After The Battle 160

n the pre-dawn hours on June 6, 1944, 160,000 troops prepared to land on the French coast of Normandy. This would become the decisive turning point in World War II in Europe. Although the war would not end for another year, D-Day was the beginning of the end.

The World at War (1973–74) is a 26-episode British television documentary series chronicling the events of the Second World War. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was, at a cost of £900,000, the most expensive factual series ever made. It was produced by Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Laurence Olivier and included music composed by Carl Davis. The book The World at War written by Mark Arnold-Forster to accompany the TV series was released in 1973.

The Pacific War was unlike any military conflict before it in terms of its scale, scope, and savagery. Witness the massive attacks on Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima and Nagasaki that bookended the war, along with the ferocious battles in between–ones waged on tiny islands and remote atolls and fought by soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors. With color combat footage and accounts from those who experienced the fight firsthand, we reveal the brutal reality of life on the frontline during the battle for the Pacific.

The small garrison based at Rorke's Drift in South Africa is forever immortalized as one of the British Army's most glorious moments. The garrison was defended by 139 British soldiers with 300 African colonial troops under their command when, on January 22, 1879, they were attacked by a Zulu force of nearly 4,000 warriors. Outnumbered by nearly 20 to one, the British soldiers constructed a makeshift defense and fought throughout the night. Their tenacity and bravery ensured that the British retained the garrison and won the battle. Their acts in the face of this overwhelming onslaught saw 11 Victoria Crosses being awarded to the British garrison, the highest number ever awarded for a single engagement. Rorke's Drift restored the British public's faith in the Army after the disaster of Isandlwana, and the battle was famously portrayed in the film Zulu.

The six-part series is the saga of the great leaders, warriors and diplomats of the First Nations whose stories form a central drama of the North American continent. A blend of documentary and dramatic re-enactment, bringing to life the power, spirit and mystery of the First Nations, the films also seek to separate the myth from the men, to tell the story of leaders who could be equally Machiavellian and magnanimous, cruel and foolish as well as brilliant and brave.