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The late British-born American journalist, Alistair Cooke,
traces the history of America - from the eve of discovery
to the modern day. First transmitted in 1972, this series
represents a collection of thirteen, fifty-minute episodes,
which won two Emmy Awards...
Through
his BBC Radio series, Letter From America, Alistair
Cooke reported on every aspect of life in the United States
for over 50 years. In 1973 he wrote and presented Alistair
Cooke's America, his critically acclaimed TV series, which
became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, generated a best-selling
book and earned Cooke an invitation to address congress during
the bicentennial celebrations in 1976. Cooke died in March
2004, just a month after his last-ever letter from America.
This DVD set offers Alistair Cooke's personal perspective
on the history of the USA, combining specially shot archive
footage with photographs, paintings and sketches.
While
I was a regular listener to Cooke's Letter From America,
I have to admit to not being overly impressed by this release.
It's very much a product of its time and has aged very badly.
As informative as this series is, it is rather long and drawn
out. The facts are interesting, but the presentation leaves
a lot to be desired. Add to this the fact that there are plenty
of annoying music tracks included to pad out many of the episodes,
and the whole production starts to annoy more than inform.
While
it was interesting to learn a lot more about the history of
America (and some not very pleasant things about our own)
Cooke's presenting leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, I'd
say his presenting was about as riveting as one of my old
trigonometry classes from school. Which is a shame, because
there is plenty of genuinely interesting material here - if
you can stay awake for the duration. I did finally find out
what the Boston Tea Party was all about though.
Pete
Boomer
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£37.49
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