Best History Shows of the 2010s (Ranked)

All genres Action Adventure Romance Animation Crime Drama Comedy Mystery Thriller Fantasy Reality-TV Sci-Fi Family Documentary Horror History Music

All time Still airing 2020s 2010s

Chernobyl

★9.3Ended

#1Score 9.301.1M IMDb votes

In April 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics becomes one of the world's worst man-made catastrophes.

The Vietnam War

★9.1Ended

#2Score 9.0037.5k IMDb votes

A comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.

When They See Us

★8.8Ended

#3Score 8.78162.4k IMDb votes

Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

New

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

★8.8Ongoing(2014– )

#4Score 8.77106.2k IMDb votes

Former Daily Show host and correspondent John Oliver brings his persona to this weekly news satire program.

The Crown

★8.6Ended(2016– )

#5Score 8.59285.7k IMDb votes

Follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the twentieth century.

Call the Midwife

★8.6Ongoing(2012– )

#6Score 8.5336.3k IMDb votes

Chronicles the lives of a group of midwives living in East London in the late 1950s to late 1960s.

Vikings

★8.5Ended(2013– )

#7Score 8.50651.8k IMDb votes

Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.

Boardwalk Empire

★8.5Ended(2010–2014)

#8Score 8.49220.8k IMDb votes

An Atlantic City politician plays both sides of the law by conspiring with gangsters during the Prohibition era.

The Last Kingdom

★8.5Ended(2015– )

#9Score 8.49193.7k IMDb votes

As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred--born a Saxon but raised by Vikings--seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.

Warrior 2019

★8.4Ended

#10Score 8.3654.6k IMDb votes

During the Tong Wars in the late 1800s, Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy from China, immigrates to San Francisco and becomes a hatchet man for the most powerful tong in Chinatown.

The Knick

★8.4Ended(2014–2015)

#11Score 8.3657.8k IMDb votes

A look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the twentieth century.

Babylon Berlin

★8.4Ongoing

#12Score 8.3434.5k IMDb votes

Colognian commissioner Gereon Rath moves to Berlin, the epicenter of political and social changes in the Golden Twenties.

The Pacific

★8.3Ended

#13Score 8.29146.4k IMDb votes

The Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.

Dark Side of the Ring

★8.7Ongoing(2019– )

#14Score 8.264.8k IMDb votes

From backstage controversies to mysterious deaths and unsolved homicides, this series explores the darkest stories from the golden age of professional wrestling, and tries to find truth at the intersection of fantasy and reality.

Black Sails

★8.2Ended(2014–2017)

#15Score 8.18127.6k IMDb votes

Follows Captain Flint and his pirates twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel "Treasure Island."

Poldark

★8.2Ended

#16Score 8.1641.7k IMDb votes

Ross Poldark returns home after American Revolutionary War and rebuilds his life with a new business venture, making new enemies and finding a new love where he least expects it.

Victoria

★8.2Ended

#17Score 8.1535.6k IMDb votes

The early life of Queen Victoria, from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 to her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.

Genius 2017

★8.2Ended

#18Score 8.1221.3k IMDb votes

The life stories of history's greatest minds. From their days as young adults to their final years we see their discoveries, loves, relationships, causes, flaws and genius.

Wolf Hall

★8.2Ended

#19Score 8.1119k IMDb votes

After the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, his secretary, Thomas Cromwell, finds himself amongst the treachery and intrigue of King Henry VIII's court and soon becomes a close advisor to the King, a role fraught with danger.

War and Peace

★8.1Ended

#20Score 8.0530.3k IMDb votes

As the Russian conflict with Napoleon reaches its peak, five aristocratic families face the possibility of their lives being changed forever.

Turn

★8.1Ended

#21Score 8.0426.3k IMDb votes

A Long Island farmer bands together a group of childhood friends to form an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence.

Gentleman Jack

★8.1Ended(2019– )

#22Score 8.0118k IMDb votes

A dramatization of the life of lesbian trailblazer, voracious learner, and cryptic diarist Anne Lister.

The Hollow Crown

★8.2Ended

#23Score 8.018.1k IMDb votes

A mini-series of adaptations of Shakespeare's history plays: Richard II, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V.

The Pillars of the Earth

★8.0Ended

#24Score 7.9635.7k IMDb votes

Set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.

Five Came Back

★8.2Ended

#25Score 7.955.7k IMDb votes

The wartime contributions of five prominent Hollywood film directors during World War II are profiled.

The Looming Tower

★8.0Ended

#26Score 7.9319.8k IMDb votes

A look at how the rivalry between the CIA and FBI inadvertently set the stage for the tragedy of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

★8.0Ended

#27Score 7.9115.4k IMDb votes

In an alternate history, during the time of real life Napoleonic Wars, two men of destiny, the gifted recluse Mr. Norrell and daring spellcasting novice Jonathan Strange, use magic to help England.

