# Ken Burns: The War starting on PBS Sep 23



## hoist-monkey (19 Sep 2007)

http://www.pbs.org/thewar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_thewarbrakenburnsfilm_2007-09-19

To those interested, Ken Burns: The War starts this Sunday 23 Sep. on PBS.
I am not sure what time it will be on, so you will have to consult your local TV guides.

I have his Civil War Documentary and love it, he really tries to make boring documentaries interesting.


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## MarkOttawa (23 Sep 2007)

A critical review by Jules Crittenden:

“Magnificent Failure”
http://www.pajamasmedia.com/2007/09/ken_burns_the_war.php



> ...“The War” is a death-obsessed dirge, dwelling on the ugliest parts of war, more interested in folly than success. Even extraordinary heroism gets short shrift. “The War” is about the meat grinder and the dutiful submission of good citizens to their fate. Victory is presented as an almost foregone conclusion, threatened only by the foolish mistakes of generals. Victory is only a death-ridden slog away, as long as Americans are willing to make that slog, despite their leaders’ shortcomings. The brief references to those leaders, their maneuvers and deceptions, their calculations and adjustments in strategy, are just a backdrop to the common man’s tale … which in “The War’’ fails to include the contributions of thousands upon thousands who toiled in other places than the factories and the front lines to which Burns limits his view. Burns takes his 15 hours and leaves us with a truncated view...



Another perspective from the _NY Times_:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/arts/television/21war.html?ex=1348027200&en=df0aaf37752d6f4e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss



> World War II didn’t happen just to us.
> 
> But it would be hard to glean that from Ken Burns’s 7-night, 15-hour tribute to the greatest generation...



Mark
Ottawa


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