Sir Jeremy Isaacs is highly deserving of the numerous awards for documentaries he has received: the Royal Television Society's Desmond Davis Award, l'Ordre National du Mérit, an Emmy, and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. His epic, 26-volume The World at War remains unsurpassed as the definitive visual history of World War II. So well known is this series that almost all baby boomers, and even most Gen-Xers, recognize the opening credits set over burning text and the somber black-and-white images of this war's particular horror. World War II was unique in thousands of ways, one of which was the unparalleled scope of the Axis and Allies' visual documentation of their activities. As a result, this war is understood as much through written histories as it is through its powerful images. The Nazis were remarkably thorough in recording even their most abhorrent atrocities-in an impressive amount of color footage. The World at War was one of the first television documentaries to exploit these resources so completely, giving viewers an unbelievable visual guide to the greatest event in the 20th century. This is to say nothing of the excellent, comprehensible narrative. Some highlights include early German and Nazi documentation of Hitler's rise to power through the impending attack on Poland in volume 1; the early British losses in the blitz in the skies over Britain and in North Africa in volume 12; the turning point of the war and Germany's first defeat in volume 13; one of the most fascinating documentaries of life inside Nazi Germany, from Lebensborn to the Hitler Youth, in volume 16; an unromanticized view of the Normandy invasion (unprecedented until Saving Private Ryan) in volume 17; one of the most widely shown introductions to the Holocaust in volume 18; an important look into wartime Japan and its expansion (although early 20th-century history that lead to Japan's role in World War II is superficial) volume 22; and another widely seen documentary of the Manhattan Project, the Enola Gay, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in volume 24. The World at War will remain the definitive visual history of World War II, analogous to Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. [+]

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.

The military, political, and social repercussions of the Vietnam War continue to be felt, in the ways in which it altered the landscape of American life forever. Written by CNN correspondent Peter Arnett, the 13 episodes of Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War trace the entire course of the conflict, from the closing days of World War II when Ho Chi Minh first began to assemble his revolutionary army, to the fall of Saigon in 1975. Documentary filmmaking simply doesn't get much better than this. With extensive archival footage shot by both sides and interviews with participants ranging from infantry soldiers to diplomats, Vietnam has a detached, journalistic objectivity and fairness throughout. It would be much easier to understand the war if it were possible to lay the blame at the feet of the French, or Kennedy, Johnson, or Nixon, but the war's progress was never that clear-cut. Rather, it was a slippery slope that inexorably led to thousands of deaths and laid waste to the country of Vietnam. Unlike WWII, there were no heroes' welcomes for Vietnam's returning GI's; more often than not, they were met with silence or outright contempt. The series' final chapter explores their struggles in readjusting to normal life in society. The somber tone of Richard Basehart's narration is a perfect match for the gravity of the subject matter. This two-DVD boxed set is essential watching for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Vietnam War and all its ramifications, and should be required viewing for history classes. [+]

Rome was just another city until it discovered the secrets of warfare. Once they perfected the art of combat, the Romans exerted their influence from Asia to the Atlantic, from Africa to England. Actor Joe Campanella narrates this fascinating, authoritative look at the Roman Legions, their battles, commanders, tactics and legacy. From its establishment in 300 BC to the crushing defeat at the hands of the German chief Akininis in 9 AD, THE ROMAN WAR MACHINE examines every aspect of this legendary fighting force. See how Caesar used his soldiers for political gain as well as in the field of battle, follow Hadrian?s troops as they build instead of destroy, and learn what life was like for the common soldier with the help of ancient documents and historical re-enactments. Like no other program ever made, THE ROMAN WAR MACHINE is an all-encompassing look at the fighting force that dominated the Ancient World, and extended the influence of a single city across three continents.

The stories of the greatest civil wars in history, featuring large scale reconstructions of key events, plus rare archive film and period imagery. Includes the American Civil War, the English Civil War, and the Spanish Civil War.

If anything defined the 20th century as the age of anxiety, it's the cold war with its ultimate no-win nuclear endgame. While conflicts in Korea and Vietnam dragged on, providing the traditional images of modern warfare, some of the conflict's most dangerous battles were invisible-tactical, intellectual, and fought primarily in the minds and war rooms of U. S. and Soviet leaders: Kennedy, Krushchev, Castro, Kissinger, Gorbachev, and Reagan. This 8-volume, 24-episode series, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, is a comprehensive history that examines the key events of the arc of the Soviet Union, from its birth to its fall, and provides a thorough analysis of what was going on behind closed doors. Informed by the stories of 500 eyewitnesses-from citizens and soldiers to historians and statesmen-and strengthened by painstaking reconstruction of archival historical film footage, CNN's Cold War is a heroic undertaking and a sweeping chronicle of the world's most fragile decades. -Susan Benson.

This four-tape set by the same British producers responsible for the classic World at War series chronicles the Nazi obsession with killing all of Europe's Jews. Making intelligent use of archival photographs, newsreel footage, and extensive footage shot by the Nazis themselves, the series begins by tracing the roots of Nazism back to Germany's humiliation at the end of World War I. The rise of Hitler and the SS, his elite guard that evolved into being the enforcers of racial doctrine, is cogently presented in the first episode. The successive tapes each focus on a particular time period, as the Nazi determination to eliminate Jews built momentum, proceeding from a program of persecution to resettlement to outright mass murder. Holocaust survivors speak on camera in interviews, as do German civilians and former members of the SS. The film footage shown is often quite grisly, and some will find it difficult viewing, but the producers deserve credit for seeking out material, especially films shot by the Nazis themselves, that accurately depicts the horrors that took place. Indeed, without the strong visual component of the production, some of the chilling stories told by the survivors on film may be thought too horrible to be true. This is a remarkably straightforward look at one of the absolute horrors of history. -Robert J. McNamara.