The History of Warfare

"Neither before or since has Britain ever been in a more disturbed or perilous state." CORNELIUS TACITUS. In 55 BC the ambitious Julius Caesar, Emperor of Rome, turned envious eyes towards the mysterious isle of Britain. Within a few short years, the mighty Roman war machine had tamed the Celtic tribal society and transformed it into a province of the Roman Empire. This is the story of the dark years of ancient Britain when the well-disciplined Roman Legions faced the fury of the united Celtic peoples of Britain.

The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War fought between Union and Confederate forces between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, which was won by the Union, is widely considered the Civil War's turning point, ending the Confederacy's aspirations to establish an independent nation. It was the Civil War's bloodiest battle, claiming over 50,000 combined casualties over three days

This documentary combines contemporary images and photographs alongside modern reconstructions to examine the famous battle of the Little Big Horn, where General George Armstrong Custer made his last stand. Custer was making a last-bid attempt to restore his flagging reputation, but the conflict was an ill-conceived one, which saw the Indian tribes triumph totally over their white oppressors.

Kate Harper discusses the New World, English exploration, English colonies, British Empire, Puritans, Pilgrims, William Bradford, Jamestown, Plymouth Plantation and Squanto, who helped the Pilgrims to survive.

Kate Harper presents Dutch Colonies, Dutch exploration, Dutch Empire, which were part of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the important historical figures Henry Hudson, Peter Minuit, and Peter Stuyvesant, who were responsible for the founding of New Amsterdam, which later became England's New York colony.

This documentary focuses on the conflicts between the Greek city states and the Persian Empire in the fifth century BC, including the famous Greek victory at Marathon, and the Spartans' defence of the pass at Thermopylae, which ensured Greek freedom and victory. Features dramatised reconstructions and analysis by experts in the field of ancient history. This is the story of bloody conflicts between the Greeks and the Persians that lasted for more than fifty years in the fourth century BC. It includes the famous battle of Marathon, a victory that has echoed down the year, and Thermopylae, where the Spartans made a heroic defence of the pass. The running battles did not cease until 449 BC, when the Persians finally gave up hope of annexing Greece.

Beginning with the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, witness the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Each battle, respectively, marked the apex of Japanese expansion in the Southern and Central Pacific, followed by the naval battles in the Marianas and Leyte Gulf that finally broke Japan's naval power and laid open the road to Tokyo.

The Panzer and Tiger tanks in their various configurations swept all before them throughout Europe, Russia and the Middle East in the "Blitzkrieg" campaigns, The series deal with the evolution of each tank, many of which were judged to be the best designed tanks of the war.

The nature of infantry warfare in the Peloponnesian Wars between the Greek city states of Athens and Sparta in 450 BC. The hoplites were the regular infantry of both sides, armed with the long thrusting spear and fighting in powerful phalanxes, but it was the Spartans who used them to greater effect, eventually defeating Athens and subjugating her utterly. The mighty armoured warriors at the heart of Greek legend were famous Hoplites. Fighting shoulder to shoulder, armed with their long thrusting spears and colourful shields, these were the men who dominated the battlefields of the ancient world during the conflicts of the Peloponnesian Wars. In 450 BC, war erupted between the two great powers of ancient Greece, the Athenians and the Spartans. By the time the war had finished, the army, navy and city of Athens would be in ruins.