English

Forged by conquest, and ruled by intimidation and diplomacy, Egypt's New Kingdom was built by men and women of astonishing ambition. For nearly 500 years (1560 B.C. to 1080 B.C.), the pharaohs of Egypt struggled to shape the science, culture, and politics of the ancient world. In the process, they would create the first great empire in history.

It was perhaps the most spectacular flourishing of imagination and achievement in recorded history. In the Fourth and Fifth Centuries BC, the Greeks built an empire that stretched across the Mediterranean from Asia to Spain. They laid the foundation of modern science, politics, warfare and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever seen.

From a small Italian community in 15th Century Florence, the Medici family would rise to become one of the most powerful dynasties in Europe. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would use this power to help ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history-the Renaissance.

Commanding shoguns and samurai warriors, exotic geisha and exquisite artisans—all were part of the Japanese "renaissance"—a period between the 16th and 19th centuries when Japan went from chaos and violence to a land of ritual refinement and peace.

Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the First Century, the world was ruled by Rome. The Roman Empire struggled with problems which are surprisingly familiar: violent coups, assassination, overarching ambition, civil war, clashes between the classes as well as the sexes, and questions of personal freedom versus government control.

Martin Luther's attack on the all-powerful Catholic Church was a knife to the heart of an empire that had endured for over a thousand years. Nailing his treatise to the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral, this previously obscure German monk changed the world forever, unleashing forces that plunged Europe into war and chaos.

This drama-documentary challenges the popular view of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin's epic clash for control of Jerusalem, using the latest research into the original Christian and Muslim ancient sources and the insight of leading experts from both East and West.

Between the fall of Rome and the European voyages of discovery, few events were more significant than the rise of Islam. Within a few centuries, the Islamic empires blossomed, projecting their power from Africa to the East Indies, and from Spain to India.

Two thousand years ago, in the Roman province of Judea, Jesus was crucified by imperial troops. Thousands before him had suffered the same fate. But unlike his predecessors on the cross, Jesus did not disappear from history. Instead, his memory was kept alive by a small band of Jews—men and women who held fast to their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah.

Nearly 3000 years ago, a tiny group of tribes in the land of Canaan gave birth to a nation and a religion—a religion that would dare to redefine humanity's relationship with God. KINGDOM OF DAVID: THE SAGA OF THE ISRAELITES tells the epic story of the Israelites and the creation of the world's first and most profoundly influential, monotheistic religion.

MATHEMATICS FORMS the foundation for nearly everything we do--from finance to physics, and architecture to astronomy. Math not only describes our world, but also reveals its beauty and mystery.

World War II, we have been told all our lives, was our greatest triumph, the moment when the forces of light—the Western democracies and the U.S.S.R.—prevailed over the forces of darkness—the Nazis and the other Axis powers. It was a conflict that began in Europe in September 1939 and ended with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945. Or did it?

A 4000 mile trade route the winds through mountains, deserts and plains linking Europe to China. In 1271 Marco Polo left Venice, Italy on a journey of 4000 miles to China. His book, "The Travels of Marco Polo," opened the trade routes to greater traffic as cultures, ideas and goods from the west and east were exchanged and great fortunes were made on the Silk Road.