The Hour UK

★8.0Ended

#28Score 7.8912.6k IMDb votes

A behind-the-scenes drama and espionage thriller in Cold War-era England that centers on a journalist, a producer, and an anchorman for an investigative news programme.

The Borgias

★7.9Ended(2011–2013)

#29Score 7.8857k IMDb votes

In the fifteenth century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war, and marriage alliances.

Da Vincis Demons

★7.9Ended(2013–2015)

#30Score 7.8881.8k IMDb votes

Follows Leonardo Da Vinci during his early days in Florence, as a young artist, inventor and dreamer, trying to change the future.

The Spy

★7.9Ended

#31Score 7.8858.7k IMDb votes

Based on the life of Israeli spy Eli Cohen.

Marco Polo

★7.9Ended(2014–2016)

#32Score 7.8885k IMDb votes

In a world replete with greed, betrayal, sexual intrigue and rivalry, "Marco Polo" is based on the famed explorer's adventures in Kublai Khan's court in 13th century Mongolia.

The Normal Heart

★7.9

#33Score 7.8740.2k IMDb votes

A gay activist attempts to raise H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. awareness during the early 1980s.

Versailles 2015

★7.9Ended

#34Score 7.8420.8k IMDb votes

In 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.

When Calls the Heart

★7.9Ongoing

#35Score 7.8316.9k IMDb votes

Elizabeth Thatcher, a young school teacher from a wealthy Eastern family, migrates from the big city to teach school in a small coal mining town in the west.

The Sixties

★8.4Ended

#36Score 7.791.9k IMDb votes

Interviews and archival footage focusing on the politics, music, technical advancements, drugs and the "free love" movement of the 1960s.

And Then There Were None

★7.8Ended

#37Score 7.7850.1k IMDb votes

Ten strangers are invited to an island by a mysterious host, and start to get killed one by one. Could one of them be the killer?

The Terror

★7.8Ongoing(2018– )

#38Score 7.7864k IMDb votes

Supernatural, semihistorical, horror anthology series, where each season is inspired by a different infamous or mysterious real life historical tragedy.

Waco

★7.8Ended

#39Score 7.7629.1k IMDb votes

The FBI and ATF seize religious leader David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas in the spring of 1993.

Harley and the Davidsons

★8.0Ended

#40Score 7.743.9k IMDb votes

Bill Harley joins Walter and Arthur Davidson to risk their fortunes and livelihoods launching the now-iconic motorcycle company. Each has his own challenges to overcome, but they are united by their dreams and ambitions.

Drunk History

★7.8Ended(2013– )

#41Score 7.7314.1k IMDb votes

Historical reenactments by A-list talent are presented by inebriated storytellers.

Underground

★7.9Ended

#42Score 7.735.9k IMDb votes

With the country on the brink of Civil War, the struggle for freedom is more dangerous than ever. Underground follows the story of American heroes and their moving journey to freedom.

Les Miserables

★7.8Ended

#43Score 7.7110.8k IMDb votes

Television adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel, which follows Jean Valjean as he evades capture by the unyielding Inspector Javert. Set against a backdrop of post-Napoleonic France as unrest begins to grip the city of Paris ...

Plebs

★7.8Ended

#44Score 7.7111.5k IMDb votes

PLEBS follows three desperate young men from the suburbs as they try to get laid, hold down jobs, and climb the social ladder in the big city - a city that happens to be Ancient Rome.

The Alienist

★7.7Ended

#45Score 7.6965.3k IMDb votes

Newspaper illustrator John Moore meets with criminal psychologist (alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to investigate a serial killer in New York during the late 19th century.

The White Queen

★7.7Ended

#46Score 7.6734.7k IMDb votes

Three different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.

The Seventies

★8.2Ended(2015)

#47Score 7.671.7k IMDb votes

A documentary series focusing on the ongoing Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, evolving music industry, the Iran Hostage Crisis, the sexual revolution, and the rise of foreign and domestic terrorism.

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman

★7.8Ended

#48Score 7.655.6k IMDb votes

Morgan Freeman presents his quest in order to find how most religions perceive life after death, what different civilizations thought about the act of creation and other big questions that mankind has continuously asked.

The Paradise

★7.7Ended(2012–2013)

#49Score 7.6413.9k IMDb votes

The story of a young woman who works in a department store and gets caught up in the charms of the modern world.

Bomb Girls

★7.8Ended(2012– )

#50Score 7.634.8k IMDb votes

A drama about World War II women at work in a munitions factory.

Score = IMDb rating weighted by vote count (Bayesian average). Shows need at least 1,000 votes to be ranked.

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Best History Shows of the 2010s