WWII

Arthur Allen's new book, The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl, describes how as WWII scientist in Poland smuggled the typhus vaccine to Jews -- while his team made a weakened version for the Nazis.

The new film from the acclaimed Japanese animator spans 30 years and centers on a young man who dreams of designing the perfect airplane in the early 1930s.

George Clooney's film tells the largely true story of a World War II squad of art experts assigned to protect European masterworks from Nazi theft and Allied bombardment. Critic David Edelstein says the film is engaging and earnest, but a little formulaic.

It's commonly thought that the Catholic Church fought heroically against the fascists in Italy. But in The Pope and Mussolini, historian David Kertzer says the church actually lent organizational strength and moral legitimacy to Mussolini's regime.

The famed author and illustrator broke the rules of American children's literature in the '50s and '60s, but many Americans have never heard of him. The documentary Far Out Isn't Far Enough — now out on DVD — looks at his life and work. (Originally broadcast July 1, 2013.)

In his book, which has just won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History, Keith Lowe describes a land with no governments, schools, banks or shops, where rape was rampant and women prostituted themselves for food. Flying in the face of usual post-WWII narratives, Lowe sheds light on a complex history.

The famed author and illustrator broke the rules of American children's literature in the '50s and '60s, but many Americans have never heard of him. A new documentary, Far Out Isn't Far Enough, looks at his life and work.

In his new book, journalist Charles Glass explores the little-known history of thousands of American and British soldiers who deserted during World War II. Glass describes how the strain of war can push a soldier to the breaking point -- and how the line between courage and cowardice is never simple.

Recently, Fresh Air contributor Maureen Corrigan found a letter from then-Secretary of War James Forrestal that had been sent to her father after he had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1945. In that letter, she found an expression of gratitude that could serve us well today.

World War II is often thought of as a good and just war — a war the U.S. had to fight. But it wasn't that simple. Public debate was heated between interventionism, which President Roosevelt supported, and isolationism, which aviator Charles Lindbergh became an unofficial spokesman for.

In a new book, biographer David Nasaw profiles the father of Robert, John and Teddy, and unpacks the elder Kennedy's influence on his children. "He told them over and over again, 'I'm making all this money so you don't have to make money, so that you can go into public service,'" Nasaw says.

The director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood talks to Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his new film, The Master, a tense drama with indelible performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.

Keegan spent his life studying war, but he never fought in one and described himself as more or less a pacifist. The British military historian, who died last week at age 78, chronicled the history of warfare from Alexander the Great to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas stars in the drama Sarah's Key, about the French roundup of Jews during the Nazi occupation. "It's something the French have been extremely wary of talking about," she says. "It's been hidden away for a very, very long time."

Laura Hillenbrand -- the award-winning author of Seabiscuit -- has returned in fighting form with her latest nonfiction biography, Unbroken. The story of a pilot who survived a crash against all odds speaks to the indefatigable human spirit and our collective will to overcome.

If the Dead Rise Not, the latest book in Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther detective series, shifts the saga from prewar Nazi Germany to 1954 Havana. Critic John Powers says the Chandleresque novel kept him glued to his deck chair for days.

After producing Band of Brothers in 2001, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg return to World War II with The Pacific, a 10-part historical miniseries beginning Sunday night on HBO. TV Critic David Bianculli review the series, which examines the Pacific theater of operations.

German tenor Max Lorenz had a voice that could move millions — though Lorenz will be most remembered as Hitler's (and Wagner's) favorite. A new documentary about The Life and Times of Max Lorenz, chronicles the conflict and triumph of his unlikely voice and paints an intimate portrait, according to critic Lloyd Schwartz.

Set in German-occupied France, Quentin Tarantino's World War II revenge fantasia Inglourious Basterds is an ungainly pastiche — that also manages to feel organic. David Edelstein has a review.

Author J.G. Ballard died April 19 from cancer. The science fiction writer produced more than 20 novels and short story collections, including Empire of the Sun and Love & Napalm: U.S.A. Fresh Air remembers Ballard with an archival interview.