Tom Hanks' 20-Part World War II Series Sets Memorial Day Premiere

Tom Hanks, who has spent more than two decades telling World War II stories, is returning with a new 20-episode documentary series titled World War II with Tom Hanks. The History Channel will launch the series globally in 200 territories and 40 languages, and it will premiere on Memorial Day.

The series traces the conflict from the Invasion of Poland through the rise and fall of the Axis, following major battles such as Stalingrad and the Normandy landings and spanning the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Pacific theaters. It interweaves the experiences of soldiers and civilians with the wartime decisions of leaders including Winston Churchill, Franklin D.

Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joseph Stalin, Erwin Rommel, Hideki Tojo and Adolf Hitler. Creators say the show explores the human cost of total war—covering the Holocaust, civilian resistance and life on the home fronts—while also revealing the hidden wars of espionage, codebreaking and industrial mobilization that shaped the outcome of the conflict.

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