Friends, family, and coworkers have been watching Ken Burns’s new documentary, The War. I’ve only seen bits and pieces, so I can’t fully comment on the film, but Burns’s foci–social history and personal experiences of the war–seem quite clear. It’s different, but complementary to Making History’s foci–political and military history. Both The War and Making History want to involve the audience; with The War, rather than learn about generals and politicians, the audience learns about people who were a lot like them–they can imagine themselves in the shoes of those soldiers and homefront veterans–while with Making History, students actively step into leaders’ shoes.
Take a look at The War’s education materials. I remember how Saving Private Ryan and Tom Brokaw’s book galvanized people into learning more about World War II and US veterans. I suspect this documentary will have a similar impact.
