100 best history series

List of the best TV series in the history genre, selected by visitors to our site: Chernobyl, Vikings, Scarlett, Spartacus, Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident, Spartacus, Apostle, Rome, War and Peace, The Tudors, The Knick, Magnificent Century, The Crown, Catherine the Great, Kuruluş Osman, Generation War, Empress Ki, The Last Kingdom, Da Vinci's Demons, The Borgias
Markimdb: 9.4
Genredrama, history
CountryUSA, United Kingdom
Duration00:56
CharactersScientists
PlotDisasters, Politics, Self-sacrifice
PlaceUSSR, Forest, Russia, Ukraine, Restricted areas
TimeDark ones
StylePopular, Short, Worth watching, Spectacular, Atmospheric

The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genreaction, melodrama, drama, adventure, military, history
CountryRepublic of Ireland, Canada
Duration00:45
CharactersKings, Vikings, Heroes, Soldier, Warriors
PlotWar, Adventures, Intrigue, Sword Battles
PlaceEngland
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleWorth watching, Spectacular, For men, Atmospheric, Fascinating

Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods. Legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.

Markimdb: 6.5
Genremelodrama, drama, military, history
CountryUSA
Duration06:00
PlotIntrigue
PlaceEngland
StyleFascinating

Scarlett is a 1994 six hour miniseries loosely based on the sequel to Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone with the Wind, written by Alexandra Ripley. The series was filmed at 53 locations in the United States and abroad, and stars Joanne Whalley as Scarlett O'Hara, Timothy Dalton as Rhett Butler, and Sean Bean as Lord Richard Fenton as well as many other notable British and American actors.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genreaction, melodrama, drama, adventure, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration00:52
CharactersGladiators
PlaceRoman Empire
StylePopular, Worth watching, For men

Spartacus is an American television series inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BCE led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic departing from Capua.

Markimdb: 7.8
Genrethriller, drama, detective, military, history
CountryRussia
CharactersStudents, Tourists, Climbers
PlotSupernatural, Survival, Investigation, Death, Travel
PlaceRussia
StyleAtmospheric, Action, Twisted plot, Based on real events

Russia, 1959. A KGB major investigates the mysterious deaths of a group of nine student hikers in the Ural Mountains. Troubled by his past as a WWII veteran, he has a sixth sense and death seems to follow him around as he digs deeper into the mysterious incident. The more he learns, the more it becomes clear: the reason the students died will never see the light of day.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genreaction, melodrama, drama, adventure, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration05:35
CharactersGladiators

Spartacus is an American television series inspired by the historical figure of Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BCE led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic departing from Capua.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genreaction, military, history
CountryRussia
Duration10:00
PlotWar

We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

Markimdb: 8.7
Genreaction, melodrama, drama, military, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration00:55
CharactersWarriors, Emperors
PlotIntrigue
PlaceRoman Empire
StyleWorth watching, Spectacular

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genremelodrama, drama, military, history
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration01:05
CharactersSoldier
PlotLove, War, Death
PlaceRussia

A story that revolves around five aristocratic families, set during the reign of Alexander I, and centered on the love triangle between Natasha Rostova, Pierre Bezukhov, and Andrei Bolkonsky.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genremelodrama, drama, military, history
CountryRepublic of Ireland, Canada, USA, United Kingdom
Duration00:53
CharactersKings
PlotLove, Politics, Love triangle, Intrigue, Uprising
PlaceEngland
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleFascinating, Based on real events

The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genredrama, history
CountryUSA
Duration00:45
CharactersDoctors, Nurses, Surgeons
PlotMedicine
PlaceHospitals, USA
StyleAtmospheric, Action, Dark, Fascinating, Touching

