“The War”
Nancy Brown
Children's Programs
If you’re feeling inundated with Ken Burns’ “The War,” it’s because producers Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and the documentary’s sponsors have launched a multimillion-dollar effort to do just that. In addition, the Hickory Public Library has purchased the DVD, book, and audiobook associated with the program.
This World War II history buff wondered how Burns could add anything new to what’s been done before. He did not disappoint us. One of the best features of the broadcast? The National Archives have been tapped for photographs most of us have never seen. Personal photos and home movies from the documentary’s protagonists also add to its authenticity.
Another gift of the miniseries: it gives the nation a comprehensible timeline of WWII. People from four different cities tell their stories, so we view those four years (for the U.S.) through personal lenses. Events of the European and Pacific wars are interwoven in a narrative that makes sense, explaining those familiar place names like Iwo Jima, Anzio, and Okinawa.
The handsome companion book is “The War: An Intimate History,” by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns. Mr. Burns himself reads the audiobook, with lots of feeling. However, one must peruse the pictures in the hefty book. Many cover an entire page in clear black and white detail. These show the human suffering and drudgery of war, but also the hopefulness of the home front.
All the resources cover the same story in different formats, but each offers something the others do not. The website at www.pbs.org/thewar/ offers links to exceptional WWII sites, lesson plans for educators, and information about the Veterans History Project. Citizens may download a field guide for interviewing veterans. Oral histories and donated artifacts will become part of the National Archives.
These resources can be located online in our catalog at http://libcat.ci.hickory.nc.us/, or call Patrick Beaver Memorial Library at 828-304-0500 to reserve materials of interest to you. Ridgeview Branch Library’s phone number is 828-345-6037.
