BBC Documentaries

World War Speed: The Drugs that Won WWII (2019x186)

: 29, 2019

It's long been known that German soldiers used a methamphetamine, called Pervitin, during WWII. But have tales of Nazis on speed obscured the massive use of stimulants by British and American troops? Did total war unleash the world's first pharmacological arms race? And in the face of industrial slaughter, what role did drugs play in combat? Historian James Holland is on a quest to dig deeper and unearth the truth behind World War Speed.