How Alcoholism May Have Saved Western Europe

Recently, I created a YouTube channel for History on Fire. Besides publishing some old HOF episodes (audio only), I am creating original content mixing historical images related to the topic of each video with shots of my impossibly handsome self talking (anti-hotness goggles are strongly recommended to avoid melting your eyes). As it turns out, creating, recording and editing these kinds of videos takes an ungodly amount of time, so I’m focusing on topics small enough that I can discuss them in just a few minutes.

So far, I’ve published the following:

-Alexander the Great’s Drinking Misadventures: whenever Alexander got a bit too drunk, cities went up in flames or people died. That’s just a warmup for the day when he sponsored the deadliest drinking game in history.

-The tale of Gonzalo Guerrero: in this real-life version of Dances with Wolves, a shipwrecked is adopted by a group of Maya in 1511. By the time Cortez shows up to rescue him, Gonzalo is covered in tribal tattoos, married to a Maya woman, is the father to the first mestizos in Mexican history, and has no intention to return to Spain.

-Killers of the Flower Moon: this is a brief overview of the story that I covered in episode 101 of History on Fire (which is also the subject of the Martin Scorsese’s movie on this topic.

Today, I added one more video to this collection. The story of How Alcoholism May Have Saved Western Europe. In the 1240s, the Mongol army seemed unstoppable and well on its way to conquer all of Europe. In this quick video, I explore how booze may have been the key ingredient that prevented the conquest.

If you enjoy these videos (or even if you think they suck but you are still generous enough to throw me a bone), it’d be sweet if you subscribed for free to the YouTube channel.

Have a great day!