Books, Balls, and Bismarck

As a part of our continuing effort to commemorate the incredible global story of WW2, we present our ongoing ‘Family Stories’ series. This series tells YOUR relatives’ stories of derring do - both on the front line and home front. In this episode we hear your tales of magical nea ...  Show more

How did The Fourth Fighter Group contribute to D-Day in 1944? Why did The Fourth Fighter Group keeping flying till the last days of the war? What happened to all the aces of The Fourth Fighter group at the end of WW2? Join Al Murray and James Holland for Part 4 of this new series ...  Show more

In May 1945, the Second World War ended in Europe, but Japan refused to surrender - despite seemingly facing inevitable defeat. So, confronted by the prospect of drawn-out and costly fighting, Washington sought to bring the conflict in the East to an end as quickly as possible. M ...  Show more

At 8.15am on 6 August 1945, an atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. It was an event that changed the course of history, but it was also one driven by individuals. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Iain MacGregor tells this story through the eyes of people whose lives were ...  Show more

After the U.S. military dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world roared with questions: what long-term health risks could atomic weapons carry? How did the Soviet Union build their own bomb so quickly? And did the Manhattan Project's scientists have hel ...  Show more

The decision by the United States to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 remains one of the most controversial moments in modern history. Did the atomic bombs force Japan's surrender in the Second World War? Or is this far too simple a narrati ...  Show more