Set in downtown New York in 1900, 'The Knick' is centered on the Knickerbocker Hospital and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who work there, pushing the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. John Thackery is a brilliant surgeon pioneering new methods in the field, despite his secret addiction to cocaine. He leads a team of doctors including his protégé Dr. Everett Gallinger; the young Dr. Bertie Chickering Jr. and Dr. Algernon Edwards, a promising surgeon who's been recently thrust upon him. The lively cast of characters at the hospital also includes Cornelia Robertson, the daughter of its benefactor, Captain August Robertson; surly ambulance driver Tom Cleary; Lucy Elkins; a fresh-faced nurse from the country; the crooked hospital administrator Herman Barrow; and Sister Harriet, a nun who isn't afraid to speak her mind.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genremelodrama, drama, military, biography, history
CountryTurkey
Duration01:40
CharactersRich
PlotLove, Relationship, Intrigue
PlaceTurkey
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleWorth watching, Atmospheric

Muhteşem Yüzyıl is a prime time historical Turkish television series. It was originally broadcast on Show TV and then transferred to Star TV. It is based on the life of Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and his wife Hürrem Sultan, a slave girl who became a Sultan.

Markimdb: 8.6
Genredrama, biography, history
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration02:35
CharactersKings, Strong women
PlotPolitics, Power
PlaceEngland
StyleWorth watching, Atmospheric, Based on real events

The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.

Markimdb: 6.7
Genredrama, history
CountryRussia
Duration02:33
PlotIntrigue
PlaceRussia

We don't have an overview translated in English. Help us expand our database by adding one.

Markimdb: 7.8
Genreaction, drama, adventure, military, history
CountryTurkey

The life of Osman Bey, the son of Ertugrul Gazi and the founder of the Ottoman Empire.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genreaction, drama, military, history
CountryGermany
Duration02:11
PlotWar, Death
PlacePrison

Berlin, summer of 1941, during the World War II. Five young Germans promise to meet again as soon the war ends… in Christmas: brothers Wilhelm and Friedhelm will go to the Russian front. Charlotte will serve as a nurse in a campaign hospital. Greta dreams of becoming a singer. Viktor, her Jewish boyfriend, works as a tailor with her father. But soon their naive wishes of peace and happiness will become a long and tragic nightmare.

Markimdb: 8.5
Genremelodrama, drama, biography, history
CountrySouth Korea
CharactersRich, Orphans, Emperors, Historical doramas
PlotLove, Love triangle
StyleDorama

The story of the woman that would become Empress Ki, and her struggles as she worked her way through war, political conspiracies, and the imperial palace to become Empress of China. This Korean Drama re-imagines the historical figure as a fierce, independent woman who goes to extreme lengths to protect those she loves.

Markimdb: 8.4
Genreaction, drama, history
CountryUnited Kingdom
Duration00:30
CharactersKings, Vikings, Heroes, Soldier, Warriors
PlotWar, Revenge
PlaceEngland
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleSpectacular, By books, Fascinating

A show of heroic deeds and epic battles with a thematic depth that embraces politics, religion, warfare, courage, love, loyalty and our universal search for identity. Combining real historical figures and events with fictional characters, it is the story of how a people combined their strength under one of the most iconic kings of history in order to reclaim their land for themselves and build a place they call home.

Markimdb: 8
Genrefantasy, melodrama, drama, adventure, detective, biography, history
CountryUSA
Duration00:59
CharactersHeroes, Artists, Architects
PlotMagic, Death, Adventures
TimeMiddle Ages, Future
StyleSpectacular, Fascinating

The series follows the "untold" story of Leonardo Da Vinci: the genius during his early years in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

Markimdb: 7.9
Genremelodrama, drama, crime, history
CountryUSA, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Canada
Duration00:55
CharactersPriests
PlotPolitics, Religion, Intrigue, Family life
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleDark, Fascinating

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.

