Ken Burns has made both great documentaries and pitiful documentaries. I thought I might inadvertently kill Power Line writing obsessively about his 18-hour “history” of the Vietnam War in which he regurgitated all the propaganda I eagerly imbibed over the years 1968-1975.
After a decade of work, Burns’s six-part documentary The American Revolution is to debut November 16 on PBS. I understand it will also be made available for viewing online.
Our friend Jeff Anderson interviewed Burns about the documentary in the video posted here at his own site and below via YouTube. RCP also posted it here yesterday.
Jeff interviewed Burns with John Fonte, author of the classic Sovereignty or Submission (2011). In an email to me this morning, Jeff writes:
We’re also working on a review of his new documentary. We both thought it was quite good on the whole. It has its flaws. But it provides a welcome focus on our fight for independence, and the story is compellingly told. Perhaps most importantly, it would be hard to come away from it without a renewed appreciation for George Washington, who comes off as the biggest hero by a wide, wide margin. Indeed, it could do more to reset Americans’ views of Washington — to teach them about his glorious achievements in a way that most of our schools no longer teach — than anything has in quite some time.
Regardless of the documentary to be broadcast over the next several weeks, Burns is impressive in this interview. One can listen and learn.
