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On September 1, 1939 the first day of World War II in Europe President Franklin D. Roosevelt appealed to the warring nations to under no circumstances undertake the bombardment from the air of civilian populations. Just six years later, British and American Allied forces had carried out a bombing campaign of unprecedented might over Germany s cities, claiming the lives of nearly half a million civilians. The Bombing of Germany examines the defining moments of the offensive that led the U.S. across a moral divide. Weaving together interviews with WWII pilots and historians, and stunning archival footage of the bombing and its aftermath, this AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film is a haunting reminder of the dilemma imposed by war's civilian casualties.

From the Indian border in Burma to China, at war with Japan since 1937, the war becomes increasingly fierce; in Europe, despite his fewer resources, Hitler renews his assault on the Soviet Union.

The bombing of Tokyo demonstrated the power of the B-29 bomber. The cost of creating this machine exceeds that of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bomb.

In 1943, Hitler is desperately trying to change the course of the war, while the Allies prepare to rid the world of the lead Nazi once and for all.

The Allies' bombing of the German city of Dresden was one of the most controversial of WWII. Rare archive footage tells the story as it's never seen before.