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In a one-off special, the Culture Show explores the extraordinary and diverse works of art that came out of the darkness of the Second World War.

Despite being locked into a life-or-death struggle, wartime Britain saw an extraordinary explosion of public art. From portraits to posters, cartoons to huge canvases – art was suddenly everywhere. Amongst the works were some of the most intense and immediate creations of the 20th century.

Presenter Alastair Sooke explores the often over-looked history of Britain's wartime renaissance. He meets the Blitz survivors, factory workers and Land Girls who became the subject of iconic paintings and talks to contemporary war artists about the challenges of creating art in conflict zones.

Travelling from the shipyards of the Clyde to the concentration camps of northern Germany, Alastair discovers how art rose above propaganda to create an enduring, deeply humane record of the "People's War2, laying the groundwork for our own understanding of what art should be and do.