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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Some of mankind's greatest achievements are explored and celebrated in Engineering an Empire, a sprawling, ambitious series produced by the History Channel and consisting of 12 episodes spread out over four discs. The scope is wide, both geographically (from China to Central America, from the cities of Western Europe to the plains of Siberia) and temporally (from thousands of years ago to the relatively recent past), but the focus is on specific engineering and architectural projects undertaken by the various civilizations under discussion--not just the what and the why, but more importantly, how some of these ingenious endeavors were accomplished.
A number of the structures and monuments examined here will certainly be familiar to viewers. The Great Wall of China, described as "the most ambitious engineering project ever undertaken," was centuries in the making yet only partially successful as a means of defense. Paris' Notre Dame cathedral, that glorious celebration of the Gothic notions of height, light, and space, was made possible only by the innovative system of flying buttresses used to support its walls, while the Eiffel Tower, defying both the conventions of construction and the tastes of most Parisians, was built in less than two years. In Florence, Filippo Brunelleschi overcame many obstacles in order to complete a magnificent brick dome for the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, now better known simply as the Duomo; in Athens, 30,000 tons of marble was hauled for ten miles to make the Parthenon. Yet as fascinating as these tales are, just as absorbing are some of the more mundane and lesser-known feats, like the canals, tunnels, and aqueducts used for delivering water, the techniques created for rooting and stabilizing enormous structures, or the hoists and cranes devised to lift tons of building materials hundreds of feet into the air.
The execution is typical of the History Channel, including interviews with experts, decent reenactment footage, and computer-generated diagrams and drawings. The series strives for a balance of scholarship (actor Peter Weller, the on-screen host, is identified only as a lecturer at Syracuse University--apparently "star of RoboCop" was deemed undignified) and entertainment (the dramatic and portentous voiceover narration overrelies on words like "amazing," "incredible," and "unparalleled"). A good deal of genuinely informative historical context is also provided, recounting the rises and falls of kings and emperors, battle tactics used in various conflicts, and the effect of catastrophes like the Black Plague. A brief behind-the-scenes featurette is the sole bonus item. --Sam Graham
Product Description
The Parthenon. Chichén Itzá. The Pyramids. Their scale, complexity, and sheer beauty stand as permanent reminders of the indomitable strength and ingenuity of the human spirit.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE COLLECTOR S EDITION circles the globe to re-examine history s most magnificent civilizations by surveying the architectural and engineering triumphs they left behind. Beginning more than five-thousand years ago with the mind-boggling construction feats of the ancient Egyptians, the 14 documentaries--including two feature-length specials--in this collection revive the spectacular glory of the past, from the great temples of Greece to the majestic and mysterious Tenochtitlan. Cutting-edge CGI graphics and stunning location footage reanimate the ancient streets of such cities as Carthage and Rome, while expert interview trace the rise of each empire and the technological achievements that paved the way for their gravity-defying masterpieces.
Hosted by Peter Weller, ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE COLLECTOR S EDITION unites each riveting moment of this critically-acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning series to reveal the innovation and infrastructure behind the world s most dazzling empires.
DVD Features: Season 1 Behind-the-Scenes Featurette; Egypt Featurettes Inside Look , From The Director s Chair , and Everything You Wanted To Know About Egypt ; Rome Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE COLLECTOR S EDITION circles the globe to re-examine history s most magnificent civilizations by surveying the architectural and engineering triumphs they left behind. Beginning more than five-thousand years ago with the mind-boggling construction feats of the ancient Egyptians, the 14 documentaries--including two feature-length specials--in this collection revive the spectacular glory of the past, from the great temples of Greece to the majestic and mysterious Tenochtitlan. Cutting-edge CGI graphics and stunning location footage reanimate the ancient streets of such cities as Carthage and Rome, while expert interview trace the rise of each empire and the technological achievements that paved the way for their gravity-defying masterpieces.
Hosted by Peter Weller, ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE COLLECTOR S EDITION unites each riveting moment of this critically-acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning series to reveal the innovation and infrastructure behind the world s most dazzling empires.
