This illuminating ten-part series tells the story of World War ll through the ten most pivotal turning points in the conflict. Gripping story-telling illustrated with exquisitely restored and colourised archived films and supported by a global cast of stellar historians bring this crucially important era in history to life. In the first chapter, Britain and France declare war when Hitler invades Poland. In May 1940 the Germans attack Holland and Belgium as a decoy. As the Wehrmacht comes through the Ardennes and the Luftwaffe strikes in force, French leaders are caught like rabbits in headlights. The Germans are on a drug called Pervitin, which beats off fatigue, and reach the Atlantic coast. There is a danger that the Germans will encircle the Allies and cut them off from the sea. But Hitler issues his Halt Order and some 340,000 Allies are evacuated.
It's a timeless classic of children's literature and the third most-quoted book in English after the Bible and Shakespeare. But what lies behind the extraordinary appeal of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to generations of adults and children alike? To mark the 150th anniversary of its publication, this documentary explores the life and imagination of the man who wrote it, the Reverend Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll." Broadcaster and journalist Martha Kearney delves into the biographies of both Carroll himself and of the young girl, Alice Liddell, who inspired his most famous creation. Kearney's lifelong passion for Carroll's work began as a young girl, when she starred as Carroll's heroine Alice in her local village play. She discusses the book with a range of experts, biographers and distinguished cultural figures - from the actor Richard E Grant to children's author Philip Pullman - and explores with them the mystery of how a retiring, buttoned-up and meticulous mathematics don, who spent almost his entire life within the cloistered confines of Christ Church Oxford, was able to capture the world of childhood in such a captivating way
A searing and courageous feature-length documentary delves into one of the most painful and under examined chapters in collegiate athletics history. Through raw, emotional interviews with former student-athletes—including wrestlers and other victims—it confronts the decades of abuse inflicted by Dr. Richard Strauss at Ohio State University, and the systemic failures that allowed him to prey on vulnerable young men across nearly two decades. The film doesn’t just recount trauma; it exposes the deep institutional complicity and silencing, featuring voices demanding truth, accountability, and justice.
There is a tendency to deny German culture the equal reverence of Italy or Spain, and this enlightening new series provides a wonderful opportunity to explore a great, yet often neglected, artistic tradition whose influence has been just as profound. Andrew Graham-Dixon concludes his exploration of German art by investigating the dark and difficult times of the 20th century. Dominating the landscape is the figure of Adolf Hitler, failed artist, would-be architect and obsessed with the aesthetics of his 1,000-year Reich". In a series of extraordinary building projects and exhibitions, Hitler waged a propaganda war against every form of modern art as a prelude to unleashing total war on the whole of Europe. After the war the shadow of the Third Reich persisted, Germany remained divided and traumatised. How would artists deal with a past that everybody wanted to forget? Journeying through the work of Otto Dix and George Grosz and the age of the Bauhaus to the post-war painters Georg Baselitz, Hilla Becher and the conceptual artist Joseph Beuys is a long and strange journey, but the signs that art has a place at the heart of the new reunited Germany are clearly visible.
It tells the story of FIFA World Cup of 1950, highlighting (but also showing other nations) the path of the two teams who played the final match: Uruguay and Brazil. The high quality of the footage is amazing, the text is smart and humorous, the music has been very well chosen in order to represent both the emotions involved in each moment and the contrast between the calmness of Uruguayan preparation and the crowded days of Brazilian team." The whole story shows not only one side. While Uruguayan team acquired confidence after an initial mistrust, Brazil was by far the best team in the competition but was heavily influenced by the environment in Brazilian society, the influence of politics and the pressure of the fans. While Uruguay overcame heroically all the constraints and, led by Obdulio Varela, won a title that few people believed, Brazilians got shocked because they considered themselves champions even before the final match, and their players became stigmatized until nowadays, not being celebrated as the fantastic team they were.
The dome that crowns Florence's great cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo, is a masterpiece of Renaissance ingenuity and an enduring source of mystery. Still the largest masonry dome on earth, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty and weighs as much as an average cruise ship. Historians and engineers have long debated how its architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, kept the dome perfectly aligned and symmetrical as the sides rose and converged toward the center." More than four million bricks could collapse at any moment -- and we still don't understand how Brunelleschi prevented it. To test the latest theories, a team of U.S. bricklayers will help build an experimental "mini-Duomo" using period tools and techniques.
In the first chapter, Britain and France declare war when Hitler invades Poland. In May 1940 the Germans attack Holland and Belgium as a decoy. As the Wehrmacht comes through the Ardennes and the Luftwaffe strikes in force, French leaders are caught like rabbits in headlights. The Germans are on a drug called Pervitin, which beats off fatigue, and reach the Atlantic coast. There is a danger that the Germans will encircle the Allies and cut them off from the sea. But Hitler issues his Halt Order and some 340,000 Allies are evacuated.