Secrets of the Dead
World War Speed
| Street Date: | September 3, 2019 |
| Run Time: SRP: Format: Genre: | 56 Minutes on 1 disc DVD, $24.99 DVD, Digital History: War & Military |
Stories about drug use by Hitler and German forces during World War II have been widely told. What's less well-known is how Allied commanders followed suit and embraced pharmacological “force enhancers” as well. World War II Allied commanders launched their own classified program to find the perfect war-fighting drug. During the Second World War, one in three casualties left soldiers incapacitated even thought they didn’t have a scratch on them. Modern weapons and total war proved so terrifying that almost as many men were shredded by combat fatigue and shell shock – now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - as by bullets and shrapnel. Allied commanders believed the amphetamine Benzedrine might help defeat not just the need for sleep, but anxiety and fear. How this drug affected the course of World War II is an ongoing controversy.
In Secrets of the Dead: World War Speed viewers follow historian James Holland as he dives into a compelling journey that takes him from German bombers pulled from the depths of Norwegian fjords and obscure European museums, to a modern British military demolitions range and into the belly of a restored Sherman tank. At each stop, James works to connect the dots from both sides, Allied and Axis, to discover the truth behind what one historian calls, the world’s “first pharmacological arms race.”
And More
Tiananmen: The People Versus the Party
| Street Date: | September 3, 2019 |
| Run Time: | 120 Minutes on 1 disc |
SRP: Format: Genre: | DVD, $24.99 DVD, Digital History: World |
On June 4, 1989 the world’s biggest, longest, and most famous pro-democracy demonstration was brought to a tragic end. The images from those final bloody days still burn bright in our imaginations; the death toll—from the Chinese official figure of 300 to estimates as high as 15,000—is still disputed. TIANANMEN: THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE PARTY tells the gripping narrative of a period of just seven weeks in which the whole future of China today was founded, and where at various crucial turning points the final outcome could have avoided massive bloodshed.
These key moments unfold over two hours in a story told with the drama and pace of a political thriller. With never-before-seen Chinese television archival materials and exclusive interviews with key insiders, from protest leaders and students to government insiders, eyewitness accounts in TIANANMEN: THE PEOPLE VERSUS THE PARTY finally reveal the scale of the 1989 protest, its aims, its military crackdown, and the aftermath.
When Whales Walked: Journeys In Deep Time
| Street Date: | September 10, 2019 |
| Run Time: | 120 Minutes on 1 disc |
SRP: Format: Genre: | DVD, $24.99 DVD, Digital Science & Nature: Animals |
Narrated by actor Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit), When Whales Walked: Journeys In Deep Timetraces the epic origin stories of some of the world’s most spectacular creatures. From Abu Dhabi to Argentina, Kenya to China, the program takes viewers on a global adventure as top scientists investigate clues from the fossil record and use 21st-century technology to unlock the evolutionary secrets of crocodiles, birds, whales and elephants. Using innovative storytelling techniques, 3D graphics and CGI to bring ancient beasts to life, When Whales Walked offers surprising insights into the evolution of these magnificent animals, exploding myths about the path these species took over millions of years.