DVD Features: Season 1 Behind-the-Scenes Featurette; Egypt Featurettes Inside Look , From The Director s Chair , and Everything You Wanted To Know About Egypt ; Rome Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
114 of 115 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The History Channel's Engineering an Empire series, containing six DVDs, focuses on the engineering and architectural triumphs of great (and not so great) civilizations. Each of the programs attempts to feature a society's engineering accomplishments as a prism through which to view its history and culture. Because of the arbitrary selection of societies and engineering accomplishments and the limited length of each program, the series fails to achieve this grand goal, but it is still both entertaining and to a limited extent educational.
All too often, the engineering accomplishments of the civilizations covered are limited to aqueducts, the use of pilings to support buildings in marshes and over bodies of water, the discovery of the corbelled arch, and military inventions like the Greek triremes and the ubiquitous catapult in its various forms.
Although actors are used extensively, they look like you expect real people of the time would have looked, a major advantage that the History Channel has over PBS, where the actors are always English and good-looking. A History Channel Persian or Mayan looks like a Persian or Mayan.
One area in which the History Channel excels is that of Computer-Aided Design, which they use to "reconstruct" buildings that either lie in ruins or have disappeared. The results are remarkable.
On the negative side, while the experts who appear are clearly highly knowledgeable leaders in their field, that field is limited to history; relatively few professional engineers or architects appear.
The selection of Peter Weller (of RoboCop fame) as a host was initially off-putting to me (despite constant references to his links to Syracuse University, he apparently only received an M.A. from that institution, later becoming an adjunct lecturer there in film), but over time I came to appreciate his enthusiasm and willingness to laugh at himself.
Programs on the first four disks include:
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 1: Greece, Age of Alexander, & The Aztecs [DVD] (141 min.)
I question the inclusion of the Aztec segment which generally talks about their use of pilings to build their city on a lake. In contrast the Mayan segment, which appears in Vol. 3, is fascinating -- truly an advanced civilization.
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 2: Carthage, China & Russia [DVD] (141 min.)
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 3: Britain-Blood & Steel, Persians, & Maya-Death Empire [DVD] (141 min.)
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 4: Napoleon-Steel Monster, Byzantines, & Da Vinci's World [DVD] (141 min.)
The segment on Da Vinci's world has nothing to do with Da Vinci, focusing instead on Brunelleschi's building of the Duomo and the rebuilding of Rome in the 1500s. A separate segment includes a Syracuse University architecture professor discussing Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel. I only wish it had lasted longer.
The final two disks, which appear to have been made before the first four, are the flagships of the series, each containing one long, high quality program:
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 5: Rome [DVD] (94 min.)
More dramatic than the others, this program provides a nice overview of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. If you're only going to buy one disk, this is the one. It features excellent CAD reconstructions of many of the most famous Roman engineering accomplishments.
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 6: Egypt [DVD] (92 min.)
Also of very high quality. Again, the CAD reconstructions are excellent. The experts, especially a woman professor from the American University in Cairo, are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject. There's also an interesting add-on featuring Peter Weller talking about how he got into this line of work and why he enjoys it so much.
As indicated above, I question the inclusion of the Aztecs in this series, especially since there are other culturs that would have been more interesting (e.g., Babylon, India and the Incas.)
I did not experience the screen format problems that other viewers complain about, perhaps because my TV allows me to switch between five different formats, so I can use the best-fitting one.
All too often, the engineering accomplishments of the civilizations covered are limited to aqueducts, the use of pilings to support buildings in marshes and over bodies of water, the discovery of the corbelled arch, and military inventions like the Greek triremes and the ubiquitous catapult in its various forms.
Although actors are used extensively, they look like you expect real people of the time would have looked, a major advantage that the History Channel has over PBS, where the actors are always English and good-looking. A History Channel Persian or Mayan looks like a Persian or Mayan.
One area in which the History Channel excels is that of Computer-Aided Design, which they use to "reconstruct" buildings that either lie in ruins or have disappeared. The results are remarkable.
On the negative side, while the experts who appear are clearly highly knowledgeable leaders in their field, that field is limited to history; relatively few professional engineers or architects appear.
The selection of Peter Weller (of RoboCop fame) as a host was initially off-putting to me (despite constant references to his links to Syracuse University, he apparently only received an M.A. from that institution, later becoming an adjunct lecturer there in film), but over time I came to appreciate his enthusiasm and willingness to laugh at himself.
