Allies Strike Back • 2009 • episode "S1E5" • Apocalypse: The Second World War

43:40

A great short history of the Japanese Empire, from the early mediaeval strife of the time of the code of the Samurai which carried through to to the opening of Japan to Western trade. There's good detail on how Japan began to rely on its military caste and its deification of its Emperor. The search for Empire is its very undoing as the military seize political power and begins to rival the colossus of the USA for domination of Asia, a disastrous policies that ends beneath the foreboding mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

S1E1 • The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire • 2011 • History

52:45

At the end of the 80s, the Soviet army is being universally modernized, observed closely by western military intelligence in East Germany. Weapons-scouts in the field are constantly on duty, as are agents in high command or in intelligence service stations.

S1E3 • The Spying Game Tales from the Cold War • 2018 • History

58:53

Dr Helen Castor explores the life - and death - of Joan of Arc. Joan was an extraordinary figure - a female warrior in an age that believed women couldn't fight, let alone lead an army. But Joan was driven by faith, and today more than ever we are acutely aware of the power of faith to drive actions for good or ill. Since her death, Joan has become an icon for almost everyone - the left and the right, Catholics and Protestants, traditionalists and feminists. But where in all of this is the real Joan - the experiences of a teenage peasant girl who achieved the seemingly impossible? Through an astonishing manuscript, we can hear Joan's own words at her trial, and as Helen unpicks Joan's story and places her back in the world that she inhabited, the real human Joan emerges.

2015 • History

55:41

When Homo sapiens turned up in prehistoric Europe, they ran into the Neanderthals. The two types of human were similar enough to interbreed — and both created artifacts of similar complexity. But as more and more Homo sapiens moved into Europe, the balance of power shifted. Neanderthals were overwhelmed. Ever since, we’ve had Europe and the rest of the world to ourselves.

Part 5 • First Peoples • 2015 • History

58:21

The strategies behind the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan are explored as well as the new mythology that emerged from the war. The bombing haunted the Soviets and mistrust towards the Allies grew quickly. The consequences of beginning a process that could end life on the planet are examined.

S1E3 • Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States • 2013 • History

46:45

D-Day is underway, but at Omaha Beach, 'the Bedford Boys', volunteers of the US 29th Infantry Division, find themselves thrown into freezing surf and a murderous German cross-fire. As the first assault waves are mown down on the ramps of their landing craft, it looks like the Allied invasion of Europe might be careering towards disaster. But at other beaches the British, Canadian and US troops are soon able to advance inland. For the local French population it is a moment of joy, but also great danger. Hundreds are killed when the RAF bombs the Norman town of Caen – one of their D-Day objectives. The fighting inland is no less fierce than on the beaches. As 'the Longest Day' draws to a close, rumours circulate on both sides that the enemy is shooting its prisoners.

S1E3 • D-Day: The Soldiers Story • 2012 • History