Product Details

• Actors: David McCullough, Sam Waterston, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Garrison Keillor
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Turner Home Ent
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 680 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6303142486
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,798 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Peninsula Campaign and the Battle of Shiloh, May 12, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Civil War Episode 2:Very Bloody Affair [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The second episode of Ken Burns celebrated documentary on the Civil War focuses on McClellan's Peninsula Campaign in the East and Grant's military successes in the West leading up to the Battle of Shiloh during the second year of the war. Although David McCullough's narration is truly the voice of this documentary, it is the figure of Shelby Foote, relating the Battle of Shiloh and its importance in transforming beliefs about the war, that stands out in this particular episode. Other notable moments cover the clash of Ironclads with the Monitor and the Merrimac, the fall of New Orleans to Farragaut's Federal fleet, as well as the introduction of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Again, the use of hundreds of still photographs, contemporary film shots of locales, the recognizable voices of noted actors such as Morgan Freeman and Jason Robards, Jr., and the simple but evocative music are powerfully woven together. This episode begins with the rising star of George B. McClellan and the cry of "On to Richmond," but ends with the first recognition of the military genius of Robert E. Lee. It is at this point that the parallels between the American Civil War and Homer's "Iliad" that Burns sees becomes fairly obvious.