World War II
The Holocaust
An umbrella website covering all aspects of the Holocaust of World War II, including a chronology (1923 to present) and information on victims and survivors, war crimes trials and later controversies.
Blitz: Bombing and total war
An examination of the huge influence that aerial bombing campaigns have had on the conduct and aims of modern warfare – from World War II to 'shock and awe' in Iraq.
- A Guide to the 20th Century
Snapshots of the century – how people around the world fought, played, thought, worked, experimented and freed themselves – including an hour's worth of video clips. - Immigration
Accessible history of immigration into Britain from the time of the Romans to the present. - World War II: A chronology
Every aspect of the conflict, including all the major events and personalities and all theatres of war, accompanied by links to relevant websites. - The Holocaust
An umbrella website covering all aspects of the Holocaust of World War II, including a chronology (1923 to present) and information on victims and survivors, war crimes trials and later controversies. - The War of the World
According to historian Niall Ferguson, the 20th century was by far the bloodiest in history. In this website, he explains why this came about, and there is an extensive chronology of the events that made this the ‘age of hatred’. - Warlords
World War II was a series of private psychological battles waged between Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. This website examines the lives of these four leaders and compares eight significant psychological traits. - Adolf Hitler
The Nazi leader from his birth in Austria to his suicide in Berlin. - Adolf Hitler
A brief biography of the German dictator. - Franklin Delano Roosevelt
President who guided the US through the Depression and World War II. - Josef Stalin
Georgian-born dictator of the Soviet Union, probably the most brutal dictator of modern times. - Hirohito
Japanese emperor whose role in World War II is still debated. - Mystery
of the Missing U-Boat
In 1991, 60 miles off the New Jersey coast, a team of American divers discovered the wreck of a German U-boat lost in 1945. The website tells the story of that discovery and gives details of submarines and the Battle of the Atlantic, including a timeline. - The Nazi Expedition
Robin Cross reveals how a curious mixture of ancient Teutonic myth, Eastern mysticism and late 19th-century anthropology lay at the heart of the SS. - The
Real Mussolini
Benito Mussolini is remembered as a fascist dictator whose ludicrous posing was dwarfed by the incalculably more sinister Adolf Hitler, but he was a much more complex character. - Benito Mussolini
The Italian dictator who was executed by Italian partisans. - Secret
History: Television in the Third Reich
An account of the TV service run by the Nazis 1935-44 and its spreading of anti-Semitic propaganda. - Japan at War: A beginner's
guide
Books and websites – from the seizure of Manchuria in 1931 to the atomic bombs that ended the war in the Pacific in 1945 – reveal the conflict from a mainly Japanese perspective. - Mao Zedong
Communist dictator whose rule – and whims – led to disaster for the Chinese. - Citizen Kane
Former war correspondent Christy Campbell looks at the truth behind Orson Welles’ exposé of an American press baron. - The
1940s House
Information on what life was like in a London suburb during World War II. - Winston Churchill:
A beginner's guide
A selection of the best sites about the 'Greatest Briton'. - Stalin: A beginner's guide
A selection of the best internet sites and books about probably the worst tyrant of the 20th century. - The Battle of
Britain: A beginner's guide
Sources of information that you can use to find out more about – and get some idea of the experience of – the battle won by 'the Few'. - Spitfire Ace
In this extract from their book, Martin Davidson and James Taylor delineate why the Spitfire achieved legendary status during World War II and has maintained it since. - Douglas Bader
Loved and loathed, Bader became a national hero after losing his legs in an air crash only to rejoin the RAF and become the most famous of ‘the few’ in the Battle of Britain. - Blitz: The diary of an air raid
29/30 December 1941: when German bombers launched on London their most devastating attack yet. Accompanied by computer reconstructions. - Humphrey Jennings: The man who listened
to Britain
Director who became part of the British documentary film movement and made a series of classic morale-boosting films during World War II. - Tit for tat
Acts of vengeance and their consequences – including such ‘triggers’ as the murder of Genghis Khan’s envoys in 1218, the murder of the Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972 and the storming of the Golden Temple of Amritsar in 1984, as well as other examples of retribution from Japan, Czechoslovakia and Korea. - U-571
It may be have the right period details, but this purely imaginary tale purporting to show that the Americans, and not the Brits, captured a vital Enigma codebook in 1942 fails to win over Daniel Lee. - The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
While it caused a furore in wartime Britain, the 1943 film’s portrayal of a section of the European military caste was scrupulously accurate and it has grown in stature with each passing year. - Secret
History: Search for the Struma
Brief account of the ill-fated ship torpedoed by the Soviets in 1941, killing almost 800 Jews, plus a chronology of anti-Semitism in Britain. - Classic Weapons of World War II
This database catalogues nearly 100 machines and tools of war that shaped the outcome of the 20th century’s defining conflict and laid the foundations for the world we know today. - Battle Stations
