PBS History docs
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127 titles
- StarsWill LymanHenry KissingerWilliam C. WestmorelandAn in-depth look at the Vietnam War.
- StarsRobert MacNeilJ.L. DillardAlistair CookeA history of the English language from its early beginnings to present day English in all its variations.
- StarsDavid McCulloughSam WaterstonJulie HarrisA comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
- CreatorHenry HamptonStarsJulian BondCoretta Scott KingJohn LewisA documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.
- 1985– 3h 28mNot Rated8.4 (12K)TV EpisodeDirectorMartin ScorseseStarsBob DylanB.J. RolfzenDick KangasA chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.
- DirectorKen BurnsStarsHuey LongRussell LongDavid McCulloughKen Burns' portrait of Louisiana governor/U.S. senator Huey Long.
- StarsPeter CoyoteHuy DucJames WillbanksA comprehensive history of the United States' involvement in the bitterly divisive armed conflict in Southeast Asia.
- StarsKeith DavidWynton MarsalisGary GiddinsA survey of the musical form's history and major talents.
- StarsBuzz AldrinMike CollinsFrank BormanFascinating behind-the-scenes look at the moon landing, blending scientific innovation, political maneuvering, media frenzy, visionary zeal, and personal stories in the space race.
- DirectorRobert StoneStarsKilon BaunoJohn SmithermanWarren AustinIt starts with a live radio broadcast from the Bikini Atoll a few days before it is annihilated by a nuclear test. Shows great footage from these times and tells the story of the US Navy Sailors who were exposed to radioactive fallout. One interviewed sailor suffered grotesquely swollen limbs and he is shown being interviewed with enormous left arm and hand.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsAndre BraugherPat AnticiOudie BrownA documentary examining the 1955 murder of a 14-year-old boy from Chicago while visiting relatives in Mississippi, and the broad impact of his death, his funeral, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of his white killers.
- StarsDaniel OkrentGeorge F. WillJohn ChancellorA documentary on the history of the sport with major topics including Afro-American players, player/team owner relations and the resilience of the game.
- DirectorOrlando BagwellStarsAlfre WoodardSharon 10XBenjamin 2X
- A chronological look at The Doors, focusing on lead singer, Jim Morrison (1943-1971), from the formation of the band in 1965, it's first gigs, and first album, to Morrison's death, after years of alcohol and drug use.
- StarsPeter CoyoteWilliam CrononDayton DuncanThe history of the U.S. National Parks system, including the initial ideas which led to the world's first national parks and the expansion of the system over 150 years.
- 1985– TV-145.8 (73)TV EpisodeA profoundly enigmatic musical poet, this film artfully pierces through the myths and misconceptions about this humming and hunched figure, whose fingers glided across the piano as no one's before or since.
- 1987– 1h 30m7.2 (28)TV EpisodeDirectorStanley NelsonStarsCarl LumblyCarlos CoombsBrittany CooperLife story of the controversial African-American leader Marcus Garvey.
- StarsLinda HuntThe last member of a diminished Native American tribe from California makes himself known at the beginning of the 20th century.
- 1987– 1h 54mTV-PG8.1 (124)TV EpisodeDirectorRic BurnsStarsPhilip BoscoD. Graham BurnettMargaret S. CreightonThe American Experience looks at the history of American whaling from its off-shore origins in the 17th century to the golden age of deep water whaling and the eventual decline in the decades after the Civil War.
- 1987–7.1 (19)TV Episode
- DirectorJon ElseStarsHans BetheHolm BursomHaakon ChevalierScientists and witnesses involved in the creation and testing of the first ever atomic bomb reflect on the Manhattan project and its fascinating leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who upon completion of his wonderful and horrible invention became a powerful spokesperson against the nuclear arms race.
- DirectorKen BurnsSarah BurnsDavid McMahonStarsAntron McCrayKevin RichardsonKharey WiseA documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
- 1987– 52m7.0 (15)TV EpisodeDirectorRobert DrewStarsClarke BittnerNicholas KatzenbachJohn F. KennedyFilmmaker Robert Drew updates his 1963 documentary Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963) which followed the confrontation between President Kennedy and Alabama governor George Wallace.
- DirectorMichael EpsteinThomas LennonStarsRichard Ben CramerWilliam AllandThomas AndersonDocumentary about the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over Welles' Citizen Kane (1941). Features interviews with Welles' and Hearst's co-workers also as a relative complete bio of Hearst.
- The Native American influence in popular music, including the Native American roots of early pioneers of the blues and jazz and how Native Americans helped define the evolution of the folk-rock era that took hold in the 1960's and 1970's.