The Best TV Shows About War and Other Conflicts

The six-episode series focused on two young men, one from South Carolina (Patrick Swayze) and one from Pennsylvania (James Read), who become friends while attending West Point Academy. As the Civil War looms, their divided loyalties test their friendship. Besides the aforementioned cast, the series featured recognizable television actors Lesley-Anne Down, Morgan Fairchild, Robert Guillaume, and Hal Holbrook, as well as country music legend Johnny Cash.

Created by famed playwright David Mamet, “The Unit” followed a covert team, based on the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, on top-secret missions. Operatives often had to go undercover in different countries, which took a toll on their mental health and jeopardized family relationships.

Adapted from the historical novel of the same name, the award-winning “The Pillars of the Earth” centers on the construction of a cathedral during a civil war between England and Normandy in the 12th century and how the fight to build it destroyed people’s lives.

“Dad’s Army” is a British sitcom about several Home Guard (armed citizen militia) volunteers and their misadventures during World War II as they prepare for a German invasion that is deemed imminent. A spin-off motion picture was released in 1971.

This Turkish miniseries follows members of the country’s police tactical units, whose mandate is to prevent terrorist attacks at home and to rescue hostages. The show covers four years of history, starting in 2014, shortly after the rise of the Islamic State.