Browse - Most popular shows featuring: political history^x

This unflinching series documents the 9/11 terrorist attacks, from Al Qaeda's roots in the 1980s to America's forceful response, both at home and abroad.

Washington tells the story of how a fatherless young soldier full of personal ambition becomes a leader of men willing to sacrifice all for the common cause. How a once-loyal British subject rises to battle an empire in a liberty-or-death campaign to forge a new nation. And then how, at the zenith of his power, the victorious general voluntarily steps down, becoming what King George III would call "the greatest man in the world." Believing his public duty complete, he heads into retirement ready to be a farmer. But with the young country on the verge of collapse, he is once again called to lead, creating the most powerful and successful democracy in history. You may think you know George Washington, but there's more to our preeminent founding father than you've been told. Washington chips away the marble to reveal the man at the heart of our nation's story. You'll never look at George Washington, or the founding of our country, the same way again.

The Nineties follows in the footsteps of previous CNN decade series The Sixties, The Seventies and The Eighties. Executive produced by Emmy®-winning producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman in association with HBO and Emmy-winning producer Mark Herzog, the eight-part series will highlight cultural and political milestones, from the birth of the internet to President Bill Clinton's impeachment that defined the decade.

As Americans, do we really know and understand our shared and complicated history? How do we recall the small details and forgotten players that influenced some of the biggest events from America's past?

The third installment from executive producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, following in the footsteps of critically-acclaimed series "The Sixties" and "The Seventies," tackles 10 years shaped by exceptionalism and excess. Like its predecessors, "The Eighties" intersperses rare archival newsreel footage, interviews, and comments by historians, journalists, politicians, celebrities and others, painting a perspective-rich picture of a vibrant decade. Episodes examine the age of Reagan, the AIDS crisis, the end of the Cold War, Wall Street corruption, the evolving TV and music scene, and everything in between.

How did 20th Century Europe's most liberal democracy fall into the hands of fascists? From Hitler's political scheming that turned Germany's parliament into a House of Cards, his War on Truth leading to book burning, and his scapegoating of minorities, this series explores in extraordinary detail the events leading up to the outbreak of World War II.

Ken Burns's two-part, four-hour documentary, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th Century's most consequential and compelling personalities.

This documentary is a fresh exploration of President Lincoln and the complex journey to end slavery. Narrated by Jeffrey Wright and featuring the voices of Bill Camp as Abraham Lincoln and Leslie Odom Jr. as Frederick Douglass, the series is a 21st century examination of a complicated man and the people and events that shaped his evolving stance on slavery.

A chronicle of John F. Kennedy's life, including his youth, ascension into politics, presidency, and his lasting impact on history.

An assassination in Sarajevo sparks a global war. For the next 30 years, deadly fighting rages across Europe, Africa, China and the Pacific. Hitler. Churchill. De Gaulle. MacArthur. Patton. Stalin. Mussolini. We know them as legends. But they first learn what it will take to rise to greatness as young soldiers, fighting for their lives on the front lines. This is the story of a generation of men who come of age in the trenches of World War I, only to become the leaders of World War II. The lessons they learn on the front lines shape them as they rise to power-and haunt them as the deadly fighting breaks out again. Some become heroes, forged in courage under fire. Others emerge as the most infamous villains the world has ever seen.

Surviving power struggles, betrayals and plots, Hitler's inner circle of Nazi leaders seizes control of Germany and designs its disastrous future.

JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald is a gripping docuseries that delves into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald before he assassinated President Kennedy. Expert investigators use declassified documents and cutting-edge technology to uncover new evidence and shed light on one of America's most controversial events.

First Ladies profiles Michelle Obama, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Blending in-depth interviews, rare archival footage and cinematic recreations, First Ladies is a bold revision of each woman's traditional portrayal, revealing how they were impacted during their time in the White House, and how their achievements fundamentally shaped American and global history.

A celebration of our nation's sixteenth president. This series presents a complex portrait of a man who many consider to be our greatest commander-in-chief, but who considered himself "the loneliest man in the world." Bringing to life the tumultuous times in which Lincoln led his country, some of his finest Civil War moments, and his final hours, "History" examines the Lincoln legacy in a modern context. "Abraham Lincoln: His Life And Legacy" is the ultimate tribute to the ultimate president and includes the following seven documentaries: "Lincoln"; "Investigating History: Lincoln: Man or Myth"; "Man, Moment, Machine: Lincoln and the Flying Spying Machine"; "Conspiracy?: Lincoln Assassination"; "High Tech Lincoln"; "Sherman's March"; "The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth".

Twenty-five years on from a peace agreement being reached, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland shares intimate, unheard testimonies from all sides of the conflict.

The story of how Julius Caesar dismantles five centuries of ancient Roman democracy in just 16 years.

In this adaptation of the award-winning podcast, Slow Burn's Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history-and finds surprising parallels to the present.

Neil Oliver presents a drama-documentary series telling the tale of Scotland's 17th century civil war.

Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the day-to-day reality of the country's most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present.

In April 1991, Detlev Rohwedder, the head of Treuhand, the East German Privatization and Restructuring Agency, was assassinated in Dusseldorf. This documentary details the strange evidence recovered.

Decades after the assassination of African American leader Malcolm X, an activist embarks on a complex mission seeking truth in the name of justice.

The rise and fall of some of history's most ruthless dictators, from Mussolini to Saddam Hussein.

This documentary series recounts the tumultuous history of Cuba, a nation of foreign conquest, freedom fighters and Cold War political machinations.

The Romanovs are best known to us as the Russian royal family killed by revolutionaries in 1918. But there's more to one of Europe's most powerful dynasties than a tsar who could have been King George V's twin, a "missing" princess, Anastasia, and a mysterious magical man, Rasputin. The Romanovs ruled Russia for more than three centuries, after all, and Lucy Worsley is eager to tell their extraordinary tale. From the reluctant 16-year-old Romanov boy who didn't want to be king, to Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, she documents the royal family's reign and asks how their rule affected the lives of the ordinary people who eventually tore the family's world down. Lucy tells the story of the dynasty that ruled Russia for more than three centuries, including figures such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, the struggle against Napoleon in 1812, and the political murders of Nicholas II and his family in 1918.

An exploration into how a small arid town with no natural resources became a place of pilgrimage for three of the most prominent world religions, and how 3,000 years of conflicts have led directly to the struggles of today.