World War II: Start to Finish [DVD]

A collection of rare historic propaganda newsreels from the U.S. Department of War.

This compilation of two documentaries tells the full and comprehensive story of the Pacific Theater of World War II. Supplemented by telling interviews with eyewitnesses and historians, "Road to War" evaluates the events leading up to war, including the economic problems that Japan encountered in the 1920s, that prompted and enabled its military to wrest control over the government, leading to its alliance with the Axis powers in 1940. "Day of Infamy," on the other hand, provides historical context for the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which ultimately prompted such events as Midway, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Enola Gay.