It comprehensively covers the debates, discussions and arguments about how and whether Hitler could have been stopped, and the nature of the policy of appeasement prior to and in the early stages of the Second World War. Above all, the film explores the failure of politicians and the governed alike to understand the real threat that Hitler posed. Hitler was actually stoppable on a number of occasions - if only so many had not misread the alliances that might have been made to prevent what became an inexorable tide towards war, one that need never have happened.
Going well beyond this, the film also describes the extent to which the European war became part of a global conflict, how Britain’s position in the world changed irrevocably because of this, and the emergence of new American and Russian empires. Controversially the film asks whether the war needed to have been fought at all, together with outlining the continuing modern day effects of the failures of the policies and outcomes described.
The current Netflix feature film, based on the Robert Harris book, Munich - The Edge of War has attracted enormous interest day after day in the national press, radio and television because of the issues it addresses. This new two part documentary deals these issues and so much more. Unlike a feature film that is “based on true events”, it is also accurate. It includes for instance, the true story of Adam von Trott, on whose life much of the feature film is based. Indeed, the film covers most of the true stories and key issues surrounding Churchill, Chamberlain, Hitler, appeasement and the fight against Hitler in the Second World War.
The roles of Chamberlain, Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt and others are extensively discussed. The film highlights the little-known fact that the Chinese lost between ten and fifteen million war dead during the Second World War and contributed to the defeat of Japan in great measure. The incredible roles of Britain in 1940, the United States from 1941, the Russians between 1941 to 1945, China from 1937 to 1945, and the loss of Britain’s Empire are also covered in depth and detail.
The leading best selling historians in the film are Sir Richard Evans, Tim Bouverie, Frank McDonough, Jonathan Haslam, John Bew, Andrew Roberts and John Charmley. Few other 90-minute documentaries cover so extensively the range of arguments and controversies with the intensity of discussion that the seven great historians have brought to the film. The film is authoritative and deals unflinchingly with many powerful controversies. It makes extensive and powerful use of archive and has an original orchestral score.