Riding the Tiger (1961-1963) • 2017 • episode "S1E2" • The Vietnam War

43:58

This is one of the last and greatest untold stories of the Second World War, revealed by the last surviving Chief of State, King Michael I of Romania. “We took the train to Berlin to see the other side of the coin and we had lunch with Hitler. It wasn’t an enjoyable meeting.” It is the story of a King’s decision who, in a critical moment of the Second World War, relinquished Germany’s support, guiding Romania towards the Allies, thus bringing about a quicker end to the war. It is a story of palatial intrigues. And a story of deceptions. From Buckingham Palace to Bucharest. From Moscow to Washington. Lost diplomatic signals, aristocrat spies and blackmail at gun point. And the courage of a young king who dared. Romania, at the outbreak of the Second World War, was a very young nation, with an age of only 20 years.

2017 • History

50:02

Mehmed the Conquerer must defend his empire and protect his plans for western expansion against a new challenger...Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia.

S2E1 • Rise of Empires: Ottoman • 2022 • History

29:55

The times were turbulent around 1100 AD, when West-Roman Christianity was spreading out in all directions. The Crusades were part of it - perhaps the most important, certainly the best known. The advance of the Islamic Selchuks could not be stopped, especially their attacks on the travel routes of the pilgrims, who were on their way to the holy Christian sites. When news of raids mounted, the Patriarch of the Eastern Roman Church Alexios I asked Rome for help. Even then, Christianity was divided - not into Catholics and Protestants, but into the Eastern Roman (Orthodox) and Western Roman Churches. The Crusades took place in the middle of tension between these different interest groups. The expansion of the West Romans cut a swath through the Islamic territories, which had by then reached the climax of their development. The Byzantine realm increasingly lost its importance. It was not a battle of cultures, not a struggle against Islam, but a chaotic confrontation of warlords and princes. The main goal of the crusades – the conquest of Jerusalem – was soon forgotten, and the first conquest ended with bloodbaths among the civilian population that are still notorious today. The following crusades were equally infamous and far from an honor to Christianity. This program examines the forces behind European determination to capture Palestine, linking the belligerence of medieval Crusaders with their piousness. Drs. Klaus Herbers of Friedrich Alexander University and Patrick Franke of Martin Luther University draw surprising parallels between East and West, focusing on martyrdom as a vital component of the Crusader's motivation, interreligious notions of knightly behavior, and cases of negotiation and cultural exchange despite numerous atrocities and military disasters. Without neglecting the harsh realities of the Crusades, In the Name of Christ presents a fresh perspective on the medieval clash of Christian and Islamic powers.

S1E1 • The Holy Wars: War and Religion • 2004 • History

44:54

The National Geographic Channel EXPLORER series takes on the August 6, 1945, U.S. Air Force atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, in this chronological retelling of the 24 hours following the event. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945, was a moment that changed the world. Power that fueled the stars had been unleashed and turned into a lethal technology. Now learn the second-by-second story of that defining moment through those hit hardest by that weapon--the survivors. On August 6th, 1945 a weapon unlike any other before was unleashed on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Four days later, the Japanese surrendered having been subjected to horrors and devastation previously unknown and unimaginable. But beyond the horror and human toll, real scientific questions remained unanswered. In 1945, a team of scientists and experts from the Manhattan Project was ordered by President Truman to investigate the facts of what really happened when the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. National Geographic reveals the incredible science behind what happened moment by moment in the 24 Hours After Hiroshima.

Explorer • 2010 • History

67:28

For the last 35 years, they have been exploring the most mythical wreck in the world, but now 108 years after it sank, the Titanic is under threat. Resting at over 12,500 feet below sea level and 380 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, in pitch darkness, the most famous shipwreck in the world is being consumed by a colony of iron-eating bacteria. This slow and irreversible decay, according to the most concerned experts, will sweep away all the secrets of the mythic liner within a few decades.

2021 • History

26:50

Through public relations spin, revisionist history and censorship. Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin found a certain flexibility with the truth useful.

S1E4 • How to Become a Tyrant • 2021 • History