Markimdb: 7
Genrefantasy, drama, adventure, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, Italy, Germany, USA, Turkey, South Africa
Duration02:56
CharactersMonsters, Horses, Heroes
PlotTravel, Adventures, Fate
PlaceSea
StyleSpectacular

The Odyssey is a 1997 American fantasy–adventure television miniseries and Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the miniseries aired in two-parts beginning on May 18, 1997 on NBC. The series later won the award for "Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special". The series is based on the ancient Greek epic poem, The Odyssey, which is usually attributed to Homer. It was filmed in Malta and Turkey, as well as many other places around the Mediterranean, where the story takes place, plus parts of England. The international all-star cast includes Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi, Irene Pappas, Isabella Rossellini, Bernadette Peters, Christopher Lee, and Vanessa L. Williams.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrethriller, drama, military, history
CountryWest Germany, Germany, Czech Republic
Duration01:00
CharactersMilitary, Submariners
PlotWar, Survival, Second world war, Intrigue
PlaceSubmarines
StyleSpectacular, Action

An inexperienced U-boat crew has to survive a secret mission and a young German woman is torn between loyalty for her home country and the French resistance in the WWII drama.

Markimdb: 5.5
Genredrama, history
CountryRussia
PlotDeath
PlaceRussia

18th century, The Russian Empire. The series tells the life story of Darya Saltykova, who was called Saltychikha by serfs. The landowner brutally tortured about one and half hundreds peasants, for which "Russian Elizabeth Bathory" was imprisoned at underground prison, where she spent 33 years until her death. How a young girl who was brought up in a monastery turned into a monster?

Markimdb: 8.1
Genrecomedy, biography, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
CharactersKings, Strong women
PlotIntrigue
PlaceRussia
StyleWomen in the lead roles, Based on real events

A genre-bending, anti-historical ride through 18th century Russia following the rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great and her explosive relationship with husband Peter, the emperor of Russia.

Markimdb: 8.3
Genreaction, drama, adventure, military, history
CountryUSA, Australia
Duration09:00
CharactersMilitary, Friends, Soldier
PlotWar, Survival, Death, Self-sacrifice
PlaceJapan
StyleBased on real events

Track the intertwined real-life stories of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone, and Eugene Sledge – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. A companion piece to the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers.

Markimdb: 7
Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, military, history
CountryGermany, Canada, United Kingdom, Hungary
CharactersWitches, Monks, Knights
PlotViruses
PlaceVillage, England
TimeMiddle Ages
StyleRomantic, Action, By books, Fascinating

Two hundred years after the construction of the great cathedral, the medieval town of Kingsbridge is taken under siege by Queen Isabella. Caris, a visionary young woman, inspires her people to stand up for their rights and revolt against to the most powerful forces of her time, the Church and the Crown.

Markimdb: 6.9
Genredrama, military, history
CountryRussia
Duration07:30

The action of the series takes place from 1938 to 1948 years, and covers key events of the era.

Markimdb: 7.8
Genremelodrama, drama, history
CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
Duration00:59
CharactersThe thieves, Poor
PlotLove, Revolution, Depression, Uprising
Time19th century
StyleAtmospheric, Fancy, By books, Touching

France, 1815. Jean Valjean, a common thief, is released from prison after having lived a hell in life for 19 years, but a small mistake puts the law again on his trail. Ruthless Inspector Javert pursues him thorough years, driven by a twisted sense of justice, while Valjean reforms himself, thrives and dedicates his life to good deeds. In 1832, while the revolution ravages the streets of Paris, Valjean and Javert cross their paths for the last time.

Markimdb: 7.9
Genrehorror, thriller, fantasy, drama, history
CountryUSA
Duration02:37
CharactersMonsters, Indians, Cannibals, Shamans
PlotSurvival, Self-sacrifice, Expeditions
PlaceCourt, Ships
Time19th century
StyleFor men, Atmospheric, Based on real events

The crew of a Royal Naval expedition searching for the Arctic's treacherous Northwest Passage discovers instead a monstrous predator.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genredrama, military, history
CountrySoviet Union, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Vietnam
Duration05:58
CharactersTankers
PlotWar, Second world war, Tanks
TimeThe Great Patriotic War

The Battle of Moscow is a 1985 Soviet multi-part war narrative, presenting a dramatized account of the 1941 Battle of Moscow and the events preceding it. The battle was the first major defeat of German Wehrmacht in the Second World War.





MoviesList