[image: http://img.openablog.net/sv10/images/ww2fy6.jpg]I think the Churchill biopics just wet my appetite for more. I just downloaded the first part of the incomparable World at War BBC documentary. Up ahead 30+ hours of rare WWII footage and insightful commentary.
Part I was absolutely, positively, fascinating. Taking place between 1933 and 1939, the first hour sets up the causes of the war and delves into Hitler’s cult of personality. I can’t remember any History channel program being so gripping and so informative. I’ve never seen anything quite like this.
Questions that I have after watching this first hour: can this happen again? Can group think ever threaten the fate of the world? Have we learned enough about history to stop a similar downward spiral from occurring yet again? More importantly, how can we still allow entire societies to succumb/acquiesce to state-sponsored brutality and mass killings (see Cambodia, Congo, Rwanda, etc…)?
