Product Description:
#2600 Eastern Europe - The Hungarian Uprising: 1956 (Run time 12 min.) DVD $49.95
This program shows the steely face of Communism as the Soviets sent troops to Hungary to suppress popular discontent with the government. The program shows what happened in the aftermath of Prime Minister Imre Nagy's announcement that Hungary was withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact: Soviet troops entered Budapest and other centers and simply crushed the revolt. Thousands of Hungarians died and 150,000 fled the country. The program shows the uprising and its aftermath: Hungary's resumption of its place in the Eastern Bloc (which included joining Soviet troops in putting down the Czech attempts at liberalization in 1968); the exile of Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty in the U.S. Embassy; and the gradual economic reforms that made Hungary the most Western part of the Eastern Bloc. (12 minutes)
#2941 European Folktales - Master Lukas's Treasure (A Folktale from Cyprus) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $69.95
In Cyprus, two villages both lay claim to the precious icon found by Master Lukas. But Master Lukas believes that only God can judge which village should have the icon, and so he devises a test. The matter is settled when maternal instinct proves to be more powerful than masculine physical strength. (26 minutes)
#2954 European Folktales - The Flower of the Fern (Poland) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $69.95
The son of a poor family finds the flower of the fern, whose magic gives him whatever he wants, as long as he doesn't share it. The boy grows rich while his family remains poor. He asks the flower why he could not share, and the flower says, "You did not even try!" The boy awakens, still poor, but he has learned the consequences of wanting only material things. (26 minutes)
#2456 Great Britain - The Civil War in England: 1645-1649 (Run time 37 min.) DVD $69.95
England's Civil War, which was a revolution of Parliament against the King, is in many ways the model of all the successful revolutions that followed: its words echo in the words of Thomas Jefferson, of the French Estates-General, of the makers of the Russian Revolution. This program provides the background of the power struggle and the religious conflicts that led to the war, the rise to power of the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell, the pivotal battle of Naseby, the trial of Charles I and his execution, and the subsequent return to the throne of his son-this time not by the grace of God, but by the grace of Parliament. (37 minutes)
#793 Eastern Europe - Czechoslovakia 1968: We Don't Want to Live on Our Knees (Run time min.) DVD $89.95
The Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 provides a case study in Soviet imperialism. The program follows as Alexander Dubcek relaxes control, reduces police power, permits criticism of the government and the organization of alternative political parties; then shows the sudden about-face of the Russians, and the invasion and subjugation of Czechoslovakia, as the Iron Curtain came down with a thud. (20 minutes, b&w)
#2450 Eastern Europe - The Battle of Tannenberg: 1410 (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
Certainly through no fault of its own, Poland has been like a pawn, its territory traded between Germans and Russians, among others. Only one major victory in a millennium marks Poland's sovereignty: the Battle of Tannenberg. Like other nations that called on foreign troops to help them quell domestic insurrections, the Poles were conquered by their own invited guests, the German Templars or Teutonic Order. The original goal was to crush pagan nationalities, but before long, the Order established a German colony in Prussia, which was Christian. Soon the Order cast covetous eyes on Danzig (or Gdansk). This program continues with the story of the commercial enterprise that constituted the religious Order, the story of Jagellon, the story of the Battle of Tannenberg, and recaps the subsequent developments in Poland, in which history again and again repeated itself. (40 minutes)
#2587 Eastern Europe - Solidarity (Run time 18 min.) DVD $89.95
On August 31, 1980, the first independent trade union in the history of the Soviet bloc was born. Forged in two weeks of nationwide strikes, Poland's Solidarity union became a reality after 25 years of struggle culminated in the signing of the Gdansk Accords between Lech Walesa and the Polish government. But victory was not that close, and this program follows the threat of Soviet military intervention, the struggle by Polish farmers for the same rights as industrial workers, the political career of Lech Walesa, Jaruzelski's get-tough policy with Solidarity and Archbishop Glemp's support of the union, violence and the dissolution of Solidarity, the Pope's visit to Poland, and the end of Communist Party rule in Poland as Stevie Wonder sings at a Solidarity campaign meeting-and Poland's economic woes deepen. (18 minutes)
#2591 Eastern Europe - The Berlin Wall (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
