15 Aug The War
The War, World War II Documentary by Ken Burns
(2007) The War is a seven-part documentary series about World War II written by Geoffrey C. Ward and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. I know I always just think of it as The War by Ken Burns.
I have listened to the audio book twice, for the first time in January of 2009 just as I was beginning my personal World War II adventure. It was a great kickoff for me. Not always easy to listen to/read because what you are hearing are gut-wrenching stories told by the participants themselves … but I was spellbound.
As in the book, the film focuses on four American cities and how their citizens coped with the war abroad and at home. I was thrilled to see that Glenn D. Frazier, whom I had met at the Atlanta WWII Roundtable, was not only featured … the account of how he joined the army was Burns’ beginning segment.
The documentary is fourteen hours total, and of course it could never include everything. I read in Wikipedia that there was criticism about omissions of Hispanic and Native American contributions and of women in uniform. It’s true, there could have been more … lots more. It could have been twice as long.
The War is still the most comprehensive and compelling series I’ve watched on World War II. I cried at least once during each episode. I highly recommend it.
The War – A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on amazon.com
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