World War II with Tom Hanks
The HISTORY Channel | Back Pocket Studios | Audacy
23 episodes · in order
For eighty years, the Second World War has remained the most devastating and defining conflict in human history. World War II with Tom Hanks reexamines the war through the lens of a new century. Told over twenty hours and guided by Tom Hanks, whose lifelong passion for this history has shaped some of the most profound screen portrayals of the era, the series captures the full arc of the war — from the rise of fascism in Europe to the fall of Berlin, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, and the uneasy peace that follows. Each episode uncovers new dimensions of the conflict: the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today. World War II with Tom Hanks is the definitive retelling of that story for a new generation: a sweeping, deeply human portrait of how the modern world was forged in the fires of global war.
Episodes
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World War II with Tom Hanks
Coming May 26th: World War II with Tom Hanks reexamines history’s most devastating conflict for a new century. Across twenty hours, the series traces the war’s full arc–from the rise of fascism to Hiroshima–uncovering…
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The Beginning
In September 1939, enabled by a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, Germany invades Poland with its lightning style of tank warfare, plunging Europe back into war. Adolf Hitler can now pursue his…
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Blitz
After defeating Poland, Hitler looks west, planning an attack into France that will take advantage of a weak point in their defences. France is overrun and new British Prime Minister Churchill scrambles to evacuate…
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Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, launches on June 22, 1941. In what is the largest military operation in history, Hitler aims to capture the Soviet Union’s vast economic…
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Pearl Harbor
Driven by their desire for resources and an Asian empire, Japan invades China. The US joins the global outcry as Japanese troops brutally destroy the Chinese capital of Nanking. FDR responds with a crippling oil…
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The War at Sea
In 1940, German U-boats are sinking British hopes of victory. From the sidelines, FDR loans Britain much needed aid and maneuvers US patrols to the edge of an “undeclared war” with Germany. Meeting at a game-changing…
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Guadalcanal
America’s “day of infamy” at Pearl Harbor is the birth of a new Japanese empire. Japan launches unprecedented attacks across Asia, proclaiming “Asia for the Asians” and pushing out Western colonial powers. Fueled by…
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Darkness Falls
Under Adolf Hitler's leadership, anti-Semitic policies escalate from discrimination to widespread genocide. The state-sponsored persecution features mobile killing squads conducting mass shootings, and then…
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Operation Torch
In 1942, Eisenhower leads the first joint U.S.-British operation of the war – Operation Torch – successfully landing thousands of untested U.S. troops on the Vichy-controlled shores of North Africa. The Allies race to…
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Secrets and Lies
Amid World War II’s chaos, a hidden battle rages — a war of espionage, deception, and codebreaking. At Bletchley Park, Alan Turing and his team race to crack Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma Code in a bid to thwart Nazi…
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Stalingrad
In 1942, Hitlers launches his second offensive in the Soviet Union: Operation Blue. Quickly becoming impatient, Hitler splits his force in an attempt to capture both the Caucasus oil fields and Stalingrad. Initially…
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Italy
In the summer of 1943, after a successful campaign in North Africa, Churchill convinces Roosevelt that the best way forward is an invasion of the island of Sicily. But what is thought to be a quick and decisive attack…
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Battle for the Skies
In 1942, the Allies are eager to challenge the Luftwaffe’s superiority in the air. The RAF and U.S. Army Air Forces combine operations to bomb the industrial heart of Germany and destroy German air power ahead of the…
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Overlord
After years of discussion over how to take the fight directly to Germany, the Allies set a target for a cross-channel invasion: Normandy, spring of 1944. But the road to Operation Overlord is no easy journey, with…
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Long Road to Tokyo
The B-29 bomber is the Allies’ best chance to strike Japan, and they turn to China as a potential air base. But Japan launches its largest land offensive of the war to gain control of Asia, leading to brutal fighting…
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How Higgins and His Boats Won the War (from HISTORY This Week)
For more stories just like these, check out HISTORY This Week wherever you get your podcasts. June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches of Normandy, they climb down rope nets into…
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Home Front
As the tide begins to turn against the Axis powers, the leaders of Germany and Japan deploy opposite strategies on their home fronts. Hitler and his propaganda minister do everything in their power to shield the German…
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Resistance
Resistance to Nazi occupation and oppression has been a constant throughout the war. In the summer of 1944, two cities revolt against the Nazis but meet very different outcomes. And some, living and dying through the…
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No Surrender
In 1944-45, as Allied victory in Europe seems all but assured, the fighting in the Pacific intensifies. The U.S. and Japan suffer terrible losses in the Philippines and on Iwo Jima. Roosevelt understands what ordinary…
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Last Days of the Reich
In the winter of 1944, as American and British armies are advancing across western Europe, Hitler plans one last major offensive attempt through the Ardennes forest - the Battle of the Bulge - to swing the tide of the…
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Endgame
The U.S. determines by early 1945 that Japan will never surrender and will need to be subdued by force. Newly sworn-in President Truman must authorize an invasion of the Japanese home islands at a terrible cost to…
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Fall Out
The war is over, and the Allies are triumphant. The United States and the Soviet Union initially work together to establish a new world order, but over the course of the next four years these two nations will go from…
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The Hunt for Adolf Eichmann: Case Closed (from History's Greatest Mysteries)
Introducing History's Greatest Mysteries—a new History Channel podcast from Rewind Studios—available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday. At the end of World War II, many Nazi officials were…
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