# Ken Burns: The Civil War - Worth a purchase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552 "2011-05-28T11:29:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/1 "2011-05-28T11:29:54Z")
Amazon has the 2011 commemorative edition on sale for $50.99. Having never seen it, I wanted to get some opinions on whether it was good or not. I loved his baseball documentary, so I figure I’ll like the style. Is it considered historically accurate? ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/2 "2011-05-28T11:35:33Z")
I don’t know about the accuracy, but I assume it is. It has it’s biases, but a lot of stuff is taken directly from letters written by fighters and historian interviews. It’s good and well worth watching, but while I enjoyed it I didn’t like it enough to buy it. Also the last time I checked it was on Netflix view instantly, so if you have Netflix you should do that instead. If you don’t have Netflix, why not? At this point you are seriously missing out. Edit: I checked and The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz and The National Parks are all available on view instantly. All are worth watching, but I wouldn’t buy any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/3 "2011-05-28T11:46:37Z")
Ok, thanks, I actually don’t have Netflix. Amazon let’s you watch instantly too, but at $4.99 per episode it’s cheaper to buy the DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/4 "2011-05-28T12:00:09Z")
I think the first two words of the thread title answer the question. There is no subject he can’t make fascinating. I love all his work even on subjects in which I notionally had no interest at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/5 "2011-05-28T12:35:57Z")
It’s very good although imho it depends how much you will watch it in the future and how much you can stand slow pans of photographs. I remember after it was out, Civil War historian James McPherson wrote that he wasn’t that crazy about some of the stuff that Barbara Fields (interviewed a lot along with Southern writer Shelby Foote) about "how the slaves freed themselves. McPherson thought she underestimated the need for Northern military action. But that can be chalked up to an historian debate and I’m sure there are still a lot of them. But it is very well done and definitely worth seeing by everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/6 "2011-05-28T12:46:47Z")
Get it. It’s most definitely worth the price, IMNSHO. I liked that they didn’t use re-enactors, just letters and pictures. You’ll recognize some of the voices doing narration, but that’s okay. Watching this series I learned more than I ever had about the Civil War. Some major things, like just why Gettysburg was such a crucial battle. And smaller things, like how the only person executed for war crimes, by the Union, was not a major Confederate officer, but the guy who was commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. ( BTW, my great-great-grandfather was held there.) The letter from Sullivan Ballou brings tears to my eyes, no matter how many times I’ve heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/7 "2011-05-28T23:40:31Z")
Certainly the best documentary on the subject, and arguably one of the best ever. Yes, it’s very accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/8 "2011-05-29T00:23:30Z")
\ ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/9 "2011-05-29T00:24:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > \ Aw, I appreciated the sudden dada-ism of it! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/10 "2011-05-29T01:08:03Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > The letter from Sullivan Ballou brings tears to my eyes, no matter how many times I’ve heard it before. Gosh yes. I bought the set for my daughter a few years back. I’ve watched it twice on DVD and I watch again whenever it’s repeated on PBS. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/11 "2011-05-29T01:13:09Z")
The “Civil War” and the Presidential docus on “American Experience” are DVD’s I’d by in heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/12 "2011-05-29T08:53:07Z")
Get it. Until I saw this documentary, I had no idea how profoundly horrible that war was. Burns made it come alive, more than any history class or book ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/13 "2011-05-29T12:03:17Z")
The soundtrack is first-rate. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/14 "2011-05-29T20:21:57Z")
Two more thumbs way up. I envy you in that you’ll be able to watch it for the first time and without having to wait for the next episode to air. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/15 "2011-05-29T20:33:54Z")
Two more thumbs up: Pacific Rim kid with southern parents I got a really spotty version of it growing up, now live in midwest near a battlefield and it was a really excellent primer for me. I liked the primary source document aspect. And I heart Shelby Foote, RIP, as he’s a pleasure to listen to. Had my dad’s accent. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/16 "2011-05-29T20:59:38Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > I heart Shelby Foote, RIP. One of my proudest possessions is a personal letter from Mr. Foote (about a literary matter he had an interest in, and that i wrote a book about). When I re-read it, it’s always in his accent. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-the-civil-war-worth-a-purchase/583552/17 "2011-05-29T21:36:16Z")
I think I’d sign up for Netflix for a month which is cheaper than buying it. I liked watching both Baseball and the Civil War, but I’m glad I didn’t buy either one. I’ve rewatched Baseball a few times, usually right before the start of the season.