School children everywhere, in any era, are known to lament the drudgery of studying history. The kids are all right, but they are all wrong, even seriously mistaken. Three new DVD box sets will show them, and adult history buffs, how thrilling the past can be.
The box sets are all about Britain, an anglophone's delight. I confess the Scottish content intrigues because of my ancestral heritage. But the selections are all so impressive, and so entertainingly idiosyncratic, they transcend individual obsessions. Plus, British history informs world history, given the profound influence that domain has exerted to the ends of the Earth.
The big-picture entry is Simon Schama: A History of Britain. New this week, this is a fresh six-disc Special Edition of Schama's 15-part BBC series. The widescreen episodes, covering 5,000 years, are presented with private interviews, a public lecture and a bonus doc, Schama's special on poet John Donne.
Tucked neatly into the folds of Schama's cloak is the work of a competing historian-broadcaster. Monarchy with David Starkey: The Complete Series is a 16-part series presented on five widescreen discs with limited extras. Given its 1,500-year focus on the monarchs of Britain, this series fleshes out facts and anecdotes that get only cursory mention in A History of Britain. Monarchy was released Aug. 3. Critically, this is the full slate of shows Grenada made for Channel 4 in Britain, not the abridged versions for less discerning American audiences on PBS.
The third entry is complementary to the others. A History of Scotland comes from archaeologist-broadcaster Neil Oliver. The Scot's BBC series covers 2,000 years. The DVD box set, new this week, presents the 10 episodes on five widescreen discs, with two bonus docs as extras.
All three hosts are forceful, articulate and charismatic. It is not difficult to imagine them fiercely debating points of fact, fiction, mythology and interpretation. (I would love to see Schama and Starkey duking it out about the vices and virtues of Thomas Becket or Elizabeth I.)
Each series follows a format: The onscreen host takes us to a significant place. He talks. Silent re-enactments are inserted, lifting the mists of time and visually clarifying the information. The most beautiful cinematography is deployed in A History of Scotland but the others sweep us up just as effectively. Critically, these hosts confess to subjective, personal approaches. All three make a case for repeatedly re-visiting history.
"Where Britain goes depends largely, I think, on where we think we've come from," Schama says. "Who we are going to be depends very much on who we were once upon a time. Who we are now depends again on our telling stories about our past as well as our present."
Starkey reminds us of the scope of his series: "To many people today, monarchy seems to be merely a corrosive mixture of snobbery, ceremony and sentiment. But it's far more than that. It's the natural, universal form of government. Not all monarchs are kings, of course. They could just as well be presidents or dictators. But, almost everywhere, power comes down to the decisions of one person. That is all that monarchy means."
With Oliver, the most folksy of the three hosts, he confesses he is humbled before the majesty of the Scottish landscape and he devotes himself to sorting out the historical from the mythological. "I want to look beyond the legends to find the real story of Scotland -- and it's every bit as thrilling."
Oliver is right. The notion equally applies to his competitors. Watch every episode of these three series and you will learn something significant -- and have a great time doing it.
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