Undeclared War (1990)

The Civil War is an acclaimed documentary film created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most watched program ever to air on PBS, to this day remaining one of the most popular shows broadcast by PBS. It is considered to be Ken Burns's magnum opus, and is one of the most awarded and most popular documentaries of all time. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.

This highly acclaimed mini-series traces the course of the U.S. Civil War from the abolitionist movement through all the major battles to the death of President Lincoln and the beginnings of Reconstruction. The story is mostly told in the words of the participants themselves, through their diaries and letters. Visuals are usually still photographs and illustrations of the time, and the soundtrack is likewise made up of war-era tunes played on period instruments. Several modern-day historians offer periodic comment and insight on the war's causes and events.

The Civil War, the Emmy Award-winning nine-part series from Ken Burns, is now fully restored to high definition, achieving the optimal picture quality originally intended. This six-disc collector's set also features over two hours of new bonus video. Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burn's epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.

The Civil War, the Emmy Award-winning nine-part series from Ken Burns, is now fully restored to high definition, achieving the optimal picture quality originally intended. This six-disc collector's set also features over two hours of new bonus video. Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burn's epic documentary brings to life America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.

A Bitter And Bloody Clash Of Arms.
When Britain went to war against the Boers in October 1899, the British public expected the fighting to be over by Christmas. As it turned out, the Boer War, in Kipling`s famous phrase, gave the British "No end of a lesson". Using accounts of the soldiers who fought in this bitter and bloody clash of arms and remarkable contemporary photographs, this programme tells the story of Britain`s last great Imperial war.

It was a war in which brother fought brother. Where battlefields became slaughterhouses. Where the astonishing technology and ingenuity of a country in the midst of an industrial revolution, was put to the task of making the most destructive killing machines the world had ever seen. More Americans were killed in the Civil War than in all other American wars combined. Ominously foreshadowing the horrors of the first World War, the guns of Civil War became the first truly modern weapons.

The last programme in the series on the history of ocean-going liners. With passenger aeroplanes in the ascendant, liner companies responded to dwindling demand in the sixties by building larger and more extravagant ships. It was an audacious move but a highly successful one and major operators still compete to build the biggest and best liner. Today, cruisers are expanding into fully-fledged entertainment centres.
Part 2: Ships of War
Ships of War focuses firstly on the invaluable role that ocean liners played during the First World War, from Winston Churchill ( who was First Lord of the Admiralty at the time ) 'taking the attack to Germany' and the huge vessels being used as 'hospital ships', all the way to the sinking of the Lusitania and the subsequent entry of the Americans into the war. The programme then moves into the immediate post-war years as the greatest migration of people in history, from the old world to the new, continued. The Roaring Twenties really roared and the rich had never had it so good, and the introduction of prohibition saw the liners capitalise by offering 'booze cruises to nowhere'. Then in 1927 France introduced the Ile de France, and a new era in liners began. It was now not so important what the liner looked like from the outside, but more how they were fitted and decorated on the inside. This was the dawn of the Art Deco era and new luxury liners that excluded taste and style would re-define sea travel forever.

The Lancaster at War is a vivid account of the aircraft that became the mainstay of Britain’s Bomber Command in the struggle to defeat Nazi Germany.
Described as the outstanding heavy bomber of World War II, the Avro Lancaster played a major role in the long and savage bombing campaign to cripple Hitler’s Third Reich.
Archive film, some of it unseen in colour, along with material specially shot for this production, graphically illustrate the capabilities of this remarkable aircraft, its development and its war-time missions.
The Lancaster At War describes the aircraft that played a major role in the defeat of the Nazi regime and the courage and determination of Bomber Command aircrew that fought a grim battle in hostile skies, a struggle that can only be understood by confronting the reality of total war.