The War (2007) – “The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting. This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that war.” 17 years after making history with his epic documentary series chronicling the American Civil War, Ken Burns went to war […]
The Civil War (1990) – Ken Burns’s epic documentary miniseries is arguably the most influential piece of historical non-fiction ever produced for television. For one week in 1990 it had the rapt attention of the nation and the nation’s political leaders (there was a run on videotape in Washington D.C. the week it premiered) and […]
Prohibition (2011), Ken Burns’ portrait of “the Noble Experiment” turned American disaster, follows Burns’s trademark approach to American history by putting big events into perspective through the personal stories of both significant historical figures and the everyday citizens. That’s particularly effective in the story of prohibition, which traditionally is presented in terms of the activism […]
On August 25, 2016, the National Parks Service turns 100. To celebrate the centenary of this great and necessary institution, I suggest checking out The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (2009) from America’s chronicler Ken Burns. This six-part, twelve-hour plus series explores not just the beauty and legacy of America’s National Parks, but the history […]
