Film/TV

The Civil War (miniseries)

Ken Burns

1990

Associated Ideas, People, and Places

TV Review

Re-watching ‘The Civil War’ During the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd Protests

The landmark Ken Burns documentary hasn’t aged well. But it continues to shape American perceptions about the Confederacy and slavery.

by Gillian Brockell via Retropolis on September 26, 2020
Argument

Why We Need a New Civil War Documentary

The success and brilliance of the new PBS series on Reconstruction is a reminder of the missed opportunity facing the nation.

by Keri Leigh Merritt via Smithsonian on April 23, 2019
Film Review

The Split Personality of Ken Burns’s “The Civil War”

The documentary's accommodation of the Lost Cause narrative may have left viewers with a skewed understanding of the conflict.

by Kevin M. Levin via Civil War Memory on August 31, 2015
Film Review

Thanks a Lot, Ken Burns

Because of you, my Civil War lecture is always packed with students raised on your romantic, deeply misleading portrait of the conflict.

by James M. Lundberg via Slate on June 7, 2011

Viewing 1–5 of 5

Shelby Foote with a drawing of a Civil War battle superimposed over him.

The South’s Jewish Proust

Shelby Foote, failed novelist and closeted member of the Tribe, turned the Civil War into a masterpiece of American literature.

by Blake Smith via Tablet on September 6, 2023

The sillhouette of a Civil War statue on a night sky.

The Spirit of Appomattox

Why is Shelby Foote's Civil War subject to so much contemporary debate?

by Jonathan Clarke via The Hedgehog Review on March 1, 2023

Still Worrying about The Civil War

John Kelly's statement about the Civil War is not surprising, but they are a reminder that we should still be worrying about the Civil War.

by Adam I. P. Smith via Adam I. P. Smith: Historian on November 2, 2017

What’s So Bad About Ken Burns?

The modern historical profession's purpose has changed drastically in the past century.

by Jonathan Zimmerman via The Chronicle of Higher Education on October 3, 2017

Ken Burns's American Canon

Even in a fractious era, the filmmaker still believes that his documentaries can bring every viewer in.

by Ian Parker via The New Yorker on September 4, 2017

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