Category: Northern & Western Countries

First broadcast in 1964The Great War was the definitive film account of the world shattering events of World War I (1914 - 1918) a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece. 26 Episodes. The main narrator was Michael Redgrave. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the BBC, CBC and ABC. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war episodes 1 - 6 to 1914, 7 - 10 to 1915, 11 - 14 to 1916, 15 - 19 to 1917, 20 - 23 and 26 to 1918 ...
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Controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson argues that in the last century there were not in fact two World Wars and a Cold Warbut a single Hundred Years' War. It was not nationalism that powered the conflicts of the century, but empires. It was not ideologies of class or the advent of socialism driving the century, but race. Ultimately, ethnic conflict underpinned 20th century violence. Finally, it was not the west that triumphed as the century progressed, in fact, power slowly and steadily migrated towards the new empires of the East. Episode 2 The Plan - How the US became the envy of the world in the aftermath of World War One, a state of affairs that was shattered by the Wall Street crash. He also considers the effect of the Great Depression on people's attitudes to capitalism and democracy, and how it led to the rise of totalitarian states ...
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World War II In HD Colour is a 13 episode television documentary series recounting the major events of World War II narrated by Robert Powell. The series combines both original and colourised footage. With the very latest satellite delivered terrain mapping and state of the art graphics this story can now be told with access to information which was not previously available to other older series. Conventional wisdom has recently changed as more and more secrets have been revealed particularly in the last five to ten years as documentsfiles and photographs have been released. Code breaking revelations, and newly released government papers on both sides of the Atlantic have added a very insightful new dimension to the understanding of this the worlds' greatest ever conflict. Episode 10 Closing the Ring - The Allies are now on the offensive on all three fronts. As their forces push through Europe soldiers start ...
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Documentary on the causes of the First World War. Uses archive film from eight countries to try and piece together the attitudes of the leaders of the Great Powers. Also looks at whether it could happen again ...
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Certain landmarks have captured the imagination and awe of modern architects and engineers around the world as they work to solve the mystery of how their ancient forebears were able to construct such beautiful timeless and revolutionary structures with none of the machines and materials available to modern engineers. Episode Chartres Cathedral - is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture but behind its towering walls lies the tale of an intense power struggle between French aristocrats and the Catholic Church ...
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Egypt is the title of a BBC television drama serial about various archaeological discoveries taking place in that country's history with the occasional flashback scene involving actors portraying the ancient Egyptians themselves. Episode 5 The Mystery of the Rosetta Stone - The young Champollionencouraged to develop his gift for languages by his elder brother, becomes obsessed with deciphering hieroglyphs as a means to telling the age of the world and revenging France against the British who had confiscated the stone in 1801 ...
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Hitler's Henchmen and Hitler's Warriors paints portraits of the men who consolidated Hitler's reign and turned his plans into action. They wove the complicities and plots without which Hitler could have never perpetrated the crime of the century. They helped to sway the judges and the bureaucratsthe armed forces and the police, the scientists and the industrialists, the students and their teachers to the regime's ways of thinking. What kind of people were they? What inspired them to serve a corrupt administration with such enthusiasm and devotion? How did their careers unfold and their fates end? These documentaries by Guiddo Knopp and ZDF looks at the high ranking officers who aided the dictator in his war of aggression and managers who turned his plans into reality ...
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Martin Luther is the epic tale of the great Protestant revolutionary whose belief in his faith would overthrow the all powerful Catholic Church and reshape Medieval Europe. Join Luther as he recalls his lifefrom his initial crisis of faith in a storm wracked forest that led him to become a monk, to his heady confrontation with the great powers of Europe It is the story of the birth of the modern age, of the collapse of medieval feudalism, and the first shaping of ideals of freedom and liberty that lie at the heart of the 21st century. But this is also an intensely human tale, a story that hurtles from the depths of despair to the heights of triumph and back again. This is the story of a man who ultimately found himself a lightning conductor of history, crackling with forces he could not quite comprehend or control. Driven to ...
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A departure from other documentaries that observe history as the actions of great men People's Century considers the Century from the view of common people. Most persons interviewed were ordinary men and women who closely witnessed various events and they give personal accounts how developments in the Twentieth Century affected their lives. The opening credits depict various images from the century and a very short introduction. Episode 10 Total War 1939 - The Second World War enmeshes civilians to the horrors of war on an unprecedented scale. Germany and Japan, in seeking living space, kill and enslave entire populations in the Soviet Union and Asia respectively. Initially considered barbarous, people begin to accept as fair game the aerial bombing of civilian populations, and escalating calls for retaliation bring destruction to cities including Plymouth, Hamburg and Tokyo. Civilians are also in the front line in the Siege of Leningrad, but despite ...
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First broadcast in 1964The Great War was the definitive film account of the world shattering events of World War I (1914 - 1918) a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece. 26 Episodes. The main narrator was Michael Redgrave. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the BBC, CBC and ABC. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war episodes 1 - 6 to 1914, 7 - 10 to 1915, 11 - 14 to 1916, 15 - 19 to 1917, 20 - 23 and 26 to 1918 ...
Watch Now

