Explores the story of The Second World War, beginning when the war became global and ending with the aftermath.
Hell on Earth is an eight-part new history of the Second World War. Archive, originalmaterial and imaginative graphic depiction of facts, figures and campaigns combinewith insights and perspectives from a range of contributors whose diversity reflectsboth the complex and the global nature of the conflict.
In 1941, a number of wars - the battles of Western and Eastern Europe that hadcommenced in 1939, the battles in Asia that began in 1937 - were recalibrated byGermany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June and Japan's attack on East Asia andPearl Harbor in December. They became The Second World War which, betweenSeptember 1939 and September 1945, took 27,000 lives every day. More werevictims of the losers than of the victors. More were civilians than combatants. Therehas never been a war like it, before or since: never before a war so global, sointimately linked to the output of factories and the effectiveness of propaganda.
Never such a violent war - a war that demanded the coining of a new word:genocide.
Events overpower us, places both familiar and exotic shift our attention from one partof the globe to the next, extraordinary weapons shock us. But all that is the backdropof war - the real story of war is people. Hell on Earth has, as its focus, people. Thosewho made the decisions, those who commanded the armies, those who fought, thosewho manned the factories, those who waited, those who were victimised, those whokilled, those who died. People from every corner of the world are always at theforefront of our narrative.
Alongside interviews with military historians who offer balanced - and at timesconflicting views - we draw on extensive research to present what is effectively aneyewitness commentary on the events that meant the difference between victory anddefeat, between survival and death. Audiences are treated to archival footage fromsources less frequently used and recently catalogued with rare and unseen footage,as well as animated maps and infographic style facts and figures.
Hell on Earth breaks up the years of violent struggle into eight intense and, at times,confronting episodes. While the ebb and flow of the war was not constant, the seriestracks a chronological narrative following the events of greatest importance andimpact for civilians and soldiers. Hell on Earth uses diverse expert voices, eyewitnesstestimony, striking visuals, and a global scope to bring the past into the present.
