Ken Burns's great gift is for making sweeping events such the Second World War, understandable and personal the viewer. As an educator, I share his concern for the general lack of knowledge by young people about this war (A large percentage believe that the U.S. and Germany fought as allies against the Russians) as well as the relentless depletion of collective memory from that war's survivors. In addressing these two issues, Burns deserves our gratitude. While some may quibble about aspects of this documentary, it does succeed in its expressed mission to explain the events "from the bottom up." As for the music, I think that it was generally appropriate. I enjoy jazz but I think that its extensive use in this production reflected more of Burns's preferences than what G.I's were listening to. e.g "The White Cliffs of Dover, "You Are My Sunshine" "I'll Be Seeing You" etc. This, however, is a very minor criticism.
Review of The War
