Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
List Price: $99.88Price: $59.99 You Save: $39.89 (40%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780780617902
Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 0780617908
Label: Pbs Home Video
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageAnalog
Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video
Number Of Items: 9
Publisher: Pbs Home Video
Release Date: June 03, 1997
Running Time: 680 minutes
Studio: Pbs Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: September 23, 1990
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
The most successful public-television miniseries in American history, the 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation, reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era he depicts. The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller, and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. --Dave McCoy
Description:
Hailed as a documentary masterpiece without parallel, Ken Burns' filmed chronicle of America's most terrible and destructive conflict will hold you in thrall as it portrays the strategies and action of the war's famous battles, and tells the stories of illustrious generals and ordinary field soldiers, politicians and rogues, heroes and a beleaguered President. Winner of two Emmy Awards, the series begins by looking at the fateful causes of the war that led to the firing on Fort Sumter, to the devastating battles of Shiloh, Antietam and Gettysburg, climaxing with Lee's surrender and the assassination of President Lincoln. Vivid photographic imagery and narration by many of today's most acclaimed performers highlight this epic program. Titles are: "The Cause of 1862," "A Very Bloody Affair 1862," "Forever Free 1862," "Simply Murder 1863," "The Universe of Battle 1863," "Valley of the Shadow of Death 1864," "Most Hallowed Ground 1864," "War Is All Hell 1865," and "The Better Angles of Our Nature 1865 ."
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Ken Burns' epic documentary about the Civil War is perhaps the greatest and most all-encompassing history lesson of the North/South conflict that has ever been put on film or page. Not only is every important detail of the war covered (and in such a way that the details are interesting and important, not boring), but two entire episodes are devoted to the build-up and aftermath of the conflict. Essentially, if you were teaching a class on the Civil War, this video is all you would need, as it both conveys the vital information of the war, and does so in a way that doesn't stagnate. In essence, a very tight, well-produced series.
The only reason I give this set four stars out of five, though, is that it lacks (althouht through no fault of its own) the emotional punch of Burns' more recent "The War" (World War II) series. Such things as personal interviews and live video could obviously not be obtained from the 1860s, but the reading of letters and still photographs doesn't ... Read More
Rating:  -
This is another great documentary accredited to Ken Burns. Nicely done and extremely informative. I purchased this for my wife who loves it and has watched it several times over.
Rating: -
Regardless of historical reservations and allegations of bias from both North and South, I regard this work of Ken Burns as a true masterpiece. I bought my first set on VHS several years ago at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and played it through a dozen or more times. I went to the expense of having this set transferred to new tapes for my VHS player here in England. Having heard in 2002 that it was available on DVD and that the whole series had been digitally enhanced, I purchased the same and I can vouch for its much improved picture quality. I have played the DVD series several times, too, and I never tire of it (nor of the separate music CD, which is one of my all-time favourites).
Why do I love the series? Well, despite (as I have said) historical reservations on my part and allegations of bias from both North and South (as I have read), Mr Burns has gathered together over many years the most remarkable collection of old still pictures, interviews with such as the superb ... Read More
Rating: -
This series is THE definitive documentary on the American Civil War - it's the first of it's kind in style and content and powerfully evocative of the spirit of the time. However, there are some inconsistencies which become apparent to the attentive viewer. For example, statements made throughout the film representing North and South waiver between certainty of Northern perserverance and widespread dissension regarding Lincoln's leadership - points which are not in agreement and do not make a cohesive statement about the momentum of the Union. And as 'CenterMan' states in his review, this documentary has a decidedly 'Eastern' tilt and emphasis, probably because Burns is himself a New Englander. The Western states and territories played an extremely important part in the war both militarily and economically, but this is not touched on. To back up another of 'CenterMan's points, the armies of the West, and ESPECIALLY the Generals of the West, were utterly essential to the evolution of ... Read More
Rating: -
Very entertaining, a masterpiece really. However, it perpetuates the myth that the abolition of slavery was at the heart of the war. So many facts run counter to this notion. For example, until well into the war, the North made it clear that it would welcome the South back into the Union with slavery intact. When Lincoln emancipated the slaves, he specifically did so only in the rebel states, leaving out the slave states that were loyal to the Union. This clearly indicates that this was a war tactic, pretty much the same one the British employed in the Revolutionary War. (If Britain had won that war, would they have justified it later on the basis of abolishing slavery?) Then, during Reconstruction, slavery was basically reimposed in the South in all but name, and the North did nothing about it. Why? Because the North had already achieved what it really wanted: reunification. I.e., slavery was no problem as long as the country stayed together, with Washington in firm control of all of the ... Read More
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