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This international award-winning series, a coproduction of Public Broadcasting Station WGBH Boston and England's BBC, is the video equivalent of a coffee-table book. A priceless time-capsule glimpse of the last 100 years,
People's Century views our extraordinary times from the perspective of ordinary people who were witnesses to the events that shaped and defined our history.
Narrated by Alfre Woodard and John Forsythe, People's Century chronicles unprecedented social and political upheaval. The 20th century was the first to be documented on film, and each hour-long program boasts compelling archival footage of epochal events, illuminated by interviews with people whose first-hand experience and personal testimony put a human face on history.
A caveat about the packaging: The Saga of World War II is a somewhat misleading title. People's Century is a 13-part series, and this boxed set contains eight episodes that span the years 1900 to 1960. War buffs should be aware that, for example, the program "Great Escape" does not refer to the Allied P.O.W. prison break that inspired the Steve McQueen classic, but to the world's most popular art form, motion pictures.
The titles, which can also be purchased separately, include "Sporting Fever," "On the Line," "Breadline," "Lost Peace," "Great Escape," "Master Race," "Total War," and "Boomtime."
No matter what the configuration, People's Century is must-own millennial viewing that indelibly brings history home. --Donald Liebenson
Product Description
This epic documentary boxed set presents the world before, during and after World War II through the stories of ordinary people caught up in those tumultuous times. The story begins when the prosperity of the 1920s collapsed, leaving people around the world struggling with political and economic chaos. Yet, it was also an innocent time as people delighted in movies and sports. The outcome was a massive war that spread around the world, affecting all on the home front and battle front. The legacy of this traumatic event was also unprecedented, an economic boomtime that we continue to benefit from today. Includes: Lost Peace, Breadline, Great Escape, Sporting Fever, On the Line, Master Race, Total War, and Boomtime.
