World War II with Tom Hanks

Last Days of the Reich

In the winter of 1944, as American and British armies are advancing across western Europe, Hitler plans one last major offensive attempt through the Ardennes forest - the

No Surrender

In 1944-45, as Allied victory in Europe seems all but assured, the fighting in the Pacific intensifies. The U.S. and Japan suffer terrible losses in the Philippines and o

Resistance

Resistance to Nazi occupation and oppression has been a constant throughout the war. In the summer of 1944, two cities revolt against the Nazis but meet very different ou

Home Front

As the tide begins to turn against the Axis powers, the leaders of Germany and Japan deploy opposite strategies on their home fronts. Hitler and his propaganda minister d

How Higgins and His Boats Won the War (from HISTORY This Week)

For more stories just like these, check out HISTORY This Week wherever you get your podcasts. June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches

Long Road to Tokyo

The B-29 bomber is the Allies’ best chance to strike Japan, and they turn to China as a potential air base. But Japan launches its largest land offensive of the war to ga

Overlord

After years of discussion over how to take the fight directly to Germany, the Allies set a target for a cross-channel invasion: Normandy, spring of 1944. But the road to

Battle for the Skies

In 1942, the Allies are eager to challenge the Luftwaffe’s superiority in the air. The RAF and U.S. Army Air Forces combine operations to bomb the industrial heart of Ger

Italy

In the summer of 1943, after a successful campaign in North Africa, Churchill convinces Roosevelt that the best way forward is an invasion of the island of Sicily. But w

Stalingrad

In 1942, Hitlers launches his second offensive in the Soviet Union: Operation Blue. Quickly becoming impatient, Hitler splits his force in an attempt to capture both the

Secrets and Lies

Amid World War II’s chaos, a hidden battle rages — a war of espionage, deception, and codebreaking. At Bletchley Park, Alan Turing and his team race to crack Germany's "u

Operation Torch

In 1942, Eisenhower leads the first joint U.S.-British operation of the war – Operation Torch – successfully landing thousands of untested U.S. troops on the Vichy-contro

Darkness Falls

Under Adolf Hitler's leadership, anti-Semitic policies escalate from discrimination to widespread genocide. The state-sponsored persecution features mobile killing squads

Guadalcanal

America’s “day of infamy” at Pearl Harbor is the birth of a new Japanese empire. Japan launches unprecedented attacks across Asia, proclaiming “Asia for the Asians” and p

The War at Sea

In 1940, German U-boats are sinking British hopes of victory. From the sidelines, FDR loans Britain much needed aid and maneuvers US patrols to the edge of an “undeclared

Pearl Harbor

Driven by their desire for resources and an Asian empire, Japan invades China. The US joins the global outcry as Japanese troops brutally destroy the Chinese capital of N

Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, launches on June 22, 1941. In what is the largest military operation in history, Hitler aims t

Blitz

After defeating Poland, Hitler looks west, planning an attack into France that will take advantage of a weak point in their defences. France is overrun and new British Pr

The Beginning

In September 1939, enabled by a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, Germany invades Poland with its lightning style of tank warfare, plunging Europe back i

World War II with Tom Hanks

Coming May 26th: World War II with Tom Hanks reexamines history’s most devastating conflict for a new century. Across twenty hours, the series traces the war’s full arc–f