The Best TV Shows About War and Other Conflicts

This South Korean show, based on true events, tells a love story amidst political turmoil, s a South Korean student falls in love with a man who, unbeknownst to her, is a North Korean spy. The show takes place in 1987, during the period of a mass protest movement for fair elections – which eventually led to the establishment of a democratic government in South Korea.

One of the most intense series about war and conflict is the Israeli-produced “Fauda,” whose title is the Arabic word for “chaos.” It also is the codeword Israeli special forces use when a mission doesn’t go as planned. That happens frequently during the series, which tries to put a human face on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and view it from both perspectives. To date there are 48 episodes, all of the white-knuckle variety.

The 10-part miniseries from the producers of the acclaimed “Band of Brothers” miniseries captured the fury of the Pacific campaign in World War II. The show follows U.S. Marines fighting the Japanese on the islands of Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Among the actual soldiers portrayed in the movie are author Robert Leckie, Medal of Honor winner John Basilone, and Lewis “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.

“Roots” was an important miniseries that detailed the inhumanity of slavery in a way many Americans had not previously experienced on television. It aired over eight consecutive nights and was seen by 130 million viewers, a record at that time. The series dramatized author Alex Haley’s family line from the enslavement of ancestor Kunta Kinte to the freedom of his descendants. Besides African-American stars LeVar Burton, Louis Gossett Jr., Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson, and John Amos, the cast also featured TV veterans Chuck Connors, Ed Asner, and Lloyd Bridges

The British import is about a French café owner in occupied France during World War II who deals with German soldiers, a French Resistance leader, and hidden British airmen while concealing an affair with his waitress from his wife.