Customer Reviews

Greatest Battles of the Civil War

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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.

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.

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.

This boxed set cover some half dozen battles of the American Civil War and it does so using talking heads, excellent animated maps, reenactments, and providing background material on the leaders involved. I hope no one is going to compare this to the Ken Burns series because that's incomparably poetic. This set is about the battles themselves, not about the 1860s.

I can't find much to criticize about any of the episodes. The major battles are all here, and presented in just enough detail to satisfy a viewer who has a bit more interest in them than the average viewer, but not too much more interest. In a way, they chart the progress of the Civil War. I wish the series were longer and covered some battles, like Second Mannassas, that I've never really been able to get my head around. But that's only saying that this series is so good that I wish it had been longer.

Very informative and educational. This 2 dvd set is an essential for any Civil War buff's video library. Covers eight major battles.