Two fascinating historical BBC Four war documentaries World War Two 1941 and The Man of Steel and World War Two 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly, presented by renowned British historian Professor David Reynolds come to DVD for the very first time in the UK courtesy of Simply Media.

WORLD WAR TWO 1941 AND THE MAN OF STEEL

In World War Two 1941 and The Man of Steel, Reynolds examines Josef Stalin’s handling of the conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany during the Second World War. The name Stalin means ‘man of steel’, but Reynolds’ penetrating account reveals that the man himself was anything but.

Releasing to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Reynolds reveals how the dictator’s mental frailties nearly caused his country to fall to the Nazis, and examines the compromises Stalin was forced to make to survive. He also investigates the events that led to Stalin eventually siding with the Allies, including Winston Churchill’s controversial visit to Moscow in 1942.

Travelling to the sites of the main battles and using original telegrams and official documents, he re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator almost as murderous as the Nazi enemy.

WW2 1941 and The Man of Steel (E)                                            

RRP: £19.99

WORLD WAR TWO 1942 AND HILTER’S SOFT UNDERBELLY

The British fought the Second World War to defeat Hitler. World War Two 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly asks why, then, did they spend so much of the conflict battling through North Africa and Italy?

Reynolds reassesses Winston Churchill's conviction that the Mediterranean was the 'soft underbelly' of Hitler's Europe. Travelling to Egypt and Italian battlefields like Cassino, scene of some of the worst carnage in western Europe, he shows how, in reality, the 'soft underbelly' became a dark and dangerous obsession for Churchill.

Reynolds reveals a prime minister very different from the jaw-jutting bulldog of Britain's 'finest hour' in 1940 - a leader who was politically vulnerable at home, desperate to shore up a crumbling British empire abroad, losing faith in his army and even ready to deceive his American allies if it might delay fighting head to head against the Germans in northern France.

Title: WW2 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly (E)                      

RRP: £19.99

We have copies of both dvds to give away. Just tell us in what year Churchill visited Moscow and send your answers to diarmuid.macdonagh@dorsetecho.co.uk

Closing date 5pm September 16. Usual terms and conditions apply. Visit newsquest.co.uk/terms