World History - King George VI

Kings And Queens of England

There's a lot of history to be learned from here.

U.S. History - World War II

World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars, but sadly that has been proven wrong.  This ugly war took our Greatest Generation to Germany to take down a madman committing ethnic cleansing, and taking over Europe.

Getting To Know The World Around Us: Scandinavia Countries

The Scandinavian countries primarily consist of (in alphabetical order):  Denmark, Norway and Sweden, although Greenland is associated with them due to the Vikings settling there after leaving Scandinavia proper.

World History: World War I In A Nutshell

The King, The Kaiser And the Czar

A very interesting video regarding one of the last times the royal houses of Europe would gather on friendly (maybe not so friendly) terms.  The devastating rifts created in World War I would forever change these relatives - and the nations they ran.

The Faberge Imperial Egg Collection

FHE - Getting To Know The World Around Us - King Christian IX

If you have ever watched a European Royal Wedding, you may have noticed members of royalty from other countries in attendance. This isn't just a formality or courtesy visit for the newlyweds, they are also there as many are related through either King Christian IX of Denmark or Queen Victoria, or both.  King Christian IX and Queen Victoria were contemporaries, which meant their children were eligible matches for the royal houses throughout Europe.

A book was written, along with a DVD series, on this called A Royal Family which does a fantastic job of covering who married who, what happened with each child's descendants, their continued closeness as a family and how it was impacted by the two World Wars.

Sadly, the DVD is no longer available and the web site for it appears to no longer be around, but it's worth checking to see if your local PBS station (in the U.S.) will be airing it again sometime in the future.  In the meantime, you can always get the book.

I recorded the PBS airings of the show, however I will not be posting all of them.  I'm posting the first one, which sets the stage between Denmark, the U.K. and Russia in finding spouses for royal children.  Another one of the episodes has been published on YouTube to show the story of the King of Greece.

Episode 1:

King George I of Greece and his descendants:

This is a different documentary, it's in Danish, but still very interesting to watch.

Learning About The World Around Us - France

I love Sophia from My Great Challenge on YouTube.  She also has a blog where she posts all kinds of details of subjects that interest her - books, makeup, decor and organization to name a few.

In 2016, her family took a trip to France where Sophia was born and raised.  Given her knowledge of the French history and culture, this is definitely a series to watch.  She does a fantastic job of explaining to those like me who have never set foot in France.  I just wish I knew the language!

FHE - Learning About The World Around Us

For those who remember The Ascent of Money series I posted on here last year, Niall Ferguson has another series called Civilization which he chronicles world history based upon six factors that have been deciding factors for which civilizations flourish and which disappear.  The documentary series is based upon his book of the same title.