Episode list

He was a soldier's soldier, decorated for bravery by the British government and respected by the men in his battalion. But war had taken its toll on Siegfried Sassoon, and he felt a deep resentment against his country's military campaign. Sassoon returned from the trenches of hell in World War I to fight another battle in the halls of government back home. His resentment took the form of poetry: searing indictments that ran counter to popular opinion. This is the story of how one man's poetry and his protest against World War I shined a light of truth on the subject of war forever framed that conflict in the memory of his country.

Writer Robert Graves took many unpredictable turns on his fascinating journey through life. Though Graves would describe himself first and foremost as a poet, he was a man of enormous literary talent who wrote more than 150 books. He was eccentric, brilliant, and visionary and his vivid imagination was fueled by a volatile mixture of emotional highs and catastrophic lows. His most memorable works emerged when the world around him was falling apart. At the peak of his writing career, Graves attempted to unravel the mystery of his creative process. That effort took him on a journey across time and culture through which he envisioned a mythical female muse that he called the White Goddess.

In France's darkest hours of World War II, a lone French voice emanated from BBC radio in an attempt to rally free French forces to resist the power of invading Germany. Recognizing his value as an ally, Winston Churchill acknowledged de Gaulle as the French leader despite the fact that a national government still existed in France. As he was forced to the sidelines of Allied Command decisions, de Gaulle led military campaigns defending France's colonies, building his reputation. Despite this, he was excluded from Normandy operations. He nonetheless accompanied US forces with great theatricality as they arrived in Paris, and was soon elected head of the French government. Years after his retirement, the French people turned to de Gaulle for guidance during the Algerian crisis, but his mythic position as the face of France would end during the social upheaval of the 1960s.

Begun in July of 1916, the devastating Battle of the Somme was a turning point in warfare, demarking the modern combat arena in horrific carnage. Unseasoned and poorly trained British soldiers vastly overestimated the tenacity of German forces. Despite a solid week of bombardment where over a million artillery shells rained down upon German fortifications, they stood ready for the British advance. More British soldiers died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme than any other day in the history of British warfare. As the battle slogged on, troops effectively fought within an open graveyard, as there was no time to bury the multitude of the dead. As attrition wound down the 141-day conflict, almost 420,000 British soldiers lay dead, along with 200,000 French, and nearly half-a-million Germans, and all for a questionable purpose.

This documentary primarily covers Pétain's role as head of the French government during World War II, including his leadership of the Vichy government, attempts to create a more totalitarian state during the war, and his trial after the war. It also includes his rise to prominence as one of France's military heroes in World War I, through his role at the Battle of Verdun, and his later skill in preventing military mutiny during the war, and his postwar support of the Maginot Line.

A history of the African country focuses on its rich supply of natural resources and those who have tried to exploit that treasure throughout the years.

From the film: "On November 11, 1918, the Germans laid down their arms, finally ending World War I. In the surrender agreement, the Allies listed the numbers of cannons, machine guns and other weapons that Germany had to turn over. Yet of 1,700 airplanes demanded, only one type was so feared that it was mentioned by name: the D-7. The deadly machine was the masterwork of a 28 year-old Dutchman who had become Germany's most skilled -- and unconventional -- plane maker: Anthony Fokker."

The film traces the life and work of one of the most important and idiosyncratic innovators in the early history of aviation. Anthony Fokker's career stretched the period from shortly after the Wright Brothers' first flight to the birth and spread of modern aviation three decades later.

Karl, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, was labeled a traitor and failure during his lifetime. His own people exiled him. Still, there has been recognition that perhaps Karl's short reign should be remembered less for his failures than for his unsuccessful yet sincere attempts to transform his empire and bring an end to World War I.

Fearless, strong-willed and always a champion of the modern, Sergei Diaghilev discovered a talented group of artists and inspired them to reach new creative heights. Diaghilev wasn't a dancer, choreographer or composer, but he was the impresario, and the show couldn't go on without him. Together, they shaped ballet into a new art form, leaving an indelible mark on art for the 20th Century.

Franz Kafka had made his living as an attorney in an insurance company, where he'd eked out an obscure and unexceptional life. But when the lawyer put pen to paper, the writer conjured a disturbing world where the absurd was commonplace and reality a nightmare. Since his death, Franz Kafka's work has become enormously influential. It remains unrivaled for its intensity, modernity and prescience.

Beautiful and effortless, ballet is one of the world's most elegant art forms - the human body as poetry in motion. Achieving and maintaining the artful illusion of ballet is all-important; but it's just that, an illusion meant to appear effortless. What kind of commitment does it take for dancers to master the unmistakable yet rigorous style of ballet? And where does that commitment lead young dancers in their pursuit of excellence?

The Ottoman Empire once spanned three continents, stretching from Budapest to Basra to Algiers. Founded around 1300, it created a rich, multi-ethnic world that was Islamic in faith and tolerant in practice. But by the early 20th century, the Empire was under attack from without and challenged from within. When World War broke out in 1914, the Ottomans had to choose sides. They cast their lot with Germany and Austria, and against Britain, France, and Russia. That decision would lead to the Empire's final destruction - and the creation of the modern Middle East.