The Second World War was different from other wars in thousands of ways, one of which was the unparalleled scope of visual documents kept by the Axis and Allies of all their activities. As a result, this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were particularly thorough in documenting even the most abhorrent of the atrocities they were committing--in a surprising amount of color footage. The World at War was one of the first television documentaries that exploited these resources so completely, giving viewers an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible narrative. Some highlights:

• A New Germany 1933-39: early German and Nazi documentation of Hitler's rise to power through the impending attack on Poland
• Whirlwind: the early British losses in the blitz in the skies over Britain and in North Africa
• Stalingrad: the turning point of the war and Germany's first defeat
• Inside the Reich--Germany 1940-44: one of the most fascinating documentaries that exists on life inside Nazi Germany, from Lebensborn to the Hitler Youth
• Morning: prior to Saving Private Ryan, one of the only unromanticized views of the Normandy invasion
• Genocide: this film is one of the most widely shown introductions to the Holocaust
• Japan 1941-45: although The World at War is decidedly focused more on the European theater, this is an important look into wartime Japan and its expansion--early 20th-century history that lead to Japan's role in World War II is superficial
• The bomb: another widely shown documentary of the Manhattan Project, the Enola Gay, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki

The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. No serious historian should be missing The World at War in a collection, and no student should leave school without having seen at least some of its salient episodes. Rarely is film so essential. --Erik J. Macki

Customer Reviews Average rating - 4.5

Rating - 5 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: Gave these dvd's to a friend for Christmas. He loved them. He's a bit of a history buff...all eras, and said that some of the footage in these, blew him away:)
Summary: Gift

Rating - 5 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: This set is a complete history of World War II from Europe to the Pacific. The video and commentary are spectacular! Time Life's t.v. advertisement offers 4 discs for nearly the same price as this complete set of 11 discs! Amazon provides a great buy.
Summary: Complete History of World War II

Rating - 5 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: I bought this as a Xmas present for my fiance & he LOVES it. He raves about it every time he watches one of the segments. With 11 DVD's it's going to take him a while to get through it & he seems to be enjoying every moment.
Summary: perfect gift!

Rating - 5 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: As my title states, there not much more that can be posted about this documentary series. Its wonderfully made...loaded with footage and first hand accounts from all major war participants. I really enjoyed this set, particularly the interviews with Stephen Ambrose, Traudl Junge, etc. Highly recommended, of course, if you have even a lukewarm interest in history or, more specifically, the history of WWII. I would have liked to have seen a little more coverage on the workings and makeup of the SS in particular...though the set does examine Hitler's Germany in fairly good detail and what conditions allowed for such a regime to be created and ultimately take hold of the country.
Summary: What else can be said. Its the best WWII doc made.

Rating - 4 Date: 2009-01-06
Content: video is very high quality, DVD appears to be mastered from the original BBC series footage, unlike lots of other WWII DVD (television) offers that look like they were copied from a VCR playing back in EP mode (complete with head switching noise, flagging, tape wrinkle noise). My only minor complaint is that they should've made it so you could play through all 4 episodes (i.e. "Play all") on the disks.
Summary: very well made..