The World at War (30th Anniversary Edition)

I watched this set over and over.
Honestly it is the best in the market and I encourage any one who didn't know about WWII is to start with this.
It collects many newsreels from German Allied sources and builds the entire documentary narration on it! And some times vice versa!

The viewer must note that it doesn't tell the truth all the time; some times they hide important facts; ignore the achievement and greatness of certain people, events and some time it focus on certain unnecessary issues.
Something valuable in it as it shows interview with Nazi leader - generals and high ranking officers whom all died by now. And you feel that their statement is censored to save the purpose of the film and the allied point of view, some of the interviews with normal citizens from Germany are not fair as they are biased and non accountable.
The Sequence of even are nit the great even it is very good and very good quality.
If you wondering what happen in WWII with comprehensive good quality while you drink cup of tea I advice you to watch this set.

The film is very good, as real as it gets. A complete history of WWII.

As many other reviewers already stated this is a very good summary of WWII, looked at from a British perspective.
Keep in mind that the war is over after volume 7. The remaining volumes are reruns of interviews with some more details.

It was mentioned that at the start of the war The Netherlands capitulated after Rotterdam was bombed.
As far as I know from Dutch historical documents, The Netherlands capitulated before Rotterdam was bombarded, but the bombers were already on their way and the Nazis did not bother to call them back, thus adding another atrosity to their long list of crimes to humanity.

Later there is an interview with historian Stephen Ambrose, who feels that the US profited from the war, since the US lost relative few people and now had Western Europe and Japan under its influence. This justified the occupation of eastern Europe by the Soviet Union, not more then fair. Never mind that there was an agreement with Stalin that all occupied countries should have free elections after the war. This (PBS?)'expert' does not seem to understand that the Eastern European countries were brutally oppressed by Russia, while the western European nations were free democracies.

There are other more interesting interviews with e.g. Hitler's secretary and German and allied commanders. Also with regular soldiers and civilians from Germany, Russia and the occupied countries.
Also footage about live in the occupied countries (Holland, Poland) and Germany during the war.

Overall well worth buying, a good historical overview of the rise and fall of Hitler. Of great historical value for present and future generations.

This is perhaps the best documentary ever put together on WW2. It combines background information with in depth analysis of just about every major action complete with eyewitness testimony and accounts.

Highly recommended.

I remembered watching this program as a boy, and remembered it fondly. I had been looking around stores without luck when I checked Amazon and there it was!

I sat down and started watching it again, and as soon as I heard the theme music and Olivier's narration was immediately transported back in time.

This thorough history of WWII begins in the first episode with the rise of the National Socialist party in Germany in the 20's and 30's, then takes us through the Rhineland, Anschluss, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and leaves us looking at Danzig.

The second episode takes us into Poland and the start of the war. Each phase of the war is discussed in detail as it navigates its way chronologically, episode by episode, through the entire conflict.

Sir Laurence Olivier's narration is excellent, as is the archival footage.
My only criticisms are directly due to the age of the series - some of the graphics that are used to dramatise explanations between footage (fairly rare) are now quite dated and almost comical. Also, because the series was made so soon after the war, the depiction of historical facts is tilted towards the allies - for instance there is no mention of the genesis of the practice of bombing cities - two or three german aircraft accidentally discharged their bomb loads over London in August 1940, which was an accidental contravention of Hitler's ban on attacking the capital. This led to British bombing of Berlin, and the whole thing escalated from there. (The Hardest Victory, RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War - Denis Richards, Hodder and Stoughton, London 1995 pp82, 83). Facts such as these are not mentioned in this series.

All in all, this series is an excellent historical record of WWII. If only someone could undertake a re-make on such an epic scale, now that many official secrets of the time are de-classified, and graphical technology has improved exponentially, it would be well worth the effort.

Highly recommended.