The forerunner of the wall-the blockade of Berlin-was imposed by the Soviets in response to the introduction of a new currency in West Germany; and the fall of the wall, ultimately, was due to the pressure of that currency and what it could buy. This program covers the Airlift of 1949, the sealing off of crossing points in East Berlin in 1961, and the construction of the wall proper in 1962. The program covers the history of the wall: its erection, some touching and dangerous escapes, President Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Checkpoint Charlie, the exodus to West Germany, and the dismemberment of the wall. (23 minutes, b&w/color)
#8756 Eastern Europe - Prague Spring (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
In 1968 Alexander Dubcek's attempt to liberalize Communist rule in Czechoslovakia and to create "socialism with a human face" resulted in Soviet tanks in the streets of Prague. This program presents both the political detente behind Brezhnev's position and the dissent that was silenced within the Warsaw Pact alliance. In addition to extensive archival footage, contemporary interviews with leading Dubcek opponent Vasil Bilak; Jiri Pelikan, Czech radio director-general; Eduard Goldstuker of the Czech Writers' Union; Izvestia correspondent Vladlen Krivosheyev; Grigori Yashkin, retired Soviet Army general; and Werner Mantzsch, GDR Army political officer, provide insights that reveal the dissent within the Eastern Bloc countries in the 1960s. A Deutsche Welle production. (29 minutes)
#29160 Eastern Europe - Gypsies and the Freedom to Hate (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
Ironically, the Gypsies or Roma of eastern Europe, a people historically persecuted, were protected under the communist system; the disintegration of that system has opened the floodgates of a repressed hatred. In this program, ABC News correspondent Chris Bury looks at an age-old prejudice that has resurfaced in such countries as Hungary and the Czech Republic. Inheriting a legacy of discrimination and even slavery, the Roma, as this profile shows, are an ethnic group with the lowest education levels and highest welfare rates in Europe. (23 minutes)
#874 European Folktales - The White Lady (Poland) (Run time min.) DVD $89.95
A Polish story about the origins of the salt mine. Stan and Kinga go on a tour of a salt mine. They follow the sound of singing, and come upon the giant Trogodor and his daughter, Ojdola. The children try to help Ojdola escape from the mine to be with her beloved Michat, but when she leaves the mine she is touched by a sunbeam and turns to salt. When the children report their adventure, no one believes them except an uncle whom everyone considered crazy because he said that children always tell the truth. (26 minutes)
#2951 European Folktales - Marko's Treasure (Former Yugoslavia) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Marko had only one thing in all the world, a cow, but a wicked witch caused him to lose her. A good fairy sends him on a journey through darkness filled with dangers and adventures. When he drives off a snake about to steal an eagle's eggs, the bird rewards Marko by showing him the light-which is what he was looking for all along. (26 minutes)
#3401 European Folktales - Kurent the Mischievous (Former Yugoslavia) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Kurent's mischievous ways prompt his neighbors to force him out of their village. Wandering the countryside, Kurent encounters many mysterious people. Some appreciate the humor of his pranks, while pride prevents others from being able to laugh. Kurent makes his way through life alone, deriving happiness from the pranks he plays. Upon his death Kurent walks to the gates of hell, but the devil turns him away, fearful of the damage he could cause. In heaven, God too sends Kurent away, returning him to earth to teach people the importance of laughter. Part 1 of 3. (26 minutes)
#3402 European Folktales - Kurent the Mischievous (Former Yugoslavia) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Kurent's mischievous ways prompt his neighbors to force him out of their village. Wandering the countryside, Kurent encounters many mysterious people. Some appreciate the humor of his pranks, while pride prevents others from being able to laugh. Kurent makes his way through life alone, deriving happiness from the pranks he plays. Upon his death Kurent walks to the gates of hell, but the devil turns him away, fearful of the damage he could cause. In heaven, God too sends Kurent away, returning him to earth to teach people the importance of laughter. Part 2 of 3. (26 minutes)
#3403 European Folktales - Kurent the Mischievous (Former Yugoslavia) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Kurent's mischievous ways prompt his neighbors to force him out of their village. Wandering the countryside, Kurent encounters many mysterious people. Some appreciate the humor of his pranks, while pride prevents others from being able to laugh. Kurent makes his way through life alone, deriving happiness from the pranks he plays. Upon his death Kurent walks to the gates of hell, but the devil turns him away, fearful of the damage he could cause. In heaven, God too sends Kurent away, returning him to earth to teach people the importance of laughter. Part 3 of 3. (26 minutes)
#2448 European Studies - The Battle of Poitiers: 733 (Run time 32 min.) DVD $89.95
