The American Civil War: A Union Divided

Rating:
Summary: Good Considering the Production Budget
Review: Generally, this DVD set accomplishes much for the civil war novice. It is full of information concerning battles and effectively alternates between current historians' perspectives (which are surprisingly balanced and relatively unbiased), historical photos and live re-enactments. The documentary is thoughtful in its presentation but unfortunately suffers from a modest production budget which - at times - hurts the quality of the re-enactments of key battles in the civil war, i.e. Picketts Charge, which used a woefully inadequate number of soldiers/actors to recreate this epic piece of the Battle of Gettysburg.

The DVD set also does the Southern perspective justice by explaining the views of the south and that the reasons for going to war (or defending their homeland - take your pick) meant much more to the confederate states than simply the preservation of slavery.

While the re-enactments are generally weak, the producers do try hard with what they have to work with and this would be an excellent source of information for someone wanting to know more about the war without spending the exorbitant cost that other studios charge for people who want to learn more about american history.

Rating:
Summary: Good Considering the Production Budget
Review: Released by A&E/The History Channel, "The American Civil War" is one of the shortest distillations of this conflict that I have ever seen! Really. It's only about 20 minutes. What is worth the purchase price is the so-called 'bonus': "The Killing Power of Civil War Artillery". This actually takes up the most space on the tape and is excellent. It details the developments of artillery in the Civil War, and some of the men behind these developments...some as young as 21 years of age. I learned quite a bit that I can take to my students when I teach this section of American History again. I would rate the 'bonus' documentary with a '4' out of five, and the actual title documentary with a '2'...

Rating:
Summary: Short Overview of Conflict, but the 'bonus' is better!
Review: Released by A&E/The History Channel, "The American Civil War" is one of the shortest distillations of this conflict that I have ever seen! Really. It's only about 20 minutes. What is worth the purchase price is the so-called 'bonus': "The Killing Power of Civil War Artillery". This actually takes up the most space on the tape and is excellent. It details the developments of artillery in the Civil War, and some of the men behind these developments...some as young as 21 years of age. I learned quite a bit that I can take to my students when I teach this section of American History again. I would rate the 'bonus' documentary with a '4' out of five, and the actual title documentary with a '2'...

Rating:
Summary: The American Civil War: A Union Divided
Review: Very disapointed at first. Very biased against the south. The first half hour talked how slavery was the cause of the civil war not states rights. Also it never mentions that the north also had slavery until the early 1800's and that the slave traders that brought the slaves in, in the first place where from the north. Some information is good but don't belive everthing that is said.