The World War II Archives: Victory In The Pacific (2008) DVD
 
This series of programmes tells the complete story of World War II through fascinating archive footage that has become a living history of the incredible series of events that shaped the future of the entire human race. As Europe celebrated the defeat of Adolf Hitler, the battle still raged on in the Pacific as the Japanese refused, as their culture demanded, to surrender. For the Americans faced with a land offensive to take Japan, the battle ahead would be as bitterly fought as any that had gone before, and the number of US casualties would undoubtedly continue to escalate for perhaps years to come. The choices facing the newly appointed American President, Harry S Truman were some of the most difficult imaginable. Truman had been Roosevelt s Vice-President and when the great man, so instrumental in the defeat of Adolf Hitler, died in April 1945, the task of bringing World War II to an end, by forcing an unconditional Japanese surrender, fell on Truman s shoulders. In this programme as world peace beckoned invitingly, see for yourself the dilemma that so challenged President Truman. With dramatic archive footage watch the endgame unfold, as the question of whether to order the first use of nuclear weapons in combat is weighed up against the prospect of risking thousands more American soldier's lives on the field of battle.