History Was Human
History is usually remembered through wars, revolutions, movements, dates, and famous events. But history did not experience any of those things.
People did.
History Was Human tells the true stories of remarkable people who lived inside the history we now read about—some famous, some forgotten, some misunderstood, and some whose extraordinary lives never received the attention they deserved.
Author Brian R. Smith explores one life at a time, following the historical record beyond the familiar version of events to discover the person behind the name: what they wanted, what they endured, the choices they made, and how the world around them shaped what happened next.
The stories cross cultures, continents, and centuries. Warriors and spies. Rebels and survivors. Leaders, outsiders, and ordinary people caught in extraordinary moments.
Some of these lives have inspired Brian’s historical novels. Others are simply stories too compelling to leave buried in the past.
Because before history became history, it was human.
Episodes
3 episodes
Rain-in-the-Face: The Warrior Behind the Custer Legend
Rain-in-the-Face became one of the most famous Lakota warriors associated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn—but much of what Americans thought they knew about him came from a story that may never have happened.Years before the battle...
Bloody Knife: Custer's Scout, Gall's Enemy
Bloody Knife is often remembered simply as "Custer's favorite scout." His real life was far more complicated.Born to a Hunkpapa Lakota father and an Arikara mother, Bloody Knife grew up between two peoples with a long history of conflict...
Belle Boyd: The Spy Who Would Not Stay Quiet
At seventeen, Belle Boyd shot a Union soldier in her family home. Soon afterward, she began listening to the soldiers assigned to watch her—and passing what she learned to the Confederacy.In the first episode of History Was Human