rose Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 (edited) I'm new to using documentaries to supplement my dc's education and I was wondering if you could make some suggestions for documentaries that you really appreciated that cover basically any aspect of 20th century history. From my limited exposure to documentaries they seem to frequently be over-the-top dramatic in their bias. I'd love suggestions in particular that are a little more level headed and maybe a little more like conventional journalism in nature. As a side note, how do you find good ones? We've got limited bandwidth so I download them at the library and so I don't feel like downloading 10 to find one good one. I also don't want to expose my children to a bunch of garbage. We don't do TV so they're fairly impressionable with this medium which makes me feel need to be careful. Edited December 29, 2016 by Rose M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 You'll get the best stuff by sticking with known broadcasters, IMO. So things on PBS, for example, are likely to be very good quality. The big name things from the History Channel will be compelling - though more sensational. Independently made things may be more of a mix, but can be the best of all. For example, when we studied WWII, we watched Paper Clips, which isn't about the Holocaust per se, but is about a small southern town's Holocaust school project and is an amazing documentary. For the 20th century, there's so much... I mean, you almost have to narrow that down. Anything from American Experience that covers the 20th c. will be good. CNN did this amazing series more than a decade ago called The Cold War, which was excellent and detailed. There are countless good WWII documentaries. There's a Ken Burns one that's more about the homefront from a few years back just called The War. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 (edited) There's a series called The Century - America's Time made by ABCNews and narrated by Peter Jennings that we enjoyed a lot. It goes decade by decade through the 20th century, covering all the major news/events from an American perspective. It was made in the late 90's I think. Even our small library had it. Hopefully your library should have it or be able to get it by inter-library loan. Or you could try searching YouTube for the episodes. Here's a link to the VHS set on Amazon if you want to see more info. https://www.amazon.com/Century-Americas-Time-Boxed-Set-VHS/dp/630529173X/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QVB7XNNWVP72TZDGXBHV Edited December 29, 2016 by TarynB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 (edited) Here are a bunch more films that my son and I watched last year when he was an 8th grader. Not all of them are documentaries - some are just regular movies with a historical focus, i.e., Flyboys, Flags of our Fathers. This list should be in roughly chronological order. I got most of them at our library, some on Netflix or Amazon streaming. YMMV on content as far as swearing, violence, etc., . . . especially some of the WWII films listed here . . . might be too much for some families. Anyway, my son really enjoyed all of these and said it was his favorite year for studying history, so far. Hope this helps. WWI The First Modern War - Armored Beasts (History Channel) WWI The First Modern War - Air Attacks (History Channel) WWI The First Modern War - Clouds of Death (History Channel) WWI The First Modern War - Submarines (History Channel) Flyboys Lost Battalion Panama Canal Influenza 1918 Prohibition (Ken Burns) The 1930s: Crash of 1929 (American Experience/PBS) The 1930s: Civilian Conservation Corps (American Exp./PBS) The Great Depression (A&E or History Channel, not sure from my notes) The Dust Bowl - Ken Burns History Specials - Ultimate WWII Weapons History's Verdict - Hitler The Ghost Army Memphis Belle Icons of History - Franklin Delano Roosevelt Flags of our Fathers American Experience - The Presidents - Truman History's Verdict - Eisenhower Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (American Experience/PBS) Icons of History - JFK Icons of History - Rosa Parks Eyes on the Prize (American Experience/PBS) Icons of History - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mississippi Burning The Right Stuff Rocket Men Icons of History - Edward Kennedy American Experience - The Presidents - LBJ American Experience - The Presidents - Nixon American Experience - The Presidents - Carter American Experience - The Presidents - Reagan Commander in Chief - Bush - The Gulf War Icons of History - William Jefferson Clinton Commander in Chief - Obama - Bin Laden Raid Edited December 29, 2016 by TarynB 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) I see that you are in "chilly northern BC".... https://www.nfb.ca/documentary/ Why not try the National Film Board? I always think it's good to hear things from our own perspective--it's useful to hear stories in our "voice," if you see what I mean. Edited January 2, 2017 by Emerald Stoker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutamattatt Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I second Ken Burns' The War for WW II documentary. One of my all time favorite documentaries. Honestly, anything by Ken Burns is fantastic. I know CNN recently did some documentaries based on the Decades - 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and I am guessing 90s (but I haven't seen that one yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I really liked the Ken Burns' Roosevelts one a lot. Most of the Burns ones are way too long for my kids' interest though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I would also check out if your library has anything on DVD. There have been so many good ones mentioned here. I taught a modern history class year, and I know you can get lost in the sea of sources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 A couple more good sources of Canadian stories: Historica Canada does the heritage minutes: https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/videos https://www.youtube.com/c/HistoricaCanada The CBC series Canada: A People's History is likely available on DVD at your library. http://www.cbc.ca/history/ The National Library and Archives has some interesting podcasts about Canadian history here: http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/podcasts.aspx Hope that helps! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raganfamily Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 We watched The Century by Peter Jennings on YouTube. There is a study guide that goes with it and has great questions and reading suggestions. I can't seem to find the study guide that was online, but I did save it and would be happy to send it you, send me a pm. Here is the order of the episodes: THE CENTURY: AMERICA’S TIME EPISODE GUIDE Volume 1: The Beginning Through The 20’s Episode 1 (The Beginning: Seeds of Change) Episode 2 (1914-1919: Shell Shock) Episode 3 (1920-1929: Boom To Bust) Volume 2: The ‘30s Episode 4 (Stormy Weather) Episode 5 (Over the Edge) Volume 3: The ‘40s Episode 6 (1941-1945: Civilians At War) Episode 7 (1941-1945: Homefront) Episode 8 (1946-1952: Best Years) Volume 4: The ‘50s and ‘60s Episode 9 (1953-1960: Happy Daze) Episode 10 (1960-1964: Poisoned Dreams) Episode 11 (1965-1970: Unpinned) Volume 5: The ‘70s Episode 12 (1971-1975: Approaching The Apocalypse) Episode 13 (1976-1980: Starting Over) Volume 6: The ‘80s and ‘90s Episode 14 (1981-1990: A New World) Episode 15 (The ‘90s And Beyond: Then And Now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 :lurk5: Following along as we are doing world & us history from 1900-today next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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