Mohammed was born around 570 in Mecca and died not far from there in 632. The faith he preached exploded out of Arabia, north into the Byzantine world and southwest across northern Africa; in 711, Berbers and Moors invaded Spain, while a two-pronged attack was undertaken against Europe east of the Pyrenees. The stand-off would take place at Poitiers. This program describes Gaul at this time, its Frankish and Gallo-Roman inhabitants far less civilized than the Arabic invaders; the warriors on both sides and the battle itself, with its strange ending; and the retreat of the Saracens. Islam was pushed behind the Pyrenees, where it would remain until 1492. (32 minutes)English
#2454 European Studies - The Battle of Lepanto (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Not a major battle but a battle with major impact, Lepanto was thought at the time to be the final act in Saracen interference in Western Europe. But that was not to be the case. Although Spain, Venice, and others banded together to stop Turkish naval power in the Western Mediterranean, the Turks lost the battle but not the war. The most lasting effects of the battle were in Spanish arts and letters-Cervantes lost his left arm, but lived to use his good right hand to create the European novel. (30 minutes)
#2462 European Studies - The Battle of Austerlitz: 1805 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The French Revolution had given birth to the first national army-composed of citizens and volunteers, not a mercenary army nor one raised by the king. Napoleon's was a democratic army, whose colonels had sprung from the ranks, and which he gradually transformed into the instrument of his own ambition. France had expanded to the Rhine, annexed Belgium and Luxembourg, established a protectorate over the Netherlands, Switzerland, and northern Italy, and threatened to invade England. But England revived the old alliance with Russia, Sweden, and Austria against France. This program details the campaign that led to Austerlitz and the battle between the three emperors-of Russia, Austria-Hungary, and of course the Emperor Napoleon-and the battle itself. Napoleon, at the height of his powers, crowed to Josephine after the battle that he was a bit tired and would sleep two or three hours that night... before proceeding to Moscow. (30 minutes)English
#2464 European Studies - The Creation of Italy (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The Battle of Solferino: 1859In 1858, Italy as a country did not exist; its territory had been divided at the Congress of Vienna into eight separate states, which provided strong motive for an independence movement at the very time when waves of nationalism and patriotic insurrection were sweeping a Europe in the throes of Romanticism. Enter Napoleon III, eager for France to reassert a leading role in European events and pleased to nettle the enemy, Austria. The first phase of the Italian fight for independence was thus instigated by the French. This program details the onset of that fight, the intrigues and secret deals before and after, the characters of Cavour and Garibaldi, the climactic Battle of Solferino, and Napoleon's pay-off-Nice and the Savoy. It would take another 10 years for the unification of Italy to be accomplished. (30 minutes)English
#2674 European Studies - Ludwig the Mad of Bavaria (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
Ludwig II was obsessed by the desire to re-create in stone the castles in the air that commoners build in their dreams. Being a king, having been reared amidst the Germanic mythology of giants and dragons sky-riding Valkyries, he had the opportunity to carry out his fantasies. And so he created his own precursor of Disneyland, bankrupting the monarchy. This program tells the story of a mad king whose fantasies embodied many of the concepts that, half a century after his death in 1886, led another madman who loved to dream in the Bavarian Alps, to bring Germany to the brink of destruction. (40 minutes)
#2676 European Studies - The Castles of Portugal (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
Lisbon is ringed, as it were, by three of the principal castles of the now-defunct Portuguese monarchy. This program shows us the buildings and their history: Queluz, a small version of Versailles; Pena, which is perched atop a Wagnerian peak; and Paco de Vila, where Christian Gothic met the Moorish. The history of Portugal was enacted here, the ongoing parade of styles witness to the procession of conquerors, problems and resolution of problems with neighboring Spain, Portugal's own Golden Age, discoveries, earthquakes, the building of empire and its loss-and the end of the monarchy. (40 minutes)
#3027 European Studies - Venice (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
A city where you are likely to get your feet wet in church, where public transportation plods along at five miles an hour, where many of the buildings are on the verge of collapse-a city under acute threat from the sea, from ecological disaster, from political interests doing their best to delay implementation of solutions to the city's problems... This program looks at Venice's glorious and colorful history, and at its clouded future. (50 minutes)
#4297 European Studies - Death in the Seine (Run time 44 min.) DVD $89.95
