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By
FRANK BEHRENS
As much as I admire some of
the series on The History Channel, I refuse to
watch them with those constant commercial breaks
that utterly destroy any line of thought the
program might have created. So I look forward to
DVD presentations and The History Channel boxed
set of "A History of Britain: The Complete
Collection" is a good case in point.
Here we have 5 DVDs of 3 episodes each in which
author and narrator Simon Schama conducts us
through a tour of British history from before the
Roman invasion to the careers of Winston Churchill
and George Orwell. Obviously, we are not going to
get a comprehensive view in just under 15 hours.
What we do get is Schama's spin on great events
and personalities -- the murder of Thomas Becket,
the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots and later
Charles I, the horrible religious wars in which
the Scots and the Irish were used as pawns --
while the reigns of (say) Henry V and Henry VI are
barely mentioned.
Too many clichés of documentaries are put to
annoying use: close-ups of falcons and leopards to
symbolize certain historical figures, battle
sequences shown through distorting lenses or in
such close-up as to be nearly abstract, female
voices chanting wordlessly on the soundtracks. But
at least we are spared the ultimate cliché of
watching the narrator walking pointlessly across
the scene making believe he is not being filmed.
However, what Schama says is extremely well put,
is interesting, and has great meaning for our
present situation. For example, Churchill felt
such guilt at being instrumental in the mass
slaughter of young soldiers at Gallipoli that he
volunteered to experience front-line combat
himself to atone for his rash decisions. (A
politician admitting he was wrong?!?)
So while you will have to return to your British
history books to learn about what was left out,
you will greatly enjoy this series not for what
the title promises but for what it delivers: a
series of insights into how a government can
bungle again and again aided by those whose
interests are only personal power at the expense
of the greater population. For that alone, this
set is worth the viewing. |
