The History Channel has dropped the first look at its upcoming World War II documentary starring America’s favorite actor-turned-Second World War documentary voiceover extraordinaire: Tom Hanks.
Premiering on May 25, the whopping 20-part series is set to uncover “new dimensions of the conflict,” according to the History Channel.
From “the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today,” the documentary entitled “World War II with Tom Hanks” offers a definitive retelling of the most destructive war in human history.
“For six dark years,” comes Hanks’ voice in the teaser trailer, “the world was on fire.”
It was a war that toppled empires and reshaped the modern world, but it didn’t just begin as German tanks rolled into Poland, nor did it just escalate with Operation Barbarossa or the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
It was a war that was fomented in the 1920s and 1930s throughout beer halls in Germany and in Manchuria, China, Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Spain and beyond. With over 20 hours of footage, this is a fact that “World War II with Tom Hanks” does not appear to gloss over.
“World War II changed everything … for all of us,” says Hanks. Here’s hoping that the documentary provides new insights into a topic that has been heavily tread.
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