From April 1795 to September 1801, three hundred and six bodies were taken from the River Seine in Paris where they were cared for by two industrious mortuary attendants who methodically noted down the particulars of each corpse: its sex, age, hair color, bodily wounds and scars, clothing, if any, and the contents of their pockets. With information later provided by witnesses, it became possible to speculate upon the lives and manner of death of the decedents-a subject all the more intriguing since all of those taken from the Seine had witnessed the French Revolution. Peter Greenaway has used these images to construct a stark and visually shocking film which notes that a mere six generations separates us from these corpses: Who will speculate about our existence in two hundred years? The record of the dead in the Seine was measured by the calendar of the Revolution, which ceased in the same year as the mortuary notes; thus, the bodies floated in the Seine in a time that no longer exists because it is no longer measured. (44 minutes)
#5354 European Studies - The First and Last Voyage of the Batavia: Glamour and Mutiny in the Age of Discovery (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
Every seafaring nation has its saga of the high seas, some tale of high adventure, courage, cruelty, and death. Like Mutiny on the Bounty, the history of the Batavia has all the classic elements of horror and suspense. This program presents the dramatic story of the first and final voyage of a merchant ship of the Dutch East India Company-and not just any ship, but the jewel of the Dutch East India fleet. In 1628, the brand-new Batavia-one of the largest vessels of her day-set off with 300 passengers and crew on her maiden voyage to what is now Indonesia. The ship was overcrowded, the atmosphere tense, and the presence of a beautiful woman sparked a passionate rivalry that led to murder and, in the end, violent mutiny. Thrown badly off course and poorly navigated by her drunken, amorous master, the Batavia struck the rocky shore of an island 50 miles off the western coast of Australia. This program interweaves the historical drama of the voyage, the shipwreck, and the murderous mutiny that followed it with the recovery and restoration of the wreck, and the reconstruction of a new Batavia. (50 minutes)
#5949 European Studies - Victory in Europe, 50 Years Later (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This program looks at the end of Allied victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945 and features four noted historians. Was the outcome of World War II inevitable? What are the lessons for today? In the current era of instant war coverage, could the United States again sustain such a prolonged and costly effort? Featured in the program are historian Stephen Ambrose, of the Univ. of New Orleans; Daniel Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus; historian David Fromkin of Boston University; and author Martin Blumenson, a World War II combat veteran. (26 minutes)
#5999 European Studies - The Germans: Portrait of a New Nation (Run time 57 min.) DVD $89.95
Its size, geography, economic strength, and military potential assure Germany a central role in shaping the post-Cold War world. Despite its strengths, though, Germany also faces a number of challenges in the post-unification era. To understand better the profound changes taking place in Germany today, this program profiles individuals and families from both former East and West Germany and features interviews with leading public officials and experts, including an exclusive interview with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. (57 minutes)
#7048 European Studies - The Beginnings: The Greeks and Romans (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
This program traces Greek civilization from the Minoans to the city-states dominated by Athens. The Trojan War, Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis are discussed as major historical turning points. The rise of the Roman Empire and its 500-year dominance of Europe and the Mediterranean are attributed to its engineering and architectural expertise and military prowess. Emperor Diocletian, Constantine, and the invasion of the Visigoths are discussed in relationship to the 5th-century downfall of the Empire. (25 minutes)
#7049 European Studies - The Middle Ages (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
This program traces the evolution of Europe during the Middle Ages from a group of loosely tied kingdoms to a prosperous community of nations. Topics include the role of the Church, development of the feudal system, the rise of the nobility, the Crusades, formation of the German Hanseatic League, the effects of the Plague, the growth of trade guilds, the discovery of printing, the urbanization of the peasantry, and the rise of science. (25 minutes)
#7050 European Studies - The Renaissance, Reformation, and Beyond: Towards a Modern Europe (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