I
The machines that played a crucial role during World War II. - Battle Stations
II
The machines and structures that helped the world's superpowers achieve mastery of the battlefield – from World War II, the Korean, Cold and Vietnam wars and some from more recent conflicts. - Battle Stations III
Four more magnificent examples of machines that won the day on the battlefield, all US aircraft. - Weapons of War
This C4 Learning website charts the development of weapons technology from World War I to the present. - Charles de Gaulle
A concise biography of the French wartime leader and president of France, whose contradictory nature – and championing of France against all comers – made him more enemies than friends. - The
Real Rommel
Rommel appears to have been an apolitical soldier and military genius, but a love affair almost ruined his career and he was more political than his fans would like to believe. - The Nazi Officer's Wife
An extract from the autobiography of Edith Hahn, a Jew who married a Nazi during World War II and survived to tell the tale. - Secret
History: Wartime crime
How looters, thieves and conmen took advantage of the chaos and upheaval of World War II Britain, their activities often ignored or simply hushed up. - Women in the 20th Century
This C4 Learning website examines the roles of women during the last century in terms of war, work and the family. - Rumours of War
Black propaganda, subversive rumours and pornography were all used, says historian Christy Campbell, by a secret Whitehall department to undermine the Nazis. - Blitz: Bombing and total war
An examination of the huge influence that aerial bombing campaigns have had on the conduct and aims of modern warfare – from World War II to 'shock and awe' in Iraq. - Magic
at War
The story of Jasper Maskelyne, a star magician, whose sleight-of-hand techniques came in useful during the World War II campaign to defeat Rommel in north Africa. - The Real Charlotte Grays
The story of the women who operated behind enemy lines as agents and couriers during World War II. - Hood and Bismarck
An extract of the book by David Mearns and Rob White on the two famous battleships of World War II. - Hunt
for the Hood
In July 2001, Channel 4 launched an expedition to find the wreck of HMS Hood, 3,000 metres under the sea. This is the story of that voyage into the past. - Sink the Bismarck
If you want an accessible version of the dramatic pursuit of the Bismarck in May 1941, this 1960 film is, according to Dr Eric Grove, as good a place to start as any. - Dwight D Eisenhower
The World War II general who, as president, oversaw the post-war development of the US. - The Dambusters
An extract from the book by military historian John Sweetman about the 1943 raid against German dams with 'bouncing bombs'. - The
Battle for Italy
Resources for researching this campaign further. - Soldier
Poets
Two poets – Alun Lewis and Keith Douglas – who served and died young in World War II are rescued from oblivion. - The Triumphs and Disasters
of Churchill's Secret Army
Robin Cross asks whether the SOE was less successful than we have been led to believe. - Pink Triangle: The
Nazi persecution of gays
The events that led to the deaths of at least 15,000 gay men. - Escape
from Colditz
You're a Colditz prisoner, in solitary confinement. Escape seems out of the question. But there is a way. Can you find it? - Great Escapes
Thousands of prisoners of war escaped from Allied and Axis prison camps during World War II. Here is a selection of their stories. - Edward
Teller: Father of the hydrogen bomb
A major architect of the US nuclear arsenal and an unrelenting champion of American military dominance. - A
Tale of Science and Morals
The story of Joseph Rotblat, one of the boffins mobilised like soldiers in the US campaign to build the atom bomb, and his endeavours to be an ethical scientist. - D-Day: A beginner's
guide
There is masses of information on the internet about 'the longest day'. We have sifted through hundreds of websites to come up with the best. - Ten Days to D-Day
In this edited extract from his book, David Stafford describes the few weeks before D-Day and introduces the personalities he will follow throughout this momentous period. - Saving Private Ryan
With only a few reservations, Matthew Reynolds gives the thumbs-up to this story of the D-Day landings and beyond. - Children and war
The history of child warriors extends from the youths of ancient Sparta and the youngsters below decks in Nelson’s navy to the young people engaged in military activity in the 21st century. - Not Just Fade Away:
Adolf Hitler
Evidence and rumours about Hitler's death. - Nazi Gold
The desperate attempt of the Nazi leaders to hide their ill-got gains at the end of the war. - U-234: Hitler’s last submarine
The astonishing contents of the submarine that the Nazis sent to Japan in the last days of the war. - USS Indianapolis
The terrible fate of the crew of the ship that transported the Hiroshima bomb across the Pacific. - Yamashita’s gold
Was a fortune in gold hidden in the Philippines by the Japanese imperial family at the end of the war? - Talking
of War
Four intellectual heavyweights – historians Antony Beevor, Joanna Bourke, Niall Ferguson and Jorg Friedrich – discuss the legacy of World War II. - The Nuremberg Trials
Examines the origins of the Nuremberg trials and their counterparts in Tokyo, how they were carried out, the sentences they passed and their legacy. - Battle for the Holocaust
Jewish historians look at how understanding the Holocaust has changed since the end of World War II, and ask whose agenda is being served by the proliferation of museums, memorials and commemoration events.
