Tom Brokaw's THEIR FINEST HOUR Documentary Premieres Today, 8/11

THEIR FINEST HOUR, a Tom Brokaw documentary in honor of host country Great Britain, premieres today, August 11, during NBC's daytime coverage of the London Olympics. NBC's Olympic daytime show starts at 10 a.m. ET/PT.

In Tom Brokaw's words, "Their Finest Hour" explores the debt Americans owe to the British people. In 1940 and 1941, just prior to the United States entering World War II, Britain miraculously stood firm against Nazi terror. And, as historian Anthony Beevor states in the documentary, Hitler would have ruled all of Europe, and there would have been very little the United States could have done about it.

"Their Finest Hour" was shot across Britain in London, Dover, Coventry, Portsmouth, Bladon and Cambridge over the course of two years. Assistants to the producers engaged in a worldwide search for supporting archival footage. In particular, with more than 25 different sources, the documentary uses a vast amount of recently discovered color film footage of the period that had been forgotten for decades. Airing the day before the Closing Ceremony, "Their Finest Hour" is a tribute to England as the host of the 2012 Olympics. It is powerful and insightful, shedding light on a piece of history that may be unknown to the American viewer.

Co-produced by NBC Olympics Story Editor and Senior Producer BrIan Brown, and Executive Editor Joe Gesue, "Their Finest Hour" is one in a series of documentaries that Brown, Gesue and Brokaw have collaborated on over the years. Past work included a documentary about Gander, Newfoundland, during the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, where planes headed for the U.S. on 9/11 landed and remained for days.

NBCUniversal, presenting its 13th Olympics, the most by any U.S. media company, will make an unprecedented 5,535 hours of the 2012 London Olympics coverage available across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform, an unprecedented level that surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours.

For the full schedule of NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage, go to NBCOlympics.com.