Good historical documentaries
List activity
23K views
• 220 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
36 titles
- StarsKenneth BranaghAnatoli DobryninRobert McNamaraA 24-part series which deals with the relations between the United States, the Soviet Union and their respective allies between the end of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf BuchnerJutta RüdigerAn examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- StarsFrank FinlayEnrique ListerRamón Serrano SúñerDocumentary series which uses film and eyewitness accounts from both sides of the conflict that divided Spain in the years leading up to World War Two, also placing it in its international context.
- StarsRobert PowellSwaylee LoughnaneRecounts the events of world War II in color.
- StarsPeter CoyoteHuy DucJames WillbanksA comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.
- StarsPeter CoyotePete HamillCatherine Gilbert MurdockThe story of the American activist struggle against the influence of alcohol, climaxing in the failed early 20th century nationwide era when it was banned.
- DirectorNick GreenStarsAlisdair SimpsonViktor MikhailovOlga ArkhipovaMarking the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, this is the untold story of how one man saved the world from nuclear apocalypse. From the producers of The King's Speech, this hour-long special details a shocking and long-hidden side to the historic events of 1962. Today, the public remembers Kennedy and Khrushchev's public battle of nerves. But away from the spotlight of global politics, a drama on board a Russian submarine brought us closer to World War III than anyone knew. The Man Who Saved the World introduces us to Vasili Arkhipov - the man who brought us back from the brink of certain nuclear war. With brand new eyewitness accounts, the first ever TV interview with Arkhipov's widow and dramatic reconstructions, this is the story of the most dangerous moment in human history.
- DirectorPeter AnthonyStarsStanislav PetrovKevin CostnerSergey ShnyryovRetired Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, who saved the world from WW3, talks about his life as retiree and shares his opinions on the Cold War with actor Kevin Costner in this melancholic mixture of documentary and reenacted footage.
- StarsDavid WilleyRachel WilliamsMakhmut GareevThe history of the powerful weapon on land, the tank. Covers its entire history, from paper designs of the early-1900s to the beasts of the present day.
- StarsJames BurkeKenneth KendallBruce BoaFollow James Burke through the history of science and technology in this collection of 10 1-hour episodes, starting with "The Trigger Effect."
- StarsJames BurkeSteve DavisMandy MaxwellHistorian James Burke walks the viewer through the tenuous threads of history that link seemingly obscure scientific breakthroughs and the events and products that exist today.
- StarsJames BurkeJohn CarriganIn the conclusion to his groundbreaking series, James Burke continues to make incredible connections to history's most important discoveries and inventions.
- DirectorThomas OttStarsDavid Ogden StiersHans BethePeter HayduHistory of the American and Soviet development of the H-bomb.
- DirectorJon ElseStarsHans BetheHolm BursomHaakon ChevalierScientists and witnesses involved in the creation and testing of the first ever atomic bomb reflect on the Manhattan project and its fascinating leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who upon completion of his wonderful and horrible invention became a powerful spokesperson against the nuclear arms race.
- StarsDavid Ogden StiersKenneth JacksonMike WallaceExploration of New York City's rich history as a complex and dynamic city that has played an unparalleled role in shaping the nation and reflecting its ideals.
- StarsSean BarrettVeronika HyksEva HartSeries documenting the history of the twentieth century through the testimony of those who lived through it.
- DirectorSue WilliamsStarsKai-Shek ChiangZedong MaoDeng XiaopingCHINA: A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION is a six-hour tour de force journey through the country's most tumultuous period. First televised on PBS, this award-winning documentary series presents an astonishingly candid view of a once-secret nation with rare archival footage, insightful historical commentary and stunning eyewitness accounts from citizens who struggled through China's most decisive century. CHINA IN REVOLUTION charts the country's most violent era where decades of civil war and foreign invasions led to the bloody battle for power between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. THE MAO YEARS examines the turbulent era of Mao's attempts to forge a "new China" from the war-ravaged and poverty-stricken nation. Mao's death begins BORN UNDER THE RED FLAG, which follows the country's new leadership of Deng Xiaoping and its unlikely transformation into an extraordinary hybrid of communist-centralized politics with an ever-expanding free market economy. Monumental in scope, CHINA: A CENTURY OF REVOLUTION is critical viewing for anyone interested in this increasingly powerful and globally influential country.