Programs on the first four disks include:
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 1: Greece, Age of Alexander, & The Aztecs [DVD] (141 min.)
I question the inclusion of the Aztec segment which generally talks about their use of pilings to build their city on a lake. In contrast the Mayan segment, which appears in Vol. 3, is fascinating -- truly an advanced civilization.
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 2: Carthage, China & Russia [DVD] (141 min.)
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 3: Britain-Blood & Steel, Persians, & Maya-Death Empire [DVD] (141 min.)
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 4: Napoleon-Steel Monster, Byzantines, & Da Vinci's World [DVD] (141 min.)
The segment on Da Vinci's world has nothing to do with Da Vinci, focusing instead on Brunelleschi's building of the Duomo and the rebuilding of Rome in the 1500s. A separate segment includes a Syracuse University architecture professor discussing Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel. I only wish it had lasted longer.
The final two disks, which appear to have been made before the first four, are the flagships of the series, each containing one long, high quality program:
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 5: Rome [DVD] (94 min.)
More dramatic than the others, this program provides a nice overview of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. If you're only going to buy one disk, this is the one. It features excellent CAD reconstructions of many of the most famous Roman engineering accomplishments.
Engineering An Empire, Vol. 6: Egypt [DVD] (92 min.)
Also of very high quality. Again, the CAD reconstructions are excellent. The experts, especially a woman professor from the American University in Cairo, are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject. There's also an interesting add-on featuring Peter Weller talking about how he got into this line of work and why he enjoys it so much.
As indicated above, I question the inclusion of the Aztecs in this series, especially since there are other culturs that would have been more interesting (e.g., Babylon, India and the Incas.)
I did not experience the screen format problems that other viewers complain about, perhaps because my TV allows me to switch between five different formats, so I can use the best-fitting one.
76 of 76 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this set because I am a fan of the series on the History Channel and wanted to own it on DVD. Sadly, I just realized that for only a few bucks more I could have gotten the Collector's Edition. THIS SET DOES NOT CONTAIN THE ENTIRE SERIES. It is missing the two original specials that spawned the series in the first place: Rome and Egypt. The Collector's Edition has 2 extra discs and featurs both of these award winning episodes--a total of 156 extra minutes of content (they each aired at 2 hours long with commercials compared to the 1 hour long season episodes). The Rome and Egypt episodes were also arguably the best of the series, in that they contained the most depth and the highest quality productions.
I highly recommend this series, but don't miss out by purchasing this set by accident. GO GET THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION for the most value and to experience ALL the content of the series.
I highly recommend this series, but don't miss out by purchasing this set by accident. GO GET THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION for the most value and to experience ALL the content of the series.
50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a great set and includes the following titles on 4 discs: (Unfortunately it doesn't include the episode on Egypt. You will have to buy that one separately if you want all of them.)
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME I:
GREECE: The cradle of Western civilization sustained remarkable technological advancement for over 1,000 years, including such masterpieces as the Tunnel of Samos and the Parthenon.
GREECE: AGE OF ALEXANDER: After a century of tremendous accomplishment, Greece's territorial ambitions were stymied by constant warfare - until Alexander ventured abroad and initiated the Hellenistic era.
THE AZTECS: The Aztecs became one of the greatest civilizations in history through brilliant military campaigns and technological mastery of their harsh environment.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME II:
CARTHAGE: Find out how Carthaginian engineers harnessed their extensive resources and manpower to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology.
CHINA: Century after century, China's regal emperors mobilized immense peasant armies to accomplish unfathomable feats - including the most ambitious construction project ever accomplished.
RUSSIA: From the Moscow Kremlin to St. Petersburg to the Trans-Siberian railroad, examine the architecture and infrastructure that led to the rise and fall of the Russian Empire.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME III:
GREAT BRITAIN: Through the centuries, the British Empire used extraordinary engineering technology to become an industrial and military titan, giving rise to such inventions as the first locomotive.
THE PERSIANS: The engineering feats of the mysterious Persian Empire include a water management system, a paved cross-continent roadway, and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
THE MAYA: By 900 AD, the once-glorious Mayan cities disappeared. Unravel the mystery surrounding this mythic civilization through its spectacular infrastructure and architecture.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME IV:
NAPOLEON AND BEYOND: When France stood on the precipice of disaster, one of the most legendary military strategists in history arose from its ashes: Napoleon.
