There is much in the film that finds an echo in the present day: warring Middle Eastern antagonists, oppressed peoples, irascible tyrants who think they are gods.
But when a noted medical historian casts his spotlight on the frightening scene -- one of the earliest authenticated records of a shark attack, now hanging in the National Gallery of Art in Washington -- he sees "an amazingly miraculous incident," and beyond that, "an unavoidable parallel" with the present-day war against terrorism.
And that battle with the Soviet Empire for world order now seems quaint compared to the present-day war on terror.
More than 300 exhibits from paintings to posters, banners and music stretching from the first world war to the present day will explore anti-war protest and the creativity used to campaign against conflict, the IWM said.
Despite being the most removed from the present day, however, the first world war retains a unique position in the public psyche.
"Data: Past, Present, and Future" moves from the birth of statistics in the 18th century to the surveillance capitalism of the present day, covering racist eugenics, World War II cryptography, and creepy personalized advertising along the way.
Kent Calder traces the history of overseas bases from their beginnings in World War II through the cold war to the present day, comparing the different challenges the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union have confronted.
Berkhoff demonstrates not only that propaganda was critical to the Soviet war effort but also that it has colored perceptions of the war to the present day, both inside and outside of Russia.
It covers the time period from the end of World War II to the present day, up until the 2002-2003 Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) assessments, the Global War on Terror, the Iraq War, and Iran's nuclear program.
