BBC The History of World War II

BBC Warner

R1 DVD Set

In 1975 Thames Television released its epic “The World At War”, a 26-part series of such high quality and interest that it was widely mistaken for a BBC production. If you are expecting this DVD set to be an update to “The World At War”, it isn’t. It is a collection of documentaries and series produced by the BBC over the last fifteen or so years. There is no serious attempt at a timeline of World War 2 and the whole series is very Europe-oriented. I find this to be a bit limiting compared with “The World At War”. Some important areas of the war have been completely ignored or seriously abbreviated.

It also features a number of “dramatizations”, something I have a bit of trouble with in a serious historical documentary. “Dunkirk” is a complete “docu-drama”, and in spite of its quality I am not sure how relevant it is to a historical set like this. Unfortunately in recent years there has been a trend towards dramatizations to make up for simple lack of other content, so I guess we are stuck with them.

A word of warning. The set has been produced (often illegally) in many countries. Be sure the version you propose to buy will work on your DVD player, unless you have an all-regions player. The cover and subtitles will vary depending on the country of origin, too (mine was subtitled in Japanese, with a different cover).

Those minor criticisms aside, the set is superb. The quality is good, the interviews skilful, relevant and well-made, the research thorough and detailed as you would expect from the BBC. The more recent DVDs of the set are in 16:9 ratio. Even the oldest parts from 1989 have come up well. Some clips appear to have been lightly enhanced, but they still keep the period feel of genuine footage. The sound is excellent throughout except for special tracks like speeches by Stalin, where the quality accurately reflects the sound recording equipment of the time.

Let’s have a look at the contents.

"The Nazis: A Warning From History". 1997, 6 episodes. This is a particularly useful set. It examines the rise to power of the Nazi party and the circumstances that allowed it to be acceptable to Germany.

"The Road To War" 1989, 4 episodes. The politics involved as Britain, Italy, the USA and Japan became involved in the war.

"Dunkirk" 2004, 3 episodes. A dramatized version of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk.

"Battle Of the Atlantic" 2002, 3 episodes. The Atlantic convoys and the U-Boat war. It contains some good propaganda footage, but was probably done better in the NBC series “Victory At Sea”.

”War of the Century" 1999, 4 episodes. The best coverage I have seen of the war in Russia, including the dreadful effects on the civilian population.

"Horrors Of The East" 2000, 2 episodes. A rather hasty look at another important war theatre, with passing mentions of India and Burma. This was covered better in “The Road to Iwo Jima”.

"Battlefields" 2001, 4 Episodes. Some of the significant battle areas of the war, including the firebombing of German cities by the RAF.

"D-Day: Reflections of Courage" 2004, 2 episodes. The leadup to D-Day and the events of the day. Docu-drama.

"Auschwitz: Inside The Nazi State" 2005, 6 Episodes. 16:9 ratio. The development of Hitler’s Final Solution and its implementation. This series is perhaps a little overdone, rather than just thorough. If some of the dramatizations were cut out it would be more manageable without losing any of its authority.

"D-Day To Berlin" 2004, 3 Episodes, 16:9. This is one of the better documentaries following the course of the fight towards Germany and some of the significant battles along the way. I was pleased to see Operation Market Garden included, where the fight for prestige between Montgomery and the U.S. generals led to a military disaster.

Despite the small deficiencies of the DVD set, if you are looking for a history of World War 2, it is worth buying for its detailed coverage of so many areas. It complements “The World At War” really well, but is a superb production in its own right.

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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