- StarsDavid McCulloughSam WaterstonJulie HarrisA comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
- StarsDavid Ogden StiersDick CheneyNewt GingrichThe people, ideas, and events that created our current world economy.
- DirectorSue WilliamsStarsWill LymanChina: A Century of Revolution - The Mao Years, 1949-1976 is the second in the series of three films depicting the struggle of China to realize its economic and political goals.
- DirectorSue WilliamsStarsWill LymanDeng XiaopingFollowing the death of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping emerged as China's new leader and launched an ambitious path of economic reform. But he also oversaw one of the most infamous episodes of political repression in the 20th Century.
- DirectorKathryn Pierce DietzSue WilliamsStarsKai-Shek ChiangWei-Kuo ChiangChen Li-fuIn 1911, China's centuries old history of imperial rule was overthrown and replaced with a republic. But the weak and ineffectual government that now ruled the massive country gave way to Japanese invasion and civil war.
- StarsAndrew MarrPierre MaraisJoe VazAndrew Marr's History of the World is a 2012 BBC documentary television series presented by Andrew Marr that covers 70,000 years of world history from the beginning of human civilisation, as African nomadic peoples spread out around the world and settled down to become the first farmers, up to the twentieth century.
- StarsKen EakenJaime SuchlickiJean-Pierre ClercThis documentary series recounts the tumultuous history of Cuba, a nation of foreign conquest, freedom fighters and Cold War political machinations.
- DirectorMalcolm ClarkeStuart SenderStarsIan HolmRobert LantzEleonore HertzbergDocumentary about Holocaust victim Kurt Gerron.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzFrançois ArnaudVladimir LeninColorized historical footage in ascending order of World War 1. Not only the relatively known Flanders and France battles, but also the generally unknown Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman Empire- Allied and African German Colonies, and other unknown or forgotten fronts and battles. Original French production retold in English for National Geographic channel as: World War 1: The Apocalypse
- StarsRobin EllisSlobodan MilosevicFranjo TudjmanThis captivate documentary covers the struggles of the Yugoslavian people during the collapse of their country, and the subsequent wars to finally find hope with the signing of the Final Peace Accords.
- StarsNigel HawthorneDocumentary covering Stalin and the Soviet Unions war with Nazi Germany.
- DirectorTodd Douglas MillerStarsNeil ArmstrongMike CollinsBuzz AldrinA look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.
- DirectorJoachim FestChristian HerrendoerferStarsGert WestphalStephen MurrayArtur AxmannThis meticulously assembled film dissects the Third Reich with an analytical blade, charting Hitler's improbable rise, his mastery of crowd psychology and his consummate skill in exploiting others' weaknesses.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzMartin SheenRudolf HessThis six-part series traces the Second World War, from the rise of the Nazis to the surrender of the Japanese, with detailed portraits of key figures.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzFrançois ArnaudVladimir LeninColorized historical footage in ascending order of World War 1. Not only the relatively known Flanders and France battles, but also the generally unknown Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman Empire- Allied and African German Colonies, and other unknown or forgotten fronts and battles. Original French production retold in English for National Geographic channel as: World War 1: The Apocalypse
- StarsMathieu KassovitzFrançois Arnaud"The war was over. But it wasn't over. We just didn't know it." Stefan Zweig.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzGeneviève de GalardSummer 1945. An iron curtain comes down, separating the Communist Eastern bloc and the West, led by the Americans. And nuclear weapons leaves mankind under perpetual threat of a new Apocalypse.