David G McCullough
1) 1776
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Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. But it is the American commander-in-chief...
2) Truman
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Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman's own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary "man from Missouri" who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.
3) John Adams
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Chronicles the life of the second president, John Adams, describing the many conflicts--including international exploits--he faced during his long political career and exploring the love story that was his marriage to Abigail and the complexity of his friendship with Thomas Jefferson.
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The enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible. So daring a concept as spanning the East River to join two great cities required vision and dedication of the kind that went into building Europe's great cathedrals....
10) The Congress
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"In this elegant, penetrating and moving portrait of the United States Congress, filmmaker Ken Burns profiles an American institution whose ideals and actions affect us all. Narrated by David McCullough, the program employs historic film footage and interviews with insiders" including David Broker, Alistair Cooke and Cokie Roberts to detail the personalities, events and issues that have animated Congress' first 200 years."--Publisher's website.
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Profiles Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, 14 hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore's birth in 1858 to Eleanor's death in 1962. Over the course of these years, Theodore would...
12) The Civil War
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An epic documentary bringing life to America's most destructive - and defining - conflict. Here is the saga of celebrated generals and the ordinary soldiers. A heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one again.
13) Brooklyn Bridge
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"This award-winning program by filmmaker Ken Burns recaptures all the drama, the struggles and the personal tragedies behind this greatest of all achievements of America's industrial age. As this fascinating program reveals, it was the largest bridge of its era, marked by enormous construction problems and ingenious solutions."--Publisher's website.
14) The presidents
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Collection of eleven twentieth century biographies offering a look at the men who have defined and re-defined the modern presidency, and who led the country through some of the most turbulent and consequential moments in our history. The programs focus on the intersection of public and private, character and history.
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Biography of former U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.), including his boyhood in Cody, Wyo. and his important contributions as a legislator. It mentions his issues with the press, the Clarence Thomas - Anita Hill hearings, his stands on immigration reform, Social Security, abortion and gay rights, and his work with Erskine Bowles on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.