Patreon Newsletter #16

Dear Patrons,

After a busy fortnight with two new videos, it's time for a newsletter update, featuring a Cool Roman History Thing courtesy of James the Channels Manager, and BIG production news!

Production Updates

It's an exciting time for the Epic History team, as we embark on THREE major new series. Two of these you already know about, and one you don't....

RISE OF CHINA

When Harry the Editor joined the team last year, he brought a wealth of knowledge of Chinese history, which was the focus of his history degree. Obviously we had to put this to use!

Behind the scenes, we've been researching and writing 'Rise of China' - a five-part series that tells the epic story of China's 20th century, from the final days of the Qing Dynasty to a Communist giant on the verge of superpower status. We are delighted to have Dr Lily Chang of University College London onboard as historical consultant. The series will be out this winter (keeping it vague for the moment), and you will be first to see it here on Patreon. Animation work has already begun on Episode 1...

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Patrick and Mike have travelled back in time, from the battlefield of Marengo to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, where all accounts of the American Revolution must begin. No major updates yet but research and writing are underway.

WORLD WAR TWO

And having finally cleared the decks of Napoleonic projects (for the time being), I have begun writing our major WW2 series. This is going to be very 'big picture' history - a real global perspective, like our WW1 series - but unlike that series, we will spend a lot more time on the buildup. The story will begin in 1931, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, with these rather haunting words from Nicolae Titulescu, President of the League of Nations General Assembly: “The entire world is suffering from a terrible crisis and lack of confidence. The last hopes of the world are now in our hands.”

THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR

... Has not been forgotten, but our 3D animator is experiencing 'fixture congestion'. We still hope to have this climax to our Nelson series ready for you in the next month or two.

Community Chats

We're always looking at ways we can improve the Patreon offering to our supporters, and one new feature we are going to try out is 'Community Chats'.

We're kicking off with an 'Ask Me Anything' chat for the Patrons of the Arts tier and above. So, if you're in one of those tiers and have a burning question for me or any member of the team, ask away!

This is a bit of an experiment, but if it all goes well we'll add more chats down the road. We'll still be reading all the comments and answering all your questions here on the main posts, but we'll have time to go into a bit more depth in the Community Chat.

Special Offer: Refight the Battle of Marengo as Napoleon... or Melas!

Patreon supporters are, of course, usually spared our sponsorship messages, but I thought our Marengo sponsor might have particular appeal to some of you: Wargame Design Studio make decidedly old-school military history games for PC, but they are packed with detail and realism. And thanks to our deal, you can get 25% off their Marengo campaign! Check it out here: https://wargameds.com/pages/epic-history

One Cool History Thing

James writes: Last weekend I took a trip to The Newt, a country estate in Somerset which was bought in 2013 and redeveloped into a hotel and gardens. When taking over the huge grounds, the new owners also inherited Roman remains, which were first discovered in the 1830s. Further investigations in the 1960s revealed pottery, coins and a mosaic, suggesting a substantial villa was on the site.

Archaeological investigation during the site's redevelopment by the new owners revealed the true extent of a magnificent Romano-British villa, built in the 3rd century AD. But rather than simply preserving the remains and creating a small museum of exhibits for visitors, they got a team of archaeologists, architects, engineers and local craftsmen to build a full-size reconstruction of a Roman villa!

The result is unlike any other historical site I've visited. You begin by walking through the museum, where you are provided with some great GPS-triggered headsets that change the audio guide depending on where you are and what you want to look at. The museum displays a number of archaeological finds (from this site and across Roman Britain) and the full remains of the villa's bathhouse. It also leads you through the reconstruction process, with testimony from the team involved.

As you approach the reconstructed villa (named Villa Ventorum) via a newly-planted vineyard, your audio guide switches to become an audio tour from the villa's housekeeper. The imagined scene is that the villa is being prepared for a party for the head of the household (the 'Paterfamilias'). The housekeeper then directs you through the house, explains each room and draws your attention to specific objects (and smells). The audio tour might not be to everyone's taste, and some might prefer to enjoy walking around in silence, but I loved it. There's also a chance to don a VR headset, which puts you back in the rooms you've just visited, this time with actors playing the Roman family and speaking in Latin (with subtitles!). Both the villa and gardens create a truly immersive experience - a testament to what can be achieved through great research, attention to detail and craftsmanship... and a fair bit of money too!

That's all for this newsletter, but we'll be back with more updates soon!

Thanks as always for supporting the channel.

Toby