History · Running

World War II with Tom Hanks

War, History · 2026 · Rated 8.2/10

Last aired: S1 E20, Fallout · 2026-07-27

For eighty years, the Second World War has remained the most devastating and defining conflict in human history. World War II with Tom Hanks is a landmark documentary event that reexamines the war through the lens of a new century. Told over twenty hours and guided by Tom Hanks, whose lifelong passion for this history has shaped some of the most profound screen portrayals of the era, the series captures the full arc of the war — from the rise of fascism in Europe to the fall of Berlin, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, and the uneasy peace that follows. Each episode uncovers new dimensions of the conflict: the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today. "World War II with Tom Hanks" is the definitive retelling of that story for a new generation: a sweeping, deeply human portrait of how the modern world was forged in the fires of global war.

Cast

Tom Hanks Tom Hanks

Season 1

E1 The Beginning 2026-05-25 · 60 min In 1939, Germany invades Poland, setting the stage for the most destructive war.

E2 Blitz 2026-05-25 · 60 min After toppling the Netherlands and Belgium, Nazi Germany pushes further west. The Allies scramble to support France as Churchill is forced to defend Britain from the skies and FDR rushes to mobilize wartime production.

E3 Barbarossa 2026-05-25 · 60 min The story of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's massive surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the largest and costliest land offensive in human history.

E4 Pearl Harbor 2026-06-01 · 60 min Japan escalates their war in China, drawing increasing US sanctions and widespread outrage. Driven by resource shortages and military ideology, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor in a move that will reshape the course of World War II.

E5 The War at Sea 2026-06-01 · 60 min The story of how America's battle to control the seas against the terrifying German U-boats in the Atlantic and Japan's fearsome Navy in the Pacific ultimately turns the tide of the war.

E6 Guadalcanal 2026-06-08 · 60 min After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces sweep across Southeast Asia. On Guadalcanal, United States Marines are given the bloody task of stopping their relentless advance.

E7 Darkness Falls 2026-06-08 · 60 min As Hitler's reach extends beyond Germany and darkness descends on Europe, his hateful rhetoric leads to anti-Jewish persecution and ultimately, genocide.

E8 Operation Torch 2026-06-15 · 60 min In Operation Torch, thousands of inexperienced U.S. troops face off against the hardened German Afrika Korps and the infamous Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.

E9 Secrets and Lies 2026-06-15 · 60 min Behind the fierce frontline clashes of WWII, a hidden battle rages — one of espionage, deception, and codebreaking. In rural England, a group of brilliant academics work to crack Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma Code and change the course of the war.

E10 Stalingrad 2026-06-22 · 63 min Operation Blue: the German Army fights to take Soviet oil fields and the city of Stalingrad, becoming one of the deadliest battles ever fought and a major turning point on the Eastern Front.

E11 Italy 2026-06-29 · 60 min The Allies hope to quickly penetrate the Nazi Reich via Italy but instead endure a months-long slog with devastating results.

E12 Battle for the Skies 2026-06-29 · 60 min Allied air forces engage in a ferocious and costly battle with the German Luftwaffe over the skies of Europe.

E13 Overlord 2026-07-06 · 60 min The Allies undertake Operation Overlord, one of the most complicated and massive military invasions in history, to liberate Occupied France and open up a true second front in Western Europe.

E14 Long Road to Tokyo 2026-07-06 · 63 min The Allies and Japan clash in the jungles and plains of Asia, the "forgotten theater" of World War II, as America struggles to bring the fight to Tokyo's door.

E15 Home Front 2026-07-13 · 60 min As the tide begins to turn against the Axis powers, the leaders of Germany and Japan deploy opposite strategies on their home fronts.

E16 Resistance 2026-07-13 · 60 min Resistance to Nazi occupation and oppression is a constant throughout the war, with results both triumphant and devastating.

E17 No Surrender 2026-07-20 · 60 min The Pacific campaign reaches a brutal and bloody fever pitch from 1944 to 1945.

E18 Last Days of the Reich 2026-07-20 · 60 min The war in Europe reaches a climax as Allied armies advance towards Berlin, and Hitler orders his people to fight to the last man.

E19 Endgame 2026-07-27 · 60 min The most terrible weapon ever created will change the course of the war in the Pacific.

E20 Fallout 2026-07-27 · 63 min The end of the second world war and the dawn of the nuclear age see its two great victors go from allies to adversaries.

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