Spotlight on History - World Wars 2024
LONDON TO LONDON
DEPARTS AUGUST 12, 2024
SEVEN SEAS SPLENDOR
In 2024, we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the name given to the June 6, 1944, invasion of the beaches at Normandy in northern France by troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries during World War II. France at the time was occupied by the armies of Nazi Germany, and the amphibious assault—codenamed Operation Overlord—landed some 156,000 Allied soldiers on the beaches of Normandy by the end of the day. Despite their success, some 4,000 Allied troops were killed by German soldiers defending the beaches.
At the time, the D-Day invasion was the largest naval, air and land operation in history, and within a few days about 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed. By August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and in spring of 1945 the Allies had defeated the Germans. Historians often refer to D-Day as the beginning of the end of World War II.
On this very exclusive voyage, we welcome aboard producers of the major PBS series on the histories of The Great War, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War in honor of the anniversaries of these significant, 20th century world conflicts. Invited to speak on these great works are Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Phil Bertelsen and WWII historian John C. McManus, the Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
This program has 2 exclusive experiences that will be offered to our Spotlight guests:
Return to London: The Royal Treatment. A 3-day extraordinary pre-cruise tour of London with exclusive access to Buckingham Place, the Churchill War Rooms, locations used in filming The Crown and Bridgerton, Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle and VIP seating to a major musical playing in London’s West End. Details to be announced in September 2023.
D-Day Landing Beaches: We built our World Wars theme around a visit to the historic and very moving beaches of Normandy. Those who have seen the beaches can tell of an experience that can only be appreciated on site. For our exclusive VIP tour of the beaches, we are adding deep historical and military insight led by our Spotlight speaker, John C. McManus. Space will be limited. See details at: Excursion code to be announced in September 2023
Spotlight programming and events:
Beginning with a festive Welcome Reception, guests will have the opportunity to greet speakers and performers in-person, register for fascinating private dinners and hear more about the acclaimed work of public broadcasting entities from America. Lectures and special screenings will be offered on sea days and certain afternoons in port. Several PBS films will be screened in the Constellation Theater and on 2 broadcast channels in guest cabins. Both a Welcome and a Farewell Reception are also offered during this unique offering. We will also feature veteran breakfasts with fellow vets. Our experience will conclude with a very exclusive shore excursion to visit the beaches of Normandy at the end of the cruise.
Additional on-board programing:
Additional on-board activities and custom shore excursions information will be added soon.
To join the group:
Spotlight lectures, dinners, and cocktail parties, all unrivaled experiences – are open to all Regent guests at no extra charge. Join our “community at sea” by mentioning the group code “SPO” (for Spotlight) at the time of booking or add this experience to your “On Board Options” via Destination Services to reflect your interest in attending Spotlight on Public Broadcasting events. A programming agenda will be delivered to your suite upon embarkation and along with exclusive invitations to activities and events that will be sent to your suite throughout the journey.
Invited Featured Speakers:
Award-Winning Professor, Author, and Military Historian- John C. McManus is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T). This professorship is bestowed by the University of Missouri Board of Curators on the most outstanding scholars in the University of Missouri system. McManus is the first ever Missouri S&T faculty member in the humanities to be named Curators’ Distinguished Professor.
As one of the nation’s leading military historians, and the author of fifteen well received books on the topic, he is in frequent demand as a speaker and expert commentator. In addition to dozens of local and national radio programs. His current project is a major three volume history of the U.S. Army in the Pacific/Asia theater during World War II. He is the host of two podcasts, Someone Talked! in tandem with the National D-Day Memorial, and We Have Ways of Making You Talk in the USA alongside Al Murray and James Holland.
McManus is a native of St. Louis. He attended the University of Missouri and earned a degree in sports journalism. After a brief stint in advertising and sports broadcasting, he embarked on a literary and academic career. He earned an M.A. in American history from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D in American history and military history from the University of Tennessee. He participated in the University of Tennessee’s Normandy Scholars program and, in the process, had an opportunity to study the battle first hand at the Normandy battlefields.
At Tennessee he served as Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of War and Society, where he helped oversee a major effort to collect the first hand stories of American veterans of World War II. Making extensive use of this material, as well as sources from many other archives, he published two important books, The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II in 1998, and Deadly Sky: The American Combat Airman in World War II in 2000.
