A unique oral history is now available to us in the never-before-published interviews of the landmark TV series.

The World at War is the definitive television work on the Second World War. It set out to tell the story of the war through the testimony of key participants — from civilians to ordinary soldiers, from statesmen to generals. First broadcast in 1973, the result was a unique and irreplaceable record, since many of the eyewitnesses captured on film did not have long to live.

The programme’s producers committed hundreds of interview hours to tape in its creation, but only a fraction of that material made it to the final cut. For more than thirty years, the interviews have never been allowed to be published — until now.

Respected historian and bestselling author, Richard Holmes, has skillfully woven this valuable original material into a compelling narrative, creating a truly phenomenal oral history of the Second World War.