Battlefield: The Battles That Won the Second World War (1994–1996) User Reviews

A definitive guide to WWII

[philosophr · 9/10 · 30 January 2011]

I am surprised that this series has received any kind of recognition at all. This is the only series I know that's out there which provides a clinical review of all the major battles of WWII. If you are looking for very detailed information on unit movements, state of troops, army echelon's state of mind, etc., this is definitely the series to watch. Of course, the human element of the war is not deeply portrayed. But then, there are other series like 'BBC's The World at War' and 'World War 2 in Color' if you are looking for that. The tone is neutral through-out, not like the pro-country narrations of other series. Tim Piggot-Smith is an excellent narrator and the background music is toned down, so you don't tire of it. If you are looking for 1.5 hour long, intuitive and intelligent dissections of every campaign, starting from Scandinavia to the Russian invasion of Manchuria (yes, they did!), this is the right series.

Respectable Summary.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 28 March 2015]

I've only been able to see two episodes of this series but it appears to have been well written and executed. There are no talking heads, just newsreel and combat footage.

The format is this. A question is raised: Why did Hitler stop his panzers before Dunkirk? Whence Stalin's reserve armies? Then an attempt is made to answer the questions. The writers give reasons that sound plausible to me but, properly, they don't come to any firm or simple conclusions. You'd have to get into Hitler's or Stalin's minds to know for sure, and even if you were able to, there are some really crepuscular recesses in there.

I won't bother to spell out the series' attempts at answers to these two questions. If you want to see a fuller exploration of events leading up to Dunkirk and Stalingrad, I recommend the Battlefield series from 1995.