World War II with Tom Hanks

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 Allied troops from the coast. Shocked by the defeat of France, Roosevelt calls to mobilize the US while German planes bombard Britain from the sky. The Germans are pushed back as Roosevelt establishes the US as the “arsenal of democracy” in the war against tyranny.

This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance):

• Ludivine Broch, historian, University of Westminster
• Cameron Zinsou, associate professor, Command and General Staff College
• Michael Neiberg, professor, US Army War College
• Saul David, military historian and author
• Geoffrey Wawro, professor, University of North Texas
• Dan Snow, historian and broadcaster
• Alexandra Richie, professor, Collegium Civitas
• Dan Carlin, podcaster, Hardcore History
• Robert Citino, senior historian, National WWII Museum
• Jon Meacham, presidential historian
• Leah Wright Rigueur, associate professor, Johns Hopkins University

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 longed-for racial war, as the world watches in horror, and the stage is set for global conflict.

This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance):

• Dan Carlin, podcaster, Hardcore History
• Alexandra Richie, professor, Collegium Civitas
• Robert Citino, senior historian, National WWII Museum
• Cameron Zinsou, associate professor, Command and General Staff College
• Geoffrey Wawro, professor, University of North Texas
• Jadwiga Biskupska, associate professor, Sam Houston State University
• Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and author
• Roger Moorhouse, historian and author
• Leah Wright Rigueur, associate professor, Johns Hopkins University
• James Bulgin, Imperial War Museum
• General Wesley Clark, US Army, Ret.
• Sean McMeekin, professor, Bard College

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 the decisions, hidden networks, and lasting consequences that continue to shape our world.