The World at War

About the Author

Richard Holmes was one of Britain's most distinguished historians and television presenters. He was the author of a number of bestselling books, including Redcoat- The British Soldier in the Age of the Horse and Musket, Wellington- The Iron Duke, Tommy- The British Soldier on the Western Front, In the Footsteps of Churchill and Dusty Warriors- Modern Soldiers at War, and was the general editor of The Definitive Oxford Companion to Military History. He had written and presented a number of popular series for the BBC, such as Battlefields, War Walks and The Western Front. He died in April 2011 at the age of 65. The World at War was first broadcast by Thames Television in October 1973, when memories of the Second World War were still clear in people's mind and the war's veterans were numerous. The unique television series assembled these recollections over 26 one-hour programmes. Produced by Sir Jeremy Isaacs, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier and unforgettably scored by Carl Davis, it was a seminal moment in the history of television documentaries, setting the standard by which all factual programming was thereafter judged. Only a fraction of the recorded material made it into the final cut, and it was more than thirty years later that Richard Holmes returned to the original interviews to weave together this compelling narrative.