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.
Focuses on the fierce rivalry that took place in the laboratories in Britain, Holland, France and Poland as they sought the ultimate extreme of cold. The program will follow the extraordinary discoveries of superconductivity and superfluidity and the attempt to produce a new form of matter that Albert Einstein predicted would exist within a few billionths of degrees above absolute zero.
This episode examines the end of and the period immediately after World War II. It looks at Stalin's efforts to seize control of Poland and Eastern Europe, Democratic part bosses efforts to drop Henry Wallace from the 1944 presidential ticket, and British efforts to maintain their colonial holdings after the war.
In Episodes 7–9, you’ll witness breathtaking moments as Ewan and Charley set up camp on a secluded Finnish island and test their skills at logrolling in the tranquil lakes. After 3,000 miles of relentless mechanical issues, Ewan faces the ultimate setback when his bike finally gives out—until a team of Estonian mechanics steps in to bring the adventure back to life. This stretch of the journey is steeped in nostalgia as the friends retrace the same roads they traveled two decades ago, discovering how much the world—and themselves—have changed. Along the way, they make an emotional stop at a Ukrainian refugee center, where stories of resilience and hope leave an unforgettable mark.
From the first shots fired in Poland to the dawn of the atomic age, this gripping documentary revisits the most devastating conflict in modern history with the scale, urgency, and human focus it demands. Through decisive battles, world-changing leaders such as Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin rare wartime perspectives, and the immense suffering of soldiers and civilians, it shows how total war reshaped nations, destroyed millions of lives, and forced humanity into a new and terrifying era. The first three episodes plunge directly into the war’s explosive beginnings. In September 1939, Germany invades Poland after a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin clears the path for aggression, setting Europe on fire once again. As Nazi forces crush the Netherlands and Belgium and drive west, Churchill prepares Britain for an air assault while Roosevelt races to turn American industry into a weapon of survival. The story then moves to Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s colossal surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the largest and most costly land offensive ever launched, where ambition, brutality, and resistance collide on an unimaginable scale.
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.