Histoire de l'Amérique

I can't believe all the bad reviews. I think they were all written by history professors or buffs, which are most definitely not the target audience.

Someone said this was "for the sesame street generation". Well count me in! I enjoyed the CGI, the appearances by singers and other figures, the fast pace. I'm not going to split hairs because they mispronounced an Indian name.

This is a great history lesson for the 90% of us who would never watch a history lesson. It was a great, light, fun to watch story that reminded me of all the things I had forgotten in the decades since I took history in school.

If you don't like documentaries, but want to feel good about America, to be reminded how far we've come, how we struggled and how we still made it, what is in our blood that makes us unique, watch this show.

From the narrator mispronouncing names like Powhatan and Antietam to repeating well-refuted legends such as buckets of blood and human flesh at the Donner Party campsite, I spotted one factual error after another in this series. The show even goes so far as to speculate that modern day computers are based on 19th century textile machine "technology" but states it as if it's fact. Add to that the annoying "shaky cam" effects during action scenes and flashing camera cuts and it all adds up to colossal disappointment which outweighs anything good the series might have to offer.

I was pleased to see some attention given to the presence and contributions of free blacks early in our nation's history. Native Americans were also presented in a more even-handed manner than I've seen in other historic shows. Some of the special effects, such as the computer simulations of the growth of cities, were well done. Other special effects done in the manner of "CSI" were unnecessary and seemed out of place.

The commentators were a mish-mash of celebrities and "experts" with only a handful of them adding any kind of useful or factual insights. Again, so much of the information was incorrect or slanted to support certain modern day perspectives that it was difficult to know what was credible and what wasn't which, in my humble opinion, makes this a pretty useless history show.

My 14-year-old son, wife, and I watched the entire series. My son, after a less-than-interesting year of American history in school, was not only interested, but excited about watching every new episode. There were a great many details about American history which are often glazed over in textbooks. I would not call this series an overview of American history, nor do I think it really attempts to become that...rather, it does a fine job of pinpointing some rather important, lesser-known events that greatly affected the direction of our country.

The computer animations, at times, were poor...though I've seen blockbuster movies pushing the limits and doing little better. The side conversations and interviews with modern celebrities were interesting...at times very relevant...they were always brief, however, so even when some seemed a bit pointless, they were not really all that intrusive.

If you have the chance to view this series in its entirety, and you are not an American history expert, I am certain you will learn a great deal in every episode. This series cannot be expected to be a standalone summary of American history, but it really is a great supplement to what you might already know and does a good job of actually avoiding hitting those topics which are usually taught in excruciation detail in a class setting (eg. Civil War battles).

Update 1 year later: My son is completely interested in history class, and the topic of history, in general. He is not considering any career in the field, but thoroughly enjoys discussing detailed points of the topic with peers and adults. I fully attribute the spark of his interest in this topic to this mini-series.

If you happened to fall asleep during any of your grade school history classes, then you might actually learn something from watching The History Channel's America: The Story of US. Otherwise, there's not much new to be gleaned from this series, which plays it pretty close to the script. It's a "pop history" of the United States, from the Jamestown colony all the way through to the new millennium, bolstered by CGI effects that allow viewers to stare straight down the barrel of a revolutionary war musket, witness firsthand the building of the Hoover Dam, or glimpse a time when thirty-million bison roamed the great plains. Through twelve episodes across three discs, most of the familiar areas, objects and people of US history are touched upon: The Revolutionary War, The Civil War, slavery, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Pearl Harbor, Native Americans, pilgrims - it's all here; well, almost. Somehow the series manages to skip over US involvement in an entire war, World War I. It's a glaring oversight in an otherwise thorough if typical series.

Familiar pundits and celebrities are called upon throughout the series to offer their knowledge and opinions on the various subjects pertaining to US history, including Tom Brokaw, Michael Douglas, Colin Powell, Bill Maher, Sheryl Crow, Newt Gingrich and the Reverend Al Sharpton, among others. Actor Liev Schreiber handles the narration duties well, with an engaging and steady voice that draws the viewer into even the most familiar of subjects.

As a teacher, I am using the first two episodes to help fifth grade students understand and appreciate the challenges of the American Revolution. I will admit I have not watched beyond these episodes, but feel that at least the first two give an abbreviated but accurate window about the challenges of the American Revolution. I would have liked to see more about the French and Indian Wars, as well as the Stamp Act and Intolerable Acts, but there are few videos available that open the many topics of interest about the American Revolution without being COMPLETELY boring. This video, in my opinion, will interest students to research beyond what they have seen on screen. Sadly, the youth of today need a video to motivate them to learn more, so I feel this video series does a nice job of making the American Revolution interesting and accessible to young people.