My own knowledge is relatively good, from years of scattered sources and learning. My wife is interested in educating herself. I figured a great way to do/intro this is by marathoning a series of high-quality documentaries. What are AskHistorians' favourites to put together from start to finish? We're looking for everything -- from the cultural movements and ideas that drove events, to the economics, personal experiences in the wars, down to the equipment and technological evolution and turning points. Certainly, historically accurate films or TV series would be great supplemental viewing here too.
So if you were to educate someone new to these wars via documentary, what would be your syllabus?
Thanks!
I will second Spark_77's recommendation of World at War. For the WWI, the closest analogue is The First World War - The Complete Series done for Channel 4 in 2003. The series's main historical consultant is Hew Strachan a major figure in WWI studies.
Fictional films, sometimes the ideal goal of historical accuracy is less about factual details (although they do matter) than the spirit of the time. Das Boot, for example, conveys the mixture of tedium and fright that was typical of a U-boat patrol, even though the historical patrol of U-96 was far less dramatic. Here's a short list of my favorites along with a rationale:
My Boy Jack- a 2007 film depicting Rudyard Kipling and his son Jack (starring none other than Harry Potter- Daniel Radcliffe- himself), who served in WWI. It really goes in depth into Kipling's nationalism and the experience of British families on the homefront.
When Trumpets Fade- this 1998 HBO film got lost in the Private Ryan cinemascape, but is one of the few films about the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which has been displaced by the Battle of the Bulge in most depictions of the European theater. The film also covers two notable aspects of infantry combat other films don't usually: replacements and brevet promotions. The film's reluctant protagonist goes from Private to Second Lieutenant over the course of a few days.
Come and See- this is a disturbing Soviet film from 1985. Its protagonist is a young Belorussian boy recruited for the partisans and he experiences the horrors of war. Towards the end of the film, he has a run in with a fictionalized version of the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, who were every bit as savage as the film depicts them. The film's disturbing subject matter is a useful corrective for war films that glorify the Second World War experience; for many, the war was the source of nightmares.
World War II: When Lions Roared- a 1994 TV movie which is more of a televised play than a proper film. The film does a good job of outlining the various Allied leaders and their conferences.
"The World At War" narrated by Laurence Olivier. You can buy DVD box sets of it. It was made back in the 70s but is a very good series as an overview of the entire struggle.
One of the most accessible is the Band Of Brothers series, its laden with the experiences of the men who were there.
If you want the graphic realities of warfare the first 20-30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is utterly chilling.
Other feature films - a little tricky because for the most part they all have inaccuracies of varying levels but you could try:
Note all of these have some inaccuracies, to be honest you'll never find a film that is 100% accurate.
You could also search out "First Light" which was a short series (2 or 3 parts I think) adapted by the BBC from Geoffrey "Boy" Wellum's book of the same name. Wellum was a very young fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain.
I would suggest you think about some books too, I find they convey the information in better detail than can be covered in film. I'd definitely suggest the Wellum book mentioned above, but also anything by Sir Max Hastings, Cornelius Ryan, John Nichol & Tony Rennel, Ben Macintyre. In addition Hugh Sebag Montefiore's "Enigma - The battle for the code" is superb.
Juliet Gardiner has a book called "Wartime: Britain 1939-1945" which covers life in the UK during the war for those still at home. I found it a really interesting book.
If I think of some more good film/tv I will post again.
hi! you may also want to take a quick scan through the many recommendations in the FAQ
It's mentioned in one of the posts, but I'm also going to highlight in A Film Unfinished (2010), an unfinished Nazi propaganda film of the Warsaw Ghetto.