Product Details

• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC, Closed-captioned, Full Screen
• Number of tapes: 9
• Run Time: 670 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009V36ZQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,379 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply captivating, November 30, 2007

By 

His Beat Goes On... (NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Civil War (Ken Burns): 9 Video Boxed Set (Time Life Series) (VHS Tape)

Full of photos, commentary and amazing detail this video series is one of most informative history lessons I have ever engaged in. If you want to learn everything about the Civil War - before, during, after - then watch this series. I watched it over several weeks and always looked forward to viewing the next one.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great History Lesson, But Lacks Emotional Punch Of "The War", November 2, 2008

By 

Zachary Koenig "K-Dawg" (Forest Lake, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Civil War (Ken Burns): 9 Video Boxed Set (Time Life Series) (VHS Tape)

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.