#1TVExplores WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age, examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and the human cost of total war.
World War II with Tom Hanks
★ 7.72026
History runs reality and documentary hits like Pawn Stars, Ancient Aliens and The Curse of Oak Island, and it has aired in American living rooms since 1995, when it debuted as The History Channel. The History network sits inside A+E Global Media and streams only inside the United States, so history.com and the HISTORY app check your location and shut out anyone whose IP lands in another country. Leave the country and the player throws a geographic-restriction notice.
That matters for US cable subscribers who travel for work or a holiday. A chunk of clips, FAST channels and select episodes play for free, but the full catalog still wants a US pay-TV login. Point Surfshark at a US city and your account behaves like you never left, with playback up to 1080p on the free tier and the rest unlocked by your own provider sign-in.
Tested weekly by our team. Green: works, amber: partial, red: blocked.
| VPN Service | Price | History | Tested | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SurfsharkBEST | From $1.78/mo | ✓ Works | June 11 | Try it |
ExpressVPN | From $2.79/mo | ✓ Works | June 11 | Open |
NordVPN | From $2.99/mo | ✓ Works | June 12 | Open |
Private Internet Access | From $1.79/mo | ✓ Works | June 12 | Open |
IPVanish | From $2.19/mo | ~ Partial | June 8 | Open |
ProtonVPN | From $3.59/mo | ~ Partial | June 12 | Open |
CyberGhost | From $1.75/mo | ~ Partial | June 6 | Open |
Takes about 2 minutes. Works on your phone, tablet, TV, PC, or laptop.
History is only available in the United States. To access it from anywhere else, use a premium VPN.
History is blocked in the United Kingdom, in Australia, in Canada, in New Zealand and in Ireland, plus in 188 more countries. To access it, use a premium VPN like Surfshark.
History, once known as The History Channel, is the US cable network where the past plays out with the pace of reality TV. Pawn Stars, Ancient Aliens, The Curse of Oak Island, Alone, American Pickers and Forged in Fire sit alongside its war and engineering documentaries. The history.com site and HISTORY app are US only: a selection of clips and episodes streams free without signing in, while the full library unlocks once you log in with a US pay TV provider. There is no standalone subscription, and A+E also runs free FAST channels like Pluto TV History.
5 tips from our History testing team · Updated June 12, 2026
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Everything you need to know before subscribing to History.
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