What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home — injured physically and psychologically — and build a life anew? In Hell and Back Again, two overlapping narratives are intercut — the life of a Marine at war on the front and the life of the same Marine in recovery at home — creating both a dreamlike quality and a strikingly realistic depiction of how Marines experience this war.

The two-part series examines Niall Ferguson’s six principles of prosperity: Competition, Science, Modern Medicine, Property, Consumerism, and Work Ethic. For the past five centuries, Western power has prevailed around the world. What led the West to be so influential? And how long will the West sustain its supremacy?

Bones of Turkana, the stunning new National Geographic Special, follows Richard Leake’s astonishing life and investigates four decades of exploration and discovery in Africa, alongside Meave and Louise, both paleontologists and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence.