I love the History channel - Sky 529, then repeated on 530.

I believe if you know about history then you know about the present and have better understanding of life - good or bad.

I prefer 20th century history and the History Channel have had some brilliant programmes on world war 1 and 2, the Russian Revolution, Stalinist Russia, post-war Europe and Japan. They have also covered such events as the Iranian Seige and the assassination of J.F Kennedy etc.

If you or your children are studying history at college or uni this is a good channel to view as the programmes often give a good insight - eg often-rare footage or interviews are shown. eg. I recently watched a series of programmes about the Russian Revolution which included film archive plus interviews with Russian citizens and soldiers - brilliant stuff.

I also learned a great deal from the History Channel's series on the Holocaust. When I was at school this was not covered on the history syllabus and not being Jewish I did not really understand the impact of this truly horrific period in Germa history - but, once again, I felt I've learned a lot from watching footage and listening to victims' stories.

The history channel also cover some biographies - I've watched ones about Stalin, Hitler, Hitler's women, Goebels, Eichmann and Freud - brilliant stuff!

Of course one can't mention history without mentioning England - there have been good programmes which have focused on post-war Britain, crime during world war 2, the royal family and colonialism.

In conclusion then, if you want to view an informative and well-produced programme about past events have a look at the history channel!