Links to discussion threads on Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 as well as other useful links.
URL for thread on Part 1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1901006/posts?page=1
URL for thread on Part 2 (Monday 9-24-07)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1901629/posts
URL for thread on Part 3 (Tuesday 9-25-07)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1902083/posts?page=1
URL for thread on Part 4 of 7; Airing on PBS @ 7PM Central 9-26-07
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1902654/posts
URL for thread on Part 5 of 7: (Sunday 9-31-07)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904611/posts
URL for thread on Part 6 of 7: (Monday 10-1-07)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1905119/posts
URLs for PBS websites on “The War”:
URL to check listing for local PBS stations:
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/broadcast_schedule.htm
PBS website for Ken Burns’ “The War”
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_thewarbrakenburnsfilm_2007-09-23
In the interests of fundamental fairness, I’ve compiled
an INexhaustive list of links for those interested in purchasing
“The War” on DVD, the companion book or soundtrack discs.
(”VOA” is NOT affiliated with any of the websites listed below,
unless one of my mutual funds has invested in amazon.com, The History
Channel or some related company. Shame on VOA...VOA should know if
he does have a holding in those media outlets!)
These links are just provided as a convenience to fellow Freepers.
One note: Without getting involved in all sorts of financial analysis...
it looks like Amazon.com has the best price if you simply want the DVD
set.
But in all matters of purchase price, shipping costs/times, backorders,
and all the other joys of mail orders/Internet commerce...
CAVEAT EMPTOR!
And if “VOA” has messed up in any links or representations...
you have my apologies in advance!
PBS website for “The War” DVD/Book set:
The War: A Ken Burns Film DVD & Book - Bonus CD Soundtrack FREE!
DVD Set, Book & Bonus CD
Item No. TWAR653
List Price: $198.97
Our Price: $179.99
http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2784345
PBS website for “The War” DVD set:
The War: A Ken Burns Film 6PK DVD
Our Price: $129.99
20% off Ken Burns Titles when you buy The War DVD or Combo Details >
http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=2784344&clickid=body_bestsellers_txt
Amazon.com sites for “The War”
The War - A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick (2007)
Director: Ken Burns
List Price: $129.99
Price: $78.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $51.00 (39%)
http://www.amazon.com/War-Film-Burns-Lynn-Novick/dp/B000R7NBMK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7374567-3737535?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=11913587
78&sr=1-1
The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 (Hardcover)
by Geoffrey C. Ward (Author), Ken Burns (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307262839/ref=amb_link_5353302_1/104-7374567-3737535?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1
&pf_rd_r=02D8GP08SVYD41MKWC1H&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=304934001&pf_rd_i=1000122611
Find out more about The War: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick—
including the companion book, soundtracks, DVDs, and a special message
from Ken Burns to Amazon customers— in The War Boutique.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_5374322_1/104-7374567-3737535?ie=UTF8&docId=1000122611&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0D
ER&pf_rd_s=special-offers-2&pf_rd_r=07RTS3BKRGX8JVZE0BJA&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=304962601&pf_rd_i=B000R7NBMK
History.com (History Channel) sites for “The War”
PRODUCT DETAIL:
Ken Burns’ The War DVD & Book Collection
Only available on DVD
Availability: In Stock
Ships to U.S. and Canada
6 DVD(s) / 14 Hrs 0 Min
Closed Captioning: No
More Details
Was: $169.00 Save $24.51 (15%)
On Sale: $144.49
Item Number: AAE-105571
http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=105571
History.com’s shop page for Ken Burns products:
88
Burns did well to include that (last?) speech to Congress in 1945.
FDR;s public mention of the “10 pounds of steel” braces isn’t too far off
from Geo. Washington begging the pardon of the unsettled officer corps
just after the Revolution...to get his “spectacles” in order to read a letter,
as he’d “gone blind” while in service to the country.
I want to thank you for these posts,this is why I donate to FR,it is a vast pool of knowledge,these heads up help us all.
Fabulous program -— The War!
Saw it for sale today in Best Buy, the entire series, for $44.95, or something like that.
“How will we go on...fighting the war? When our commander-in-chief
is dead?”
Nice opening for the successful...and orderly succession which is a
hallmark of a civilized country.
Even when we “fuss and fight” with words over the new President of
The United States of America.
