# American History Documentary

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-documentary/326749>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 18, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-documentary/326749 "2005-10-18T14:43:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-documentary/326749/1 "2005-10-18T14:43:52Z")

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Hi Folks!

I just finished Simon Schama’s [A History of Britain](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0273359/), an excellent, comprehensive (five discs) documentary. Fantastic.

Does anyone know of something similar (or at least approaching similarity) for American History? I’ve searched IMDB and Netflix, but nothing jumped out. I found lots of documentaries about different American history subjects (i.e. WWII, the presidency, etc.) but no overall surveys. Does something like that exist? Or should I rent all 500,000 Ken Burns DVDs?

Thanks,

Rhythm

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**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-documentary/326749/2 "2005-10-18T16:43:01Z")

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One of the models the BBC had in mind when they made _A History of Britain_ was the series they had done quarter of a century earlier, [_Alistair Cooke’s America_](http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/ebbcdvd1582&bklist=icat,4,,5,alistaircooke). Another case of a noted prose stylist being given to a big budget to do an ambitious overview of a nation’s history. It’s a long time since I last saw any of it, but I suspect it won’t have dated quite as badly as it might. What I don’t know is whether the DVDs are available in the North American format.

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**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-history-documentary/326749/3 "2005-10-18T19:22:01Z")

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> [@APB](#):
>
> One of the models the BBC had in mind when they made _A History of Britain_ was the series they had done quarter of a century earlier, [_Alistair Cooke’s America_](http://www.bbcshop.com/invt/ebbcdvd1582&bklist=icat,4,,5,alistaircooke). Another case of a noted prose stylist being given to a big budget to do an ambitious overview of a nation’s history. It’s a long time since I last saw any of it, but I suspect it won’t have dated quite as badly as it might. What I don’t know is whether the DVDs are available in the North American format.

According to Amazon- .co.uk Available in PAL Region 2  
.com Not Availble