Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Directors: n, a
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Run Time: 415 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002MXN24Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,144 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Antietam. Shiloh. Chickamauga. Gettysburg. These were the fields of combat where the armies of North and South fought their most ferocious battles. They remain the legendary clashes that shaped the conflict and changed our nation forever.

Discover the stories behind The Greatest Battles Of The Civil War, from the commanders remarkable strategies to the staggering human costs of those who fought and died for their ideals. Their legacies come alive in these eight documentaries from the award-winning producers of The Civil War Journals, featuring rare photographs, stunning reenactments and revealing interviews with leading Civil War historians.
 
Contains 8 complete episodes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coverage of major Civil War battles, August 23, 2010

By 

Richard Byers (Astoria, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Greatest Battles of the Civil War (DVD)

This very in-depth coverage of the major battles & campaigns of the Civil War is an excellent companion piece to the 3-DVD set "Gettysburg" which examines the 3-day battle in even more detail. Part of the "Unknown Civil War" series (a misnomer I feel, as it examines the most well-known battles), never-the-less it is well done, with the narration done quite well by actor Stephen Lang, who has played Generals Pickett & Jackson in the Civil War epics "Gettysburg" and "Gods & Generals." Recommended.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of the major battles of the Civil War, August 20, 2010

By 

Steven "Yodaman70" (Grand Rapids, MI, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Greatest Battles of the Civil War (DVD)

This two disc set thoroughly covers eight of the most strategic battles of the US Civil War. An excellent set and actually far better than the far better known series by Ken Burns.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a concrete means of understanding the war, August 14, 2011

By 

David Landau (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Greatest Battles of the Civil War (DVD)

If you want to understand the Civil War, you have to picture the movements of the armies and their meetings in battles; the picture is complex, and understanding it is not easy. The best way, surely, would be to tour the battlefields; and watching these shows is a way to tour the battlefields under the guidance of experts. I'm a novice in the Civil War and it's taken me repeated viewings to get my head around the battles. That's a compliment to the programs, which stand up very well indeed on repeated viewings.

I do have one small critical comment: in the Antietam episode, one of the guides, in describing the Confederate army's withdrawal, asserts that the soldiers asked their marching band to stop playing "Maryland, My Maryland" and instead to play "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny." But that second song actually was not written until years after the war had ended.

It does seem as if Civil War historiography is especially prone to old yarns of this kind; I've found them in numerous places, including the works of Pulitzer-Prize-winning historians. When it comes to the Civil War, old yarns are like the measles--epidemics that are hard to avoid. But this whole series of programs provides a superlative understanding of the big picture, and that's to be treasured. So, despite the flub, maximum rating.