Horrible Histories, History for Kids!

Horrible Histories is both a show here in the UK as well as a set of books sold around the world. The horrible histories range aims to engage kids in their history lessons by making it interesting. Horrible Histories goes into all the brutal details of history that gets kids attention (big kids too!).

The horrible histories show uses facts through out history for their comedy sketches and musical videos. I work with kids so know about the books because they are very popular in the primary schools here in the UK (primary school is similar to grade school in the US, before middle/high school).

I had actually seen bits of the show here and there, when recording another show that catches the tail end of horrible histories for example. I did think it looked like it would be good telly when I have kids who want to watch telly, but didn't sit down and watch it myself.

Recently my husband and I both heard several of our favorite comedians talking about the show and the awards it has received and thought it might be for bigger kids too, like us. 

It has taken us no time at all to become hooked on horrible histories for all our history lesson needs. The gory details that appeal to small children (gross things used to heal injuries, or stories of cannibalism etc.) also appeal to my husband and I. Horrible histories hits the nail on the head in terms of finding the most shocking fact tidbits.

I just love the various hostipal skits, where an injured person is freaked out by some historically accurate 'doctor' saying how they will treat the injury (from cutting off a limb that has a small injury to trepanning, cutting a hole in the skull). These sorts of details are exactly what would have ignited a passion for history when I was a kid.

This is most certainly one of those shows that kids today are lucky to have and will likely be remembered as a childhood favorite by tons of kids today. If you have kids or are a really just a big kid yourself then you really should check this show out!

In writing this hub I wanted to give some great links for any reader to use if they decided they want to watch this show but I have found some difficulty. Unfortunately the DVD's on the market at the time of writing this are all in regions outside of the US, and since the US is such a huge market this seems a real problem.

I went searching for solutions and what I found as a legitimate solution is to find a streaming version of the show. The only legitimate solution I could find is to watch it streaming with 'Discovery Education Streaming' and I will include a link at the bottom of the page. My only frustration is that this is a member site and as I am not a member I cannot verify that they do in fact have every episode streaming. I read on several forum posts around the net that this is the way to watch the show legitimately in the US outside of watching on cable TV.

The slightly less legitimate option would be to buy the DVD and play on a computer set up for another region or to play all regions. I don't recommend this because of copy write laws but my personal feeling is if you paid for the DVD you should be able to watch it no matter where you are in the world (one of my biggest pet peeves in the downloading TV controversy).