World War II with Tom Hanks

For more stories just like these, check out HISTORY This Week wherever you get your podcasts. June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches of Normandy, they climb down rope nets into small wooden landing craft bobbing in the dark waters of the English Channel. Within hours, these boats will carry them into the largest amphibious invasion in history. The craft are know...

After years of discussion over how to take the fight directly to Germany, the Allies set a target for a cross-channel invasion: Normandy, spring of 1944. But the road to Operation Overlord is no easy journey, with Hitler lying in wait. For the Allies, it’s a race to pull off one of the most complicated operations in military history. This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance):...

The B-29 bomber is the Allies’ best chance to strike Japan, and they turn to China as a potential air base. But Japan launches its largest land offensive of the war to gain control of Asia, leading to brutal fighting in the jungles and plains of South Asia. All the while, the U.S. Navy is speeding through the Pacific towards the Mariana Islands, another potential future B-29 base. This episode fea...

In the summer of 1943, after a successful campaign in North Africa, Churchill convinces Roosevelt that the best way forward is an invasion of the island of Sicily. But what is thought to be a quick and decisive attack instead becomes a months-long slog up the Italian peninsula, as Hitler has no intention of giving up this key part of his empire without a fight. This episode features interviews wit...

In 1942, the Allies are eager to challenge the Luftwaffe’s superiority in the air. The RAF and U.S. Army Air Forces combine operations to bomb the industrial heart of Germany and destroy German air power ahead of the upcoming Allied invasion of France. Airmen on both sides will suffer grievous losses – and so will civilians below. This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance): Rob...

In 1942, Hitlers launches his second offensive in the Soviet Union: Operation Blue. Quickly becoming impatient, Hitler splits his force in an attempt to capture both the Caucasus oil fields and Stalingrad. Initially successful, the German Sixth Army captures up to 90% of the city until they are trapped by General Zhukov’s men. The Soviet attacks and the unforgiving Russian winter steadily wipe out...

Amid World War II’s chaos, a hidden battle rages — a war of espionage, deception, and codebreaking. At Bletchley Park, Alan Turing and his team race to crack Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma Code in a bid to thwart Nazi plans and save Britain from invasion. But as the codes evolve, daring missions and deadly risks intensify… This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance): Dan Snow, h...

In 1942, Eisenhower leads the first joint U.S.-British operation of the war – Operation Torch – successfully landing thousands of untested U.S. troops on the Vichy-controlled shores of North Africa. The Allies race to trap the German forces in Tunisia, resulting in fearsome tank battles against the famed “Desert Fox,” German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel and his battle-tested Afrika Korps. This epis...

America’s “day of infamy” at Pearl Harbor is the birth of a new Japanese empire. Japan launches unprecedented attacks across Asia, proclaiming “Asia for the Asians” and pushing out Western colonial powers. Fueled by ideology, Japan’s armies are seemingly unstoppable – until a confrontation with the 1st Marine Division of the United States at Guadalcanal becomes a testing ground in a war without me...

Under Adolf Hitler's leadership, anti-Semitic policies escalate from discrimination to widespread genocide. The state-sponsored persecution features mobile killing squads conducting mass shootings, and then purpose-built death camps, where millions of men, women and children are murdered by poison gas. This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance): Waitman Wade Beorn, assista...

In 1940, German U-boats are sinking British hopes of victory. From the sidelines, FDR loans Britain much needed aid and maneuvers US patrols to the edge of an “undeclared war” with Germany. Meeting at a game-changing summit, Churchill and FDR align their goals. But as America and Britain get closer, so do the German U-boats. Once at war, the US will face not only German ships but the might of the...

Driven by their desire for resources and an Asian empire, Japan invades China. The US joins the global outcry as Japanese troops brutally destroy the Chinese capital of Nanking. FDR responds with a crippling oil embargo, but Japan refuses to back down, propelling them towards an attack on Pearl Harbor that will change the trajectory of WWII and the world. This episode features interviews with (in...

In September 1939, enabled by a secret pact between Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, Germany invades Poland with its lightning style of tank warfare, plunging Europe back into war. Adolf Hitler can now pursue his longed-for racial war, as the world watches in horror, and the stage is set for global conflict. This episode features interviews with (in order of appearance): Dan Carlin, podcaster, Hardc...

After defeating Poland, Hitler looks west, planning an attack into France that will take advantage of a weak point in their defences. France is overrun and new British Prime Minister Churchill scrambles to evacuate Allied troops from the coast. Shocked by the defeat of France, Roosevelt calls to mobilize the US while German planes bombard Britain from the sky. The Germans are pushed back as Roosev...

Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, launches on June 22, 1941. In what is the largest military operation in history, Hitler aims to capture the Soviet Union’s vast economic resources, enslave its populations, and expand Germany east. It is the beginning of a brutal campaign that will ultimately help decide the war in Europe. This episode features interviews...

Coming May 26th: World War II with Tom Hanks reexamines history’s most devastating conflict for a new century. Across twenty hours, the series traces the war’s full arc–from the rise of fascism to Hiroshima–uncovering the decisions, hidden networks, and lasting consequences that continue to shape our world.