Department of History

When America enters World War II in 1941, jazz music goes to war, too. Swing becomes a symbol of democracy at home and bandleaders like Glenn Miller and artie Shaw enlist and take their music to the men and women of the armed forces overseas.

As the stock market soars to record heights, jazz is played in dance halls and speakeasies everywhere.

In the late 1930s, swing is still a national crze that keeps on growing despite the Depression.

Flappers, Prohibition, speakeasies, and the booming stock market ; the uproarious "Jazz Age" - set the tone for this episode, and the story of jazz becomes the story of two great cities, Chciago and New York, and of two extraordinary artists.

Despite the escalation of the Cold War and the growing threat of nuclear annihilation, America achieves a level of growth and prosperity unimaginable just a few years earlier.

The United States of America. While our new nation was suffering attacked from both within and without, John Adams had a vision of a nation of liberty and justice for all. He guided his peers - General George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson - in setting the values and agenda for a glorious, free America. Adams and his wife Abigail refined these ambitious democratic ideals, and their partnership became one of the most moving love stories in American History. John Adams, the Pulitzer Prize - winning book from Author David McCullough, is now the critically acclaimed seven-part miniseries from HBO Films - a sprawling, epic production from executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, two of the men who brought you the Emmy-award winning Band of Brothers. Starring Academy Award nominees Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) and Laura Linney (The Savages) as John and Abigail Adams, directed by Emmy winner Tom Hooper (Elizabeth I) and adapted by Kirk Ellis and Michelle Ashford from McCullough's book, John Adams is the incredible saga of a man who dreamed a nation and watched it come true.