History documentaries

From the dawn of civilization to the emergence of modern-day superpowers, BBC Select hosts a wide-ranging collection of world history documentaries. If you live in the US or Canada, you can sign up to watch these BBC history documentaries hosted by the likes of Bettany Hughes, Lucy Worsley, Simon Schama and David Olusoga today.

Archaeology: A Secret History

Stream Archaeology - A Secret History on BBC Select

If you don’t think history is a dangerous business, think again.  Richard Miles battles heat, ticks and leeches in search of secrets.

People aren’t just interested in the present, we’re intrigued by the past too. Throughout time, humankind has been fascinated by history and the Kings, Queens and ancient civilisations that have come before.

In this three-part archaeology documentary series, Richard Miles takes a journey through history to chart how humans have searched for the truth about the adventures of their antecedents. Travelling from sweltering jungles in Mexico to peat bogs in Scandinavia, he digs deep into ancient secrets to unearth some spectacular surprises.

Blitz Spirit with Lucy Worsley

Watch Blitz Spirit with Lucy Worsley on BBC Select

In this historical documentary about the Blitz, Lucy Worsley looks at The Battle of Britain and the paranoia that it left behind.

Belsen: The Untold Story

Image of the start of David in the palm of a hand

The untold story of the infamous Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where over 50,000 mostly Jewish people died, primarily from starvation and disease in the last phase of World War II. Featuring powerful new interviews with some of the last remaining survivors of the Holocaust, plus archival audio and video footage, the true horrors of the camp and the Nazi regime are revealed.

African Apocalypse

Image the silhouette of a head with a map and British soldier inside the silhouette

This critically acclaimed documentary film tells the story of British-Nigerian activist Femi Nylander’s journey across Africa in search of a colonial killer and to bring attention to the forgotten victims of colonial atrocity.

With a copy of Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness in hand, he seeks to discover the shocking reality of the book and the meaning and legacy of colonial horror in West Africa.

The Secrets of the Mary Rose

The Secret World Of Cereal

The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s favorite warship and flagship of his fleet. It was lost in 1545 but thanks to one of the greatest maritime archaeology projects in British history it was discovered again, excavated, and raised from the seabed in the 1980s. Using 40 years of archive footage, historian Dan Snow charts the incredible story of the Mary Rose.