to all military history. For me it must be because my grandfathers and uncle were soldiers. My neighbour is an old soldier. Some of my friends are old soldiers. I just love and respect these guys from the bottom of my heart. There's no way I could have made it in the army - as Monty said you have to be 100% fit. So I'm just in awe of soldiers. I can't stay on the same subject for too long because I reach saturation point but I have my favourites and I keep switching studies between them but I never stop learning. World war II is so vast I couldn't begin to build a library but let's hear more about yours.

It's interesting because I get the see various political, economical and strategic decisions which impacted (and still impact) societies and nations. Not to mention the analysis of doctrines, battles and all the variables around the warfare. I think every boy "likes" or at least finds war interesting, probably because of the male nature.

I love to learn about history because I’m a believer in the phrase “history repeats itself”. So in my head, learning the past helps you learn the future in a way.

I got into History and Languages after watching the Movie - Come and See - - Иди и Смотри. I watched it when I was ~7 and so became interested in History. Through learning about History I improved my language skills which were quite terrible at the time, in all languages. This interest has propelled me throughout my life.

My dad, who is a retired lieutenant colonel and history buff, is the one who got me into military history when I was little. I am now attending university and am planning to get my PhD in military history and become a professor

Lol Kelly’s hero’s absolutely! Funny thing is many of those actors actually served in WWII. What got me into history was before computer games, my older brother and his introduction to me of his SPI board games. The idea of taking on the same advantages/disadvantages and seeing what could happen is just an endless enthralling exercise for me. Keep it up cousin across the pond. Great stuff! P.S. Consider taking on Lt. Col Custers last campaign, so much drama and infighting in his unit and the what if’s and what could of happened to his battalion of five company’s last seen riding to Valhalla down Medicine Tail Coulee. There go your Indians general, running like the devil.

History has for a long time been for me the singular subject that has revealed the most about human nature and how we set up our world and why it works the way it does. It pulls the frame back and shows a panorama that I crave and gives me insight and a peculiar satisfaction when it reveals patterns. I immagine much like math guy looks at a fascinating theorem. I apply my conjectures about the human condition from new information and try to reason it out. To me history can be a hard science that shapes my outlook on everything but can be esoteric and inaccessible. Therein lies an irresistible mystery because I truly believe everything is connected and Its a matter of finding where.

Good stuff. The Market Garden video was quite good and it did open my eyes to it a bit more. I still love the movie, but it's just a movie. Gavin does seem to be the reason why it didn't work even though the Ruhr didn't seem to be the main objective either, lol. I look forward to more because there does seem to be a lot of unknown in WW2 still.

When I was five my parents moved to the dad's grandparents farmstead. I kept finding things from both World Wars and older like coins, casings, bayonets, parts of firearms and other. In school I turned into bookworm and devoured anything I could get on history, especially both World Wars. Oh and Close Combat II. I really liked the funnies, burning German squads with Crocodile, blowing up houses and Panzers with AVRE , using cover, concealment and supression to overcome the enemy.

Absolutely brilliant analysis of the WW 2, I have learnt more from the videos than I have from the dozens of books I have read

My first real interest in in military history was first aroused by the two world war programs shown in the 60s the world war and the great war. The Great war opened my eyes to the death and destruction and certainly changed my views on religion. I began to read up more and more booksAnd learnt that it wasn’t the Allies and that won the war in the West, was the Russians in the east and that the allies in the west and did a big contribution but without Russia we would’ve never have won that war. I wanted to also learn what motivated Hitler to commit this nightmare? Read books by Speer, Kershaw and others on many aspects! Understand this so that it doesn’t happen again! My forte is the WW1 ! Visited many battlefields in Various parts of Europe! Your channel is superb at giving more info and helping to form better understanding of what happened! You are brilliant and should be doing this full time! Very talented!

What got me into history was playing call of duty world at war and black ops campaign when I was 14. Coupled with reading Robert Muchmore's Henderson Boys also really got me into military/war history.

TIK, thank you for posting the history videos and telling us as to why. My uncle never returned to GB while in a B17 on a mission to bomb a bearing plant in Poland. I was named for him. Subsequently, I find history quite interesting including military, wars and industrial. I do enjoy your video's.