'First World War, The' Channel Four mini-series?!

[Mike Lowrey]

Just saw this mentioned over at TVShowsOnDVD
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=3385

It wiped out ten million people, heralded the birth of modern warfare and engendered mass destruction on a scale never before known in human history. Dubbed "the war to end all wars," it was directly responsible for the outbreak of fresh international conflict barely twenty years later. Yet in terms of intelligent contemporary examination, World War I is constantly placed second behind World War II. As the last veterans pass away, this definitive ten-part series offers insight and analysis to provide a coherent and strategic military narrative. Based on new and authoritative accounts, this stylistically innovative series from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Jonathan Lewis (Before Hindsight, Stalin, People's Century) places World War I in its proper global context and explodes conventional myths, with the human tragedy placed into a wider political and military context beyond the Western Front.

The First World War - The Complete Series. Episodes include: To Arms, Under the Eagle, Global War, Jihad, Shackled To A Corpse, Breaking the Deadlock, Blockade, Revolution, Germany's Last Gamble, War Without End. Includes actual archive footage (much of it in black-and-white) of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Emperor Franz Josef, Hermann Göring, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, V.I. Lenin, David Lloyd George, Erich Ludendorff, Philippe Pétain, Queen Marie of Rumania, Jan Smuts, Paul von Hindenburg, Manfred von Richthofen, and Woodrow Wilson. 4 Disc Set, 503 minutes. Originally aired in the U.K. on Channel Four, released on DVD in Region 1 by Image Entertainment. SRP: $ 39.99. Release Date: August 2nd.

Anybody know about this series? Looks interesting. With a SRP of just $40, I can see it going for around $29.98 or less.

[Amelomet]

This is a superb series. I occasionally show episodes to The Great War Society chapters here in the Bay area. If you're interested in WWI this is the best modern series to acquire, far better than the 1964 BBC series and CBS series from the same era. It's based on the writings of Hew Strachan (pronounced Hugh Strawn), perhaps the leading modern historian on WWI. I highly recommend it. If you want more information on The Great War try: http://www.worldwar1.com/tgws/
I write the monthly column "Andy's Nickelodeon" on films and history for The St. Mihiel Trip-Wire, the on-line newsletter of The Great War Society. Click on the archives heading for past reviews and columns.

[Mike Lowrey]

Originally Posted by Amelomet

This is a superb series. I occasionally show episodes to The Great War Society chapters here in the Bay area. If you're interested in WWI this is the best modern series to acquire, far better than the 1964 BBC series and CBS series from the same era. It's based on the writings of Hew Strachan (pronounced Hugh Strawn), perhaps the leading modern historian on WWI. I highly recommend it. If you want more information on The Great War try: http://www.worldwar1.com/tgws/
I write the monthly column "Andy's Nickelodeon" on films and history for The St. Mihiel Trip-Wire, the on-line newsletter of The Great War Society. Click on the archives heading for past reviews and columns.

Thanks for the candid reply and info. Looks like I may pick it up then.

I'm also thinking of picking up (gradually) a seemingly new WWII series called The Second World War, a 21-volume 42-hour documentary series that was recently released at least partially.

[jmj713]

There's a discussion going about WW1/2 docs here at HTF: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=232332