Mission Behind the Iron Curtain • 2018 • episode "S1E2" • The Spying Game Tales from the Cold War

104:23

A suspenseful, immersive look at the lengths to which people will go to gain freedom. The film follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea, one of the most oppressive places on earth and a land they grew up believing was a paradise. At the film's core are a mother desperate to reunite with the child she was forced to leave behind; a family of five - including small children and an elderly grandmother - embarking on a treacherous journey across the Yalu River and into the hostile mountains of China; and a South Korean Christian pastor on a mission to help them. Leaving their homeland is fraught with danger - severe punishment if caught and possibly even execution - as well as potential exploitation by unscrupulous brokers. Family members who remain behind may also face retribution. Yet these individuals are driven to take the risk. Gripping, visceral and urgent, Madeleine Gavin's film embeds the viewer with these family members as they attempt their perilous escape, palpably conveying life-or-death stakes.

2024 • History

47:01

The story of Hitler's lightning invasion of France and its rapid collapse, of the evacuation from Dunkirk, and of the summer of 1940 when Britain fought on alone. In new digital colour, this episode shows the Battle of Britain and the Blitz.

S1E2 • Apocalypse: The Second World War • 2009 • History

43:24

In September 1944, Allied forces undertook Operation Market Garden, a joint air and ground mission with the aim of ending the Second World War by Christmas. Though the initiative liberated much of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation and established a foothold from which the Allies could make later offensives into Germany, it was considered a costly failure with lasting consequences.

S1E5 • World War II: Race to Victory • 2020 • History

59:10

Continuing his fascinating journey to rediscover the central role played by the Ottoman empire in Europe and the Middle East, Rageh Omaar explores the huge contrasts in the times of two very different Ottoman sultans. The most famous Suleiman the Magnificent in the golden age of the 16th century and the troubled reign of Abdul Hamid II in the 19th century when the Ottomans were dubbed 'the Sick Man of Europe'. Rageh examines the cultural legacy as well as the physical, religious and political architecture of Ottoman rule to find out what a Muslim world run from Europe was really like. It reveals the backdrop to the relationship between Islam and Europe today, how the Ottomans became central in the power politics of Europe and what could have happened had they succeeded in their successive bids to seize Vienna, then a key European capital.

S1E2 • The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors • 2013 • History

89:55

In these two 2-hour specials, HISTORY channel digs deep beneath the surface of our collective understanding of the Third Reich to unearth what we don't know about the individuals who comprised one of the most fascinating and complex regimes of recent history. Part 2: The Fall How did the Germans experience the Allied victory in WWII? Rarely-and never-before-seen amateur films recount the catastrophic downfall of the Third Reich through the eyes of the people who lived it: the Germans themselves.

S1E2 • Third Reich: The Rise and Fall • 2010 • History

118:59

This is the glorious story of the Hittites - the most powerful people in the Near East of their time. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons, "The Hittites" brings the fascinating history of this mighty empire to life with expert interviews, stunning cinematography, dramatic reenactments, and visual effects. Highlights include a breathtaking recreation of the controversial battle of Kadesh that decimated the armies of Egypt's Pharaoh Ramesses II. Based on the actual words of the Hittites, deciphered from ancient clay tablets excavated in the 20th century, their story unfolds as beautifully as it written almost 3500 years earlier.

2003 • History