By the end of WWII, the tank had evolved from its trench-crossing beginnings; it had turned into a vision of armoured warfare that carried on through the Cold War and into the present day.

The Western and Soviet Allied forces meet at Torgau on the Elbe river; the Western troops, having landed at D-Day, descend on Germany from the West while the Soviets march from the East.

Hitler retreats into his bunker as the Allies advance on Nazi Germany; the Fuhrer issues frantic orders to non-existent armies as he loses his grip on reality.

The location of King Solomon's Mines has been a mystery for hundreds of years; new evidence has led to an amazing discovery. Might Solomon's wealth have come from the copper mines of southern Israel?

The ancient Minoan civilisation thrived for centuries in the islands of the Aegean before their culture was abruptly ended by a catastrophic volcanic explosion.

A seafaring people called the Rapa Nui flourished on Easter Island hundreds of years ago, but they succumbed to a series of deadly events that saw the entire civilisation destroyed.

The Aztec empire developed sophisticated writing systems, calendars, and a religion that required human sacrifices, but they would soon be decimated by their encounters with European colonisers.

Pierrefonds looks like a 14th-century fortress, yet it is a 19th-century masterpiece. We uncover how a ruined stronghold became a revolutionary hybrid of Middle Ages and Industrial Age innovation.

Rising 80 metres above Athens, the Acropolis is a high-speed engineering feat forged in an age of war and political ambition. This episode decodes the logistics behind the Parthenon.

Neuschwanstein is Louis II of Bavaria's 19th-century fairy-tale castle that inspired Walt Disney. Inside, medieval fantasy hides modern innovation: steel beams, plumbing, and central heating.

Begun in 1882, the Sagrada Família became Gaudí's radical engineering laboratory. In 2026, the church yet to be finished, builders use modern engineering to raise the 170-metre spires above Barcelona.

Aachen Cathedral is a 1,200-year engineering marvel. We decode the 'smart' mortar, the hidden iron ring stabilising the cupola, and the metal reinforcements that let stained glass replace stone.

June 1944 - American, British and Canadian troops stormed the Normandy beaches along a 50-mile stretch. We look at the amphibious tanks and the heavy kit that weighed them down as they waded ashore.

June 1944: the British and Canadians are still short of the objective they planned to capture on D-Day: the city of Caen. This episode tells the story of the bloody fighting for the city.

July 1944: American forces plan a major offensive named Operation Cobra. They would attack near St Lo, achieve a breakthrough, then unleash General Patton and the US Third Army to exploit the opening.

September 1944: Montgomery proposes a bold plan to cross the Rhine and encircle Germany's industrial heartland. If successful, his plan could end the war by Christmas.

October 1944: the Allies face a major supply crisis - vital fuel and ammunition still has to be landed at the D-Day beaches. When the port of Antwerp is liberated, it seems the crisis might be over.

From plantation widow to fearless buccaneer, Marie-Anne Dieu-le-veut takes to the seas alongside her pirate husband. Her boldness inspires Mary Read, who disguises herself as a man to survive.

Disguised as men, Mary Read and Ann Bonny sail with Calico Jack - until capture and a death sentence seal their legend. Decades later, Corsican Louise Antonini charts the same daring course.

This documentary sheds light on largely unknown European history: piracy and slavery in the Mediterranean. Human trafficking governed by law as an instrument for gaining power and personal enrichment.

Pierrefonds looks like a 14th-century fortress, yet it is a 19th-century masterpiece. We uncover how a ruined stronghold became a revolutionary hybrid of Middle Ages and Industrial Age innovation.

Rising 80 metres above Athens, the Acropolis is a high-speed engineering feat forged in an age of war and political ambition. This episode decodes the logistics behind the Parthenon.