are past lives real?

I have often wondered if the theory of past lives is real. There are definitely certain periods of time I feel an extreme connection to. I love history, and there quite a few time periods that I feel like perhaps, I may have been there. I have these thoughts about the time and it contradicts some of the things I've heard about it, but then I research and other people have "proof" that my so-called "thought" was correct, it reaffirms my belief that somehow, someway, I must have been there.

Let me explain the time periods I'm talking about. I am 100% completely obsessed with these time periods, and any and all information I can get I have. (I actually spend most of my free time researching these cultures and civilizations.) Ancient Egypt, (mainly the time of Cleopatra and before her, Queen Nefertiti), King Henry VIII, Titanic, Czar Nicholas II, and WWII. Why do I feel like when I hear names from this time, or when I read about anything concerning the time period, I feel like I was there? I have visions, and it almost seems like memories from being in that place.

Sometimes, they are very vivid. I can see what clothes I was wearing, or what the room I was in looked like in detail. Conversations, facial features, speech patterns, topics of conversation, all of it just hits me and I can't get it out of my head. Maybe I'm just going crazy, maybe I have a natural curiosity for those time periods and just feel like since I know so much about them I must be a part of it.

But this brings me back to the original question, do you think past lives are real? Gives you something to think about doesn't it?