In a Q&A interview with Bloomberg.com's James Gibney, Museum Senior Historian Robert M. Citino provides some of the military background that the Christopher Nolan blockbuster leaves out. 

Senior Historian Robert M. Citino, PhD, on Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic: “Nolan is particularly good at weaving together war’s three domains: on land, at sea, and in the air. The air battles, often a weak and confusing bore in war films, are as well-presented as any I’ve ever seen, and the German Stuka attacks, especially, are terrifying. No war film is truly realistic, but Dunkirk is as good as it gets.”  
 

"By the war’s conclusion, nearly 16 million men and a half million women would provide military service for their country. Where would the opportunities to create better lives for themselves come from for these men and women who had seen, experienced, and sacrificed so much during the war years?" 

BLITZED: Drugs in the Third Reich
By Norman Ohler

Americans like to think of World War II as a “great crusade,” but if it was, the country certainly didn’t seem all that fervent about rushing into it. Think of it: by the usual reckoning, World War II lasted six years, from the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, to Japan’s surrender on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. US participation spanned less than four years of that total, a little over half the war. Of seven campaigning seasons, the United States missed the first three and was active only in the final four.

The Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, with the generous support of the Strake Foundation, is delighted to host Blanche Wiesen Cook, PhD, for a presentation about the third book in her Eleanor Roosevelt trilogy.

Omer Bartov’s Anatomy of a Genocide is a fascinating and cautionary examination of how genocide can take root at the local level—turning neighbors, friends, and even family members against one another—as seen through the eastern European border town of Buczacz during World War II.

Presented by the Lois and Lloyd Hawkins, Jr. Foundation

Join us for an engaging daylong symposium in honor of Black History Month and our new special exhibition exploring the significant role African Americans played in securing Allied victory.

Join historians from the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, The National WWII Museum's research center, for casual conversation over happy hour-priced drinks. 

Join us for a detailed look at the life and legacy of one of the most famous and controversial commanders of World War II—George S. Patton.

Join us in conversation with John Curatola, PhD, Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

Join us as we hear from Stanford Professor Robert Hamrdla, a world traveler and expert in German studies.