The Untold History of the United States

For the history buffs and those interested in a less partisan view of U.S. History, that's not always completely told in our school history books, I highly recommend Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States.

History itself, and memories in general, inherit the bias of the observer. Further retelling, teaching, and writing of the event also serve to inject patriotism, nationalism, bias and opinion into the mix. This documentary series does well to attempt to strip out all of that, and to see the gray beyond just the black and white.

The show looks and sounds like the history shows we all grew up on in school. This should be known going into it, it is not an enthralling Oliver Stone dramatic movie, but it is well produced. For those interested in the subject matter it will easily keep your attention. In fact it's often difficult to break away momentarily because the pacing of the imagery and information rarely has a lull.

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone is in the most part a condensed analysis of the causes and consequences of the long-term American imperialism plan following WW2.

It briefly covers the atrocities of the other imperialist nations and sets the context for explaining the pivotal moment in history that lead America to present itself as the "police of the world".

It is a must see, it is very well structured and narrated.

The most shocking aspect of American history is the lack of empathy by the American power structure in regards to the millions of death they've caused in other nations since WW2, as well as an apparent lack of justice for American war criminals.

Hitler and Stalin were worse by a huge margin undoubtedly, but this doesn't justify the unjustifiable like Vietnam, Iraq, support of puppet dictators, overthrowing democratically elected governments, arming fanatics, betraying the Geneva convention, lying to the UN, drone bombings of civilians, etc.

It seems that after launching the first atomic bombs the United States of America have been governed by less than brilliant megalomaniacs. Even the wisest and most humanist presidents had little power to stop a long-term military plan for world control.

Here we go again. An excellent documentary that shows the world from the perspective of the whole world instead of just the view "The United States of God bless America". Queue the 1 star ratings from the "true patriots" that say that anything that says USA isn't perfect must be propaganda. This sort of brainwashing is exactly what is described in episode five. So please don't be fooled by this. This is actual history, if you look this up you will find the events actually took place. Even though sometimes it may seem Stone is trying to make the soviets less horrible it does not mean they weren't horrible, that just means that they weren't the monsters that the American public was let think they were and that the US escalated the cold war just as much as the Soviets. I am actually astonished that the people in the so called "greatest country in the world" can't take a look at it self and realize that they might of done some wrong in the past.

Please ignore ignorant rantings about anti-U.S. propaganda.

There is a lot of things Americans don't know, but when it comes to history, we look even worse.

Oliver Stone has teamed up with Kuznick to tell us the history of the United States, the UNTOLD history. By which Stone means the history that was once known and reported but isn't taught in schools today.

I have seen 5 Parts, or Chapters, as Stone calls them, and I must say Im very impressed. Sometimes it sounds a little too Soviet-friendly, but all in all pretty fair. And the acts that are presented can NOT be disputed. Thats the most important thing. So that people who don't agree with Stone can make up their own mind, like I did in some cases.

I must say though, its not easy entertainment. Its pure informations for 60 Minutes. I had to pause the show once in a while so I could focus again.

I just saw Chapter 5 (Eisenhowers time) and there were a lot of things that I didn't know. I knew the CIA had overthrown a few Gouvernments and installed some puppets, but I didn't know that there were so many.

What strikes me the most is that the negative reviews of the series actually confirm everything Stone wants to say.

The series is actually brilliant. The book might be even more brilliant. Yes, it is subjective. And yes, it focuses on certain issues more than other issues. And that's because human beings are subjective; history is written and examined by human beings. On the other hand, the series -- and the book-- say right out from the start that this is not the complete history, it's only the part that people don't hear about. That's why it doesn't concentrate on 'other views' or the 'other side' of what it says. Add to that, film is a form of art. And this is the difference art can make when it deals with history.

The series does, in 99% of the cases, state facts very clearly and don't see events and people in black and white. And I have come to believe that people who accuse material of being propaganda are the very victims of propaganda. They are those who want to paint the whole world in one brush and put label on people, things, countries, races, ideas, etc. as 'good' and 'bad.' Personally, I think that is the definition of intellectual terrorism.