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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3465 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-11-03
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 200 minutes

DVD Description
Simon Schama looks to the American past to explain the American present and future: the hopes, and agonies of a great national crisis in the tumultuous year of a Presidential election.In 2008, the people of the United States, beset by troubles, but firm in their faith in an American future, plunged into an intense examination of how they had arrived at this critical crossroads in their history; how their prosperity has run aground; and their pride of place in the world ended up questioned by so many around the globe.

Historian Simon Schama who has spent half his life in the United States takes us on a journey through time and place to discover deep America; an America which in four critical issues - war, immigration, moral fervour and the difficult gap between expectations of plenty and the reality of limited resources -has arrived at a moment of truth.

The drama of that moment powers four compelling films and brings to the screen an extraordinary company of Americans, past and present, famous and unknown, the likes of Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson alongside contemporary soldiers, pastors, and farmers. Through Schama’s storytelling and breathtaking visuals, it's possible, for once, to feel yourself, not just on the surface of the American surface but deep inside its core. Watch these films and you can taste the real America, captured unforgettably at one of the great moments in its national destiny.

Written and Presented by SIMON SCHAMA
Producer/Director: SAM HOBKINSON & RICARDO POLLACK
Series Producer: NICOLAS KENT
Executive Producer for the BBC: EAMON HARDY
Producer: SUSANNAH PRICE
Associate Producer: MATTHEW HILL
Series Assistant Producer: CHARLOTTE SACHER
Production Manager: GLYNIS ROBERTSON
Production Coordinator: HILARY GROVE
Composer: ANDY COWTON
Editors: JAN CHOLAWO, JOE CAREY, PAUL BINNS
An Oxford Film and Television Production for BBC

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Customer Reviews

An understanding of modern America: highly recommended
This four-part BBC series provides an educational, insightful tour of American history. Simon Schama's detailed TV essays explain much of the history, mystery and contradictions of modern American society.
This is not a lightweight, frothy or frivolous series so don't expect the kind of giggles you get from Stephen Fry's adventures.[ASIN:B001C4QLBA Stephen Fry in America [2008]

Instead, watching The American Future should help you understand how American political and social attitudes have been formed. It's been timed perfectly to coincide with the 08 presidential election, and Schama brings to bear his considerable historical expertise and his personal enthusiasm for the subject matter. The result is compelling and well worth watching more than once. We've been enthralled by it.

Schama follows a theme for each episode and explains the historical context behind current affairs. So we learn how America has been shaped by war (Independence and Civil, long before WW1, 2 and Vietnam), and how the need for water has dictated the development of the west and the engineering feats of the 20th century. In the episode about faith, Schama shows how religion was originally part of American rebellion and how it has come to be part of American conservatism. Finally, Schama tackles the tricky subject of immigration: how a nation of émigrés defines itself.

Each episode uses a fair amount of talking-to-camera segments but the series also uses a lot of archive footage to set the scene and occasionally comedic old movie scenes. Schama also interviews relevant characters; a modern-day preacher; a ditchman from the desert whose job it is to keep the irrigation channels flowing to water the crops; the ex-soldiers who campaign to end the current overseas wars. Overall, the opinions come across as reasonably well balanced although we're in no doubt that Schama is fairly in love with the American ideal... although he's not shy about pointing out how far away from that ideal the American reality lies.

The American Future was obviously designed to be viewed during election year and much of its content reflects the two presidential candidates and their campaigns. As such the series will date very rapidly and it's going to be interesting to watch it again in a year or so and see how the same information can be interpreted with a little hindsight.
Tackling `modern' history and making it relevant to current affairs is a risky business, particularly when the subject is a controversial one. Schama's series is well worth watching although it doesn't rank alongside the likes of Civilisation or Ascent of Man (but will any TV series ever be that brave again?).

The American Future educates and entertains and offers plenty of material to mull over during the days after watching. It's the very opposite of soundbite TV; not particularly flashy and devoid of snappy graphics. But packed with information and understanding.
Recommended to buy for repeated viewing.
9/10

Stupendous
Schama once again comes up with the goods: a work of startling erudition and breadth of scope - in spite of the title, the author considers the American past and how it relates to its prospects for the future (both in the country itself and the wider world). A most delightful bitesize yet in-depth guide to the main landmarks in American history.

I shall now be reading the book, which I had not intended to do, owing to a lack of time (not of inclination).

Intelligent and accessible
Excellent series of programmes, thoroughly recommended.

Schama explains serious subject - water shortages, religion, war and immigration - in a way that is at once informed and intelligent but also easy to understand and to follow. If, like me, you were disappointed by shallow, rushed nature of the "Stephen Fry in America" series that aired in the UK around the same time ("Just look at this really cute roadside cafe here in Idaho. OK, on to Oregon now."), this series delivers everything Fry's didn't.

Best of all is the cinematography: the whole thing is beautifully shot. It's certainly not a travelogue documentary but you could turn the sound off and still get something out of this.