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This documentary was not released in theaters but is a PBS production being sold directly on DVD and book accompaniment.I saw it on the local PBS station and rank it as perfect.It's current as a 2011 program and runs 2 hours and like most PBS shows is a combination of paintings and letters of the day combined with historical expert commentary and re-enactments.The trailer following the pix is at PBS as well as a description from them below.A few comments why I think it should be seen.It was more a US vs Canadian war then we like to remember.The US trying to invade Canada numerous times but failing.The US had the larger army but failed miserably.However we had stunning success against the greatest naval power of the day.Finally the roles native americans and to a lesser extent negro slaves played in the fighting.We may remember the star bangle banner,the battle of New Orleans,the burning of Washington and the legend of Dolly Madison but they were not as important as some other lesser remembered parts and its good to see it all put in prospective again.As with WW 1,sometimes you just have to wonder why this war was ever fought to begin with and how 200 years later the largest unguarded border remains between the two main combatants.If you like History this is a MUST see.Like a good Ken Burns ( but not his ) documentary it passes much to quickly.
The War 1812 is a two-hour film history of a deeply significant event in North American and world history. The war shaped American, Canadian and British destiny in the most literal way possible: had one or two battles or decisions gone a different way, a map of the United States today would look entirely (and shockingly) different. The U.S. could well have included Canada - but was also on the verge of losing much of the Midwest, and perhaps the entire West to boot. The New England states, meanwhile, were poised on the brink of secession just months before a peace treaty was signed.
The fires of this war forged the nation of Canada; at the same time, the result tolled the end of Native American dreams of a separate nation. By war's end, the process of Native nation removal had already begun in the southeast, paving the way for a Cotton Kingdom powered by slavery, and a United States that had been on the verge of collapse was ready to announce its arrival as a global power. The U.S. did not win the War of 1812, but the noble experiment of democracy had managed to survive intense pressure from without, and within.
This DVD features subtitles in English (SDH)
The War of 1812: Guide to Battlefields and Historic Sites Book -
It has been almost two full centuries since a thin line of Canadian militiamen turned back an American army at Crysler's Farm on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the tattered Star-Spangled Banner flew through the night and into the dawn over Fort McHenry, surviving a storm of Royal Navy shot and shell. However, the approach of the war's bicentennial has unleashed a cascade of interest in this smoky, old cannon and musket conflict.
Lushly illustrated with more than 120 color photographs and archival paintings, this exciting documentary companion brings the war to life with vivid descriptions and insightful eyewitness accounts. Readers can relive key moments in the conflict by visiting battlefields and other relevant sites such as Queenstown Heights, Lundy's Lane, Fort McHenry, and Chalmette Plantation outside New Orleans. The book is divided into seven chronologically arranged chapters, each of them focusing on one of several distinct theaters of the war. Follow the course of what happened and why each location was important to the war as a whole.
Softcover, 160 pages
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