Customer Rating:  
Summary: A Great History Lesson, But Lacks The Emotional Punch Of "The War"
Comment: Ken Burns' epic documentary about the Civil War is perhaps the greatest and most all-encompassing history lesson of the North/South conflict that has ever been put on film or page. Not only is every important detail of the war covered (and in such a way that the details are interesting and important, not boring), but two entire episodes are devoted to the build-up and aftermath of the conflict. Essentially, if you were teaching a class on the Civil War, this video is all you would need, as it both conveys the vital information of the war, and does so in a way that doesn't stagnate. In essence, a very tight, well-produced series.
The only reason I give this set four stars out of five, though, is that it lacks (althouht through no fault of its own) the emotional punch of Burns' more recent "The War" (World War II) series. Such things as personal interviews and live video could obviously not be obtained from the 1860s, but the reading of letters and still photographs doesn't quite measure up. The best example I can give of this is that while watching the Civil War series I found myself treating it as one extended history class session, while "The War" was almost more of a dramatic event (what with the live interviews and video footage).
So, although the Civil War documentary by Ken Burns is a brilliant work of research and cinematography, I can only give it a four-star rating due to its lacks of live video footage or emotionally moving personal interviews. I do, however, strongly recommend this series to anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the most brutal war in United States history. You may not need the tissue box while watching this series (unlike "The War"), but I guarantee you will come away with a much more solid understanding of the events that caused, prolonged, and ended the American Civil War.
Customer Rating:
Summary: must see
Comment: I recently re-watched my set and logged on to buy 2nd set as gift. Sorry to see it only seems to be available individually. Buy them or keep shopping! it's so worth it. Ken Burns did an amazing job. Even if you're only remotely interested in the Civil War, you WILL be hooked. The pictures, the diary entries, it's a very personal account and also quite surprising to see what a miracle it was the North won. Northern Generals like George McClellan were absolute idiots. The South was much smarter tactically and it's clear the only reason the North won was troop volume. This set gets into everything from the day to day hardships of the soldiers to the personal notations of Lee and Lincoln and Davis to the hell the civilians went through. Very eclectic even-handed account that I HIGHLY recommend.
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