March to Victory Road to Berlin   Three Wolves RRP: £29.99 THW014 Certificate: E Available 25 March 2013

On 01 September 1939 Nazi Germany shocked the world when it rained bombs over Poland in the first Blitzkrieg. Two days later, on what came to be known as Black Sunday, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. In the United States, President Roosevelt pledged that he would make "every effort" to keep America out of the war. It was a pledge he could not keep. The road to victory in the war that followed crossed thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Vogel River and cost twenty million lives in Russia alone. This is the story of the bloody battles of that war in Europe...

I've seen countless WWII documentaries and March to Victory: Road to Berlin offers a little more of the picture and a fresh perspective on that tragic period of our history where so many lost their lives to safeguard our freedom.

This 5-disc collection contains 13 episodes that take us from Hitler's rise to power to the the final siege on Berlin that ended the war. Of course this collection can't possibly cover every aspect of the war, but you can find more information on these topics in other documentaries. For a start the persecution of the Jews is mentioned, but never really explored - which is a good thing as that area needs a whole documentary to do it justice.

Obviously, being an American production, once the Americans join the war effort, the focus is very much on them and you'd be forgiven for thinking that everyone else went home for a cup of tea and a rest. In fact episodes like Bomber War; Normandy; and Bastogne focus entirely on interviews with surviving American servicemen. This isn't a complaint, far from it, and it's interesting (and a little uncomfortable at times) to hear their stories.

In Bomber War the documentary shows its age with the narrator talking about American servicemen in England. The one thing, that made their time here more bearable - we are informed - was our women. "English women were very supportive. Many were good dancers too".

This is a wonderfully researched collection with some interesting stories on some of the key moments of the war. The last piece of footage - of bodies being bulldozed by an obviously upset soldier - will stay with you for a long time.

Extras include additional mini featurettes (all pretty self explanatory): Hitler's New Germany (5 min, 33 sec); Chamberlain: Hitler is a Man of Peace (6 min, 44 sec); Hitler & Stalin Deal (2 min, 41 sec); Hitler Shuffles Command (3 min, 20 sec); Ike's Big Decision (6 min, 02 sec); Americans take Cherbourg (5 min, 28 sec); Roosevelt Signs GI Bill (3 min, 13 sec); The Budge Continues (8 min, 13 sec - I'm assuming that this is a typo and it should be "Bulge" as it focuses on the Battle of the Bulge); and Mines (6 min, 06 sec).

9

Darren Rea