THE BYZANTINES: As much of the world descended into the Dark Ages, the Byzantine Empire emerged with ruthless might and supreme ingenuity, ruling over vast swaths of Europe and Asia.
AGE OF ARCHITECTS: After the deep sleep of the Dark Ages, it wasn't until the 11th-century that autonomous city-states emerged in Italy, revitalizing metropolises and paving the way for the Renaissance.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME I:
GREECE: The cradle of Western civilization sustained remarkable technological advancement for over 1,000 years, including such masterpieces as the Tunnel of Samos and the Parthenon.
GREECE: AGE OF ALEXANDER: After a century of tremendous accomplishment, Greece's territorial ambitions were stymied by constant warfare - until Alexander ventured abroad and initiated the Hellenistic era.
THE AZTECS: The Aztecs became one of the greatest civilizations in history through brilliant military campaigns and technological mastery of their harsh environment.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME II:
CARTHAGE: Find out how Carthaginian engineers harnessed their extensive resources and manpower to develop some of the ancient world's most groundbreaking technology.
CHINA: Century after century, China's regal emperors mobilized immense peasant armies to accomplish unfathomable feats - including the most ambitious construction project ever accomplished.
RUSSIA: From the Moscow Kremlin to St. Petersburg to the Trans-Siberian railroad, examine the architecture and infrastructure that led to the rise and fall of the Russian Empire.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME III:
GREAT BRITAIN: Through the centuries, the British Empire used extraordinary engineering technology to become an industrial and military titan, giving rise to such inventions as the first locomotive.
THE PERSIANS: The engineering feats of the mysterious Persian Empire include a water management system, a paved cross-continent roadway, and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
THE MAYA: By 900 AD, the once-glorious Mayan cities disappeared. Unravel the mystery surrounding this mythic civilization through its spectacular infrastructure and architecture.
ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES, VOLUME IV:
NAPOLEON AND BEYOND: When France stood on the precipice of disaster, one of the most legendary military strategists in history arose from its ashes: Napoleon.
THE BYZANTINES: As much of the world descended into the Dark Ages, the Byzantine Empire emerged with ruthless might and supreme ingenuity, ruling over vast swaths of Europe and Asia.
AGE OF ARCHITECTS: After the deep sleep of the Dark Ages, it wasn't until the 11th-century that autonomous city-states emerged in Italy, revitalizing metropolises and paving the way for the Renaissance.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!
Very entertaining and educational. I have used parts of some episodes to supplement my lesson plans. I highly recommend this series!
Published 1 month ago by Abc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Building and Empire, not Conquering and Empire
It's history beyond the battles. It gives us what the Empires BUILT to be great. I recommend it for any history buff or teacher.
Published 2 months ago by Leon C. Martell
5.0 out of 5 stars
love histoy
I was amazed at all the different areas of history covered. liked the computer enhanced drawings with movement. excellent coverage
Published 2 months ago by mrcocker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great series
In general I have been displeased with the currently quality of the shows on the History Channel.However, this series is both educational and just down right fascinating. Read more
Published 3 months ago by E. Heyer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Series
If you love ancient history this is a fantastic series. I have watched each episode and look forward to seeing them again. Highly recommend it!
Published 3 months ago by Christina Hartman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kids are enjoying this series
I ordered this for some grandkids that don't have the History channel and they popped this in the player immediately. Read more
Published 3 months ago by PLG
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great series about the major empires from the past
I bought this as a Christmas gift for my boyfriend after he watched the Rome and Egypt episodes on the History Channel (I'd already seen all the episodes and loved them). Read more
Published 3 months ago by zoso babe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous!
Bought for my husband who has fully enjoyed them. They were informative, but not dry. Educational, but not lecturing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jeannine Anderson-Komant
5.0 out of 5 stars
For
the history buffs! My husband and I really enjoyed this series. We watched all of it Christmas week. I would recommend this set!
Published 4 months ago by shopsonline
5.0 out of 5 stars
great history tool
Wow...this was a great purchase for my son who is passionate about history. What a great tool to support what he reads in books from the library.
Published 4 months ago by Patricia Malone