So far, I've seen several hours devoted to race relations during the war (almost all portraying America as evil), but I don't remember more than a passing mention of Germany's actions vs. the "Jewish question".
The documentary does make me respect what my fathers generation did. But I would have preferred it be quite a bit less politically correct, portrayed as the WWII generation saw themselves, rather than how the 60's generation sees their flaws in retrospect.
RE: the stumbling courtship and eventual marriage of the fighter pilot
to the gal who waited for him in Louisiana...
along with all the other warriors that struggled “to find their way”
once they got home.
Here’s a movie that should be required viewing for high schoolers
as well:
“The Best Years of Our Lives”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036868/
OK, a tip of the hat to Burns for his to-the-point work on the liberation
of “the camps”.
AND, MY HEAVENS...two ghastly photos I haven’t seen before.
One looks like the photographer got some height (up in a guard tower?)
and shot down.
All you really see is an alley of bodies neatly placed on the ground,
maybe 4 or 5 from left to right.
But then the eye follows the alley of bodies as it stretches...off...
to the horizon.
Probably “only” a half-mile or so.
But still simply stunning.
The second photo: stacks of skulls, with a huge mound of longer
bones just behind them.
Just like in the memorial of Pol Pot’s atrocities, or like the stacked
bones of buffaloe in our Old West (to be used to make fertilizer).
Victor Davis Hanson’s introduction to a new edition of E.B. Sledge’s
“With The Old Breed” is linked below:
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson072507.html
Victor Davis Hanson’s uncle died during the campaign on Okinawa.
My wife just said she had never heard such a strong argument for dropping the bomb.
Indianapolis story on now
I was deeply moved by Burn’s Civil War documentary and this series is also shaping up to be a moving experience. I am 30 and served 10 years in the military however my service doesn’t rise to the level of an infected hair on the foot of a WWII veteran. They were truly the greatest generation and I honor them for their sacrifices.
I am often reminded of this simple verse when I think about our nation’s veterans; “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13”
Check ‘er out :-)
The speech from FDR was very revealing. Even with his health problems, the war took a huge toll on him. I don’t agree with his politics, but he (along with Churchill and Hitler) was one of the best orators and motivators of our times. I have never seen the footage from that last speech, and how worn he was. His death had to be a devasting event..by all. And not much is ever said about that.
The ladies sewing our flags for our dead was gripping. What a sad, but proud job.
The amount of ordance that was produced is staggering.
The German citizens forced to bury the concentration victims. Don’t say it didn’t happen..just say I was scared to cause an opposition.
The similarities between the Kamikazes and the enemy we fight now. I think that they may have been the original “9-11” fighters. Willing to fight to the death.
I didn’t realize the Russians still used a true cavalry..with real horses. How that must have been to invade Berlin.
I have enjoyed the different points of view on this series.
The part last night about the Holocaust was POWERFUL. It should have been played last week when that nutjob from Iran was in this country. Those American solders that saw it first hand told a powerful story. It sent chills down my spine.
Relocating families,building only 139 cars one year,gutting manufacturing facilities and revamping to build weapons,rationing...VERY patriotic and extreme. Today everyone would bitch that it's inconveniencing them from watching Deal or No Deal or making them miss bowling night....
At some of the most poignant moments, he used a very slow piano transcription of the Nimrod Theme from Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations".
Where he showed genius was his use of Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time". This piece was written in 1941 when Messiaen was interned in a German POW camp. (Messiaen was a career organist in a small Catholic church in the Paris suburbs up until the day he died in 1992, and he was a French Catholic mystic.)
The quartet is scored for piano, violin, cello and clarinet, and its third movement ("Bird Calls") is for solo clarinet. Burns used it quite frequently, cutting out right after the clarinet imitates an air raid siren. It was especially eerie when he used it over photographs of the death camps.
The fifth movement ("Praise to the Eternity of Jesus") is scored for piano and cello and is wonderfully solemn and sad. Messiaen provides a basic metronome pulse for the 16th notes and dispenses with a time signature, using measures of various lengths. Burns used it well.
Once in the final part, Burns used the 8th and final movement ("Praise to the Immortality of Jesus") toward the end of the show. This movement is scored for piano and violin, where the piano provides slow heartbeat figures while the violin sings around them.
Good choices.