BBC History of World War II

[GrossBorn]

I was reading a magazine and saw this series advertised for $150. It is a 12-disc set. Can any of our British cousins give a recommendation on this series?

[von Poop]

Looks like it's a compilation of the BBC's 'shinier' ww2 documentaries:
BBC History of World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1. "The Nazis: A Warning From History." (1997, 6 Episodes, 290mins, 4:3 Fullscreen, 2 Discs) - On the reasons behind the rise and fall of the Nazis
2. "The Road To War." (1989, 4 Episodes, 195mins, 4:3 Fullscreen, 1 Disc) - On how Britain, Italy, Japan and the USA entered the war.
3. "Dunkirk." (2004, 3 Episodes, 176mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 1 Disc) - On the evacuation from Dunkirk (Drama) .
4. "War of the Century." (1999, 4 Episodes, 190mins, 4:3 Fullscreen, 1 Disc) - On the Russo-German War
5. "Battle Of the Atlantic." (2002, 3 Episodes, 146mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 1 Disc) - On the U-boats and the Atlantic convoys.
6. "Horrors Of The East." (2000, 2 Episodes, 98mins, 4:3 Fullscreen, 1 Disc) - On the Japanese Army and the Asia-Pacific war - Supplements on the Indian Army and the Burma War.
7. "Battlefields." (2001, 4 Episodes, 194mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 1 Disc) - On El Alamein, Monte Cassino, Arnhem and RAF Bomber Command (the firebombing of German cities)
8. "D-Day: Reflections of Courage." (2004, 2 Episodes, 90mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 1 Disc) - On the events surrounding D-Day (Docu-drama)
9. "D-Day To Berlin." (2004, 3 Episodes, 150mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 1 Disc) - On the breakout from Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and the German surrender (Docu-drama)
10. "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State." (2005, 6 Episodes, 300mins, 16:9 Anamorphic, 2 Discs) - On the Nazis' conceptualisation and implementation of the Final Solution (Docu-drama)

I don't remember all of 'em but 'The Nazis, a warning from history' was a rather good series, as were the Auschwitz thing (if I'm thinking of the right one), 'Battle of the Atlantic', & 'War of the Century'. I didn't really get on with the Dunkirk one as I found it a bit too glossy & dramatised.

[Rich Payne]

I agree with Adam's criticism of the "Dunkirk" series. far too sensationalised and lacking hard facts but typical thus of the new BBC. I like lots of archive film and there wasn't much of that. Plenty of reenactors and some docu-drama story about a sailor boy whose boyfriend didn't come back if I remember.

[Kjaersgaard]

"The Nazis: A Warning From History" and "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State." was very good and informative.
On the other hand I also enjoyed the Dunkirk series. It seemed quite intriguing based on the side stories which Rich states concerning the sailors etc. But that's just me

[Mark Hone]

It's a very good purchase. Most of the series are excellent, particularly 'Nazis' and 'Battle of the Atlantic'. I use extracts from several of them in my History lessons. I disagree about 'Dunkirk'. Although it does have its weaknesses it presents the issues vividly and does emphasise that the primary role in evacuation was the Royal Navy's rather than the small ships, gallant as they were. Having said that Simon Russell Beale, fine an actor though he is, is far too young for Churchill and some of the other dramatized sequences look rather phoney, and victims of budget restrictions. At one point a British Company appears to surrender to the massed ranks of three Germans and an armoured car! Some incidents recounted as fact seem a bit dubious-did McCorqudale really order the shooting of a British officer who was trying to withdraw as shown in episode 3? I use the version of the Wormhoudt massacre in the programme in class alongside some of the eyewitness accounts of survivors given to the Judge Advocate's Office after the war. It is a very interesting exercise as all the sources contradict each other, showing the problems of using eyewitness evidence! Incidentally, look out for Clement Attlee's grandson playing Clement Attlee in the War Cabinet scenes, a nice touch.
Programmes missing from the boxed set are the drama-doc the BBC did for the 60th anniversary of D-Day (with similar strengths and weaknesses to 'Dunkirk', including an Eisenhower without a discernible American accent) and the superlative 'Hiroshima' which uses eyewitness accounts, reconstructions and archive footage in what is surely the best programme of its kind ever made. This outstanding documentary counters the broad-brush criticism of recent BBC History programmes made in an earlier posting. It is well worth buying in its own right.
On the whole I would defend the BBC's recent trend towards 'drama docs' rather than old-fashioned documentaries. Some are rather naff it must be said (the recent 'Hannibal' and 'Attila The Hun' spring to mind) but others are absolutely first-rate and leave you wanting to find out more. Examples would be 'Hiroshima',cited above, 'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' and 'Space Race'. The mammoth series 'Days That Shook The World' , which has some superb episodes, has just been released on DVD in the UK. I use extracts from all of these in the classroom. They have also made specific schools programmes in this vein, such as 'The Soviets', 'Cold War' and 'American Voices' which are all very good. As a firm opponent of 'dumbing down' in education I cannot fault these productions.