First broadcast in 1964The Great War was the definitive film account of the world shattering events of World War I (1914 - 1918) a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece. 26 Episodes. The main narrator was Michael Redgrave. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the BBC, CBC and ABC. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war episodes 1 - 6 to 1914, 7 - 10 to 1915, 11 - 14 to 1916, 15 - 19 to 1917, 20 - 23 and 26 to 1918 ...
Watch Now

Controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson argues that in the last century there were not in fact two World Wars and a Cold Warbut a single Hundred Years' War. It was not nationalism that powered the conflicts of the century, but empires. It was not ideologies of class or the advent of socialism driving the century, but race. Ultimately, ethnic conflict underpinned 20th century violence. Finally, it was not the west that triumphed as the century progressed, in fact, power slowly and steadily migrated towards the new empires of the East. Episode 3 Killing Space - How the rise of the Axis powers led to a fundamental redrawing of the world map. He pinpoints 1942 as a pivotal year, and considers how the 20th century might have unfolded had World War Two ended differently, with totalitarian regimes dividing the globe between them ...
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World War II In HD Colour is a 13 episode television documentary series recounting the major events of World War II narrated by Robert Powell. The series combines both original and colourised footage. With the very latest satellite delivered terrain mapping and state of the art graphics this story can now be told with access to information which was not previously available to other older series. Conventional wisdom has recently changed as more and more secrets have been revealed particularly in the last five to ten years as documentsfiles and photographs have been released. Code breaking revelations, and newly released government papers on both sides of the Atlantic have added a very insightful new dimension to the understanding of this the worlds' greatest ever conflict. Episode 12 Victory in Europe - From three sides the British, Americans and Soviets are starting to shred through what is left of the Third ...
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Legend has it that the triumphal march of television began in the United States in the 1950s but in reality its origins hark back much further. Nazi leadersdetermined to beat Great Britain and the U.S. to be the world's first television broadcaster, began Greater German Television in March 1935. German viewers enjoyed their TV broadcasts until September 1944, as Allied troops closed in. Making use of 285 reels of film discovered in the catacombs of the Berlin Federal Film Archive, Television Under the Swastika is a fascinating look at the world's first television broadcast network. It explores both the technology behind this new medium, and the programming the Nazis chose to put on it. Interviews with high ranking Nazis as well as ordinary people on the streetcooking shows, sporting events, cabaret acts and teleplays are some of the stunning finds seen here-all of it propaganda, but some of it quite ...
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Each half hour episode looks at a major fighting people or force and charts the reasons for their rise to dominance and subsequent fall. The show explores the motivations of ancient soldiersas well as how they lived, fought, trained, died, and changed the world. It also uses battle re-enactments and computer graphics to demonstrate military strategy. This series from the Discovery Channel is especially good for the lesser known groups of warriors. Episode 10 The Knights Templar - The Knights Templar crusade to take back the Holy Land. A thousand years after Christ was crucified the holiest site in Christendom was seized and defiled. The pope beseeched all Christians to unite in a great crusade. Go forward boldly as knights of Christ. Hurrying swiftly to defend the church His call was headed by a new order of knights who pledged their lives to retake the holy land. Warrior monks fighting ...
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