World on Fire: An Oral History of WWII
Hear the oral history of World War II as told by the veterans who fought in it, the filmmakers who captured it, and the historians who sought to understand it. Listen to these first-person interviews and watch history unfold in World on Fire, a new seven-part series by Masterpiece. The story begins Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 9/8c on PBS.
William Dodd: The U.S. Ambassador In Hitler's Berlin
William Dodd served four years as the ambassador to Germany before resigning -- after repeated clashes with both Nazi Party officials and the State Department. Erik Larson chronicles Dodd's time in Berlin in his new book, In the Garden of Beasts.
World War II Combat Veteran Robert Kotlowitz.
World War Two combat veteran Robert Kotlowitz has written about his experiences in "Before Their Time: A Memoir." 1997 Hard cover and just re-printed this year on Anchor Books. Kotlowitz was part of a platoon that was ordered to charge the German front, an order that killed all but 3 men. His previous books included: The Boardwalk, His Master's Voice, Sea Changes, and Somewhere Else. (THIS CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW.)
During World War II, Even Filmmakers Reported For Duty
A new book looks at how the military and Hollywood directors teamed up during the war. The films they made helped show Americans what was at stake, and served as evidence during the Nuremberg Trials.
Former Tuskegee Airman Robert Williams.
Former Tuskegee Airman Robert Williams. He was with the Army Air Corps "Fighting 99th" the first squadron of Black fighter pilots in World War II. Now, after 45 years of trying he's gotten a studio interested in making a movie about the squadron. The new HBO movie, "The Tuskegee Airmen," stars Laurence Fishburne; Williams is the co-executive producer. The film debuts August 26th.
Women Pilots During World War II.
Guest host Barbara Bogaev interviews two women who are part of the new American Experience documentary on PBS: "Fly Girls" During World War II, more than 1,000 women signed up and flew airplanes in the U.S. military effort. Their careers were cut short by politics. It would be 30 years before women soldiers could take to the skies again. The two women are Barbara London and Dora Strother.
How Thousands Of Nazis Were 'Rewarded' With Life In The U.S.
After World War II. thousands of Nazis became informants in the Cold War against the Soviet Union -- and then got entry into the U.S. Eric Lichtblau's new book, The Nazi Next Door, tells the story.
Author Says Hitler Was 'Blitzed' On Cocaine And Opiates During The War
In 1944, World War II was dragging on and the Nazi forces seemed to be faltering. Yet, in military briefings, Adolf Hitler's optimism did not wane. His generals wondered if he had a secret weapon up his sleeve, something that would change the war around in the last second.
After WWII, Europe Was A 'Savage Continent' Of Devastation.
In his book, which has just won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History, Keith Lowe describes a land with no governments, schools, banks or shops, where rape was rampant and women prostituted themselves for food. Flying in the face of usual post-WWII narratives, Lowe sheds light on a complex history.
WWII 'Deserters': Stories Of Men Who Left The Front Lines
In his new book, journalist Charles Glass explores the little-known history of thousands of American and British soldiers who deserted during World War II. Glass describes how the strain of war can push a soldier to the breaking point -- and how the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.
'Angry Days' Shows An America Torn Over Entering World War II.
World War II is often thought of as a good and just war — a war the U.S. had to fight. But it wasn't that simple. Public debate was heated between interventionism, which President Roosevelt supported, and isolationism, which aviator Charles Lindbergh became an unofficial spokesman for.
Between World Wars, Gay Culture Flourished In Berlin
In Gay Berlin, Robert Beachy describes the rise of a gay subculture in the 1920s and '30s, how it contributed to our understanding of gay identity and how it was eradicated by the Nazis.
'Auschwitz: A New History'
Laurence Rees' Auschwitz: A New History provides details about the inner workings of the camp: techniques of mass murder, the politics, the gossip mill between guards and prisoners, and the camp brothel.
Novelist Joseph Heller.
Novelist Joseph Heller, author of Catch 22, Something Happened and No Laughing Matter, his 1985 account of being stricken with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurological disease in which the peripheral nervous system is attacked. Within two weeks of the first symptoms, Heller could hardly breathe or swallow. It took him two years to relearn his basic motor functions. Heller's best known work is still his first, Catch 22, a satire of the military bureaucracy and the madness of war.