Shortly after the publication of Deadly Sky he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of U.S. Military History at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. In 2004 he published a two volume series on the American role in the Battle of Normandy. The first book, The Americans at D-Day: The American Experience at the Normandy Invasion was released in June 2004. The second book, The Americans at Normandy: The Summer of 1944, the American War from the Beaches to Falaise was published in November 2004. In 2007-2008 he published four new books. Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers who made the Defense of Bastogne Possible (John Wiley and Sons, March 2007) is a fast paced, graphic history of the desperate race for the key town of Bastogne in the early days of the Battle of the Bulge. He has since published three more highly acclaimed books: September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far; The Dead and Those About to Die, D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach; and Hell Before Their Very Eyes: American Soldiers Liberate Concentration Camps in Germany, April 1945.
Director, Producer and Editor Erik Ewers has been collaborating with PBS filmmaker Ken Burns for over 30 years on almost every one of Ken’s films, includingLewis & Clark, Baseball, Jazz, Mark Twain, The War, The National Parks, The Roosevelts, The Vietnam War, and his latest miniseries Country Music. Erik’s work has been recognized by his peers with two ACE Eddie Award nominations for editing and more than 10 Emmy nominations, and received both an ACE Award and 3 Emmy Awards for best Non-Fiction Programming and Sound Editing.
Additionally, Erik has been collaborating with his brother Christopher to form Ewers Brothers Productions, and over the past 15 years they have created short-form documentaries, promotional films, and feature length documentaries, including The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science which aired on PBS in 2018. The Ewers Brothers are currently working on a PBS miniseries on today’s mental health crisis, and a historical film on Henry David Thoreau. Erik is also senior editor of a miniseries on the life and writing of Ernest Hemingway, which will air on PBS in 2021.
Phil Bertelsen is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer and director who uses film and television to entertain, inspire, and provoke audiences. His work spans from documentaries on Netflix, NBC, PBS, and Viacom to episodic television, including network dramas Madame Secretary and The Black List. His documentary films chronicle pivotal events, prominent figures, and meaningful perspectives in the pantheon of the Black experience and critical subjects like racial identity, transracial adoption, homelessness, education, and cyberstalking.
Bertelsen is currently directing “Black Patriots: The 761st Battalion,” a two hour documentary that tells the story of the first Black armoured division to engage in combat in US military history. They served in the European theater during World War II, fighting battles in six European countries in six months. The film, produced by Morgan Freeman, explores the two major battles they faced – the expansion of Nazism in Europe and racism, oppression, and inequality at home. It will feature Freeman interviewing one of the last surviving members of the 761st, as well as the current and first Black Secretary of Defense, Secretary Lloyd Austin, alongside new and archival interviews, period footage, still photographs and new commentary and stories from family and relatives of the Black Panther soldiers.
Bertelsen has screened his work at prestigious global competitions, including the Sundance Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, and the London International Film Festival. In addition, he has won a Student Academy Award as well as awards from Director’s Guild,The Tribeca Film Festival, and Urban World Film Festival. And he has received grants from organizations that include The Ford Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Black Public Media, the Independent Television Service (ITVS), and the Paul Robeson Fund.
Bertelsen holds an MFA in Film and TV from New York University where he was a Spike Lee Fellow. He has a BA in Political Science and Journalism from Rutgers University and is a member in good standing in both the Writers and Directors Guild.
Dan Christman, a career military officer who served in the Army for 36 years, retired as a lieutenant general in 2001. His last assignment prior to military retirement was as Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, where for five years he headed this historic military institution. Christman also served for two years as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during which time he traveled with and advised Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
The general was centrally involved during this period with negotiations between Israel and Syria as a member of the Secretary’s Middle East Peace Team. Christman has written and lectured extensively on leadership and national defense, and he served as a military analyst for CNN International during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his military retirement, Christman served for 18 years with the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, heading the Chamber’s International Division and advising on the business implications of US national security challenges. Christman is a decorated combat veteran of Southeast Asia, where he commanded a company in the 101st Airborne Division in 1969. The general currently serves as an Emeritus board member of the Gettysburg Foundation and previously has served on the boards of multiple US Corporations.
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