The Italian Renaissance's contributions to revolutions in architecture, art, religion, commerce, politics, and navigation are discussed in this program. The Signoria Tower, Ghiberti's Baptistry doors, and Giotto's Bell Tower exemplify innovative ideas in architecture and art; Martin Luther and John Calvin apply similar revolutionary thinking to religion; Portuguese seafarers boldly set out to discover a route to India, while Christopher Columbus, setting his sights westward, discovers the New World. (25 minutes)
#7051 European Studies - An Age of Revolutions (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
This program examines how the French and Industrial Revolutions altered Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. The French Revolution spread anti-royalty sentiment and increased awareness of the ideals of democracy throughout the continent. The Industrial Revolution promoted the middle class and turned Europe into an urbanized, industrial society. Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto, and in doing so laid the groundwork for the Russian Revolution, and the later European socialist movement. (23 minutes)
#7052 European Studies - The Nationalists (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
This program examines how liberal ideas from the French Revolution fueled the fires of European nationalism, and how extreme nationalistic beliefs led to World War I. In Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck constructed the philosophical and political framework for a unified Germany, steeped in the mythology of a German super-race and its destiny: to rule Europe. Serbians, inflamed by nationalism, assassinated Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, and Germany, as Austria's ally, declared war on Russia, and subsequently on Britain and France. (25 minutes)
#7053 European Studies - Between the Wars: The Economic Seeds of World War II (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
World War I altered the economic landscape of Europe and inadvertently contributed to World War II. In this program, we see how the interruption of American economic aid following the 1929 stock market crash caused havoc in the post-war European economy. The Treaty of Versailles, Germany's inability to repay its war debt, and its chronic inflation problems are discussed. Germany's problem with inflation is related to the rise of fascism, to leaders including Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco, and to the infamous Munich Agreement. (25 minutes)
#7054 European Studies - The Demise of Western Communism: Fall of a Giant (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This program discusses Western democracy's confrontation with and ultimate defeat of communism from the end of World War II to the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Events depicted include the Red Army's invasion of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, and the heightening of the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The destruction of the Berlin Wall is the symbolic beginning of a new era in European history. (26 minutes)
#7245 European Studies - Germany: The Reluctant Nation (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95
Germany, the most prosperous nation in Europe, has come a long way since World War II. But economics is only a part of the picture. This program provides some surprising insights on how Germans perceive themselves, their nation, and its future. Young Germans, cognizant of their country's bellicose history, oppose reunification, fearing the revival of nationalism. Some Germans debate whether the German army should provide peacekeeping in Bosnia to atone for the Holocaust. German journalists, intellectuals, and writers, including Gunter Grass, explore the German soul and draw a picture of a confused people, ashamed of their past and fearful about the future. (53 minutes)
#8533 European Studies - The Battle of Hastings (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
October 14, 1066, was a day that saw the history of England and Europe change forever. This program describes the Battle of Hastings in its entirety: the position of Harold II's Anglo-Saxon army near a village that today is simply called "Battle," William of Normandy's surprise attack from Telham Hill, the cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting that steadily weakened Harold's troops, and the death of King Harold himself-shot through the eye with an arrow. In addition, Dr. David Chandler, military historian and former Head of War Studies at Sandhurst, discusses the strategy and tactics used by both sides. (30 minutes)
#9108 European Studies - The Spanish Armada (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Outwitted and outmaneuvered by Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake and thwarted by the weather as well, the Duke of Medina Sidonia's once-mighty Armada returned to Spain in defeat, signaling the end of Spanish naval supremacy. This program analyzes the political and military aspects of Philip II's attempted invasion of England through expert commentary, battle maps, and reenactments involving the personalities and the ships that made this conflict a watershed in European history. (30 minutes)
#9177 European Studies - The Napoleonic Wars (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
At a time when revolutionary France was assailed from all sides, there emerged a young military officer whose genius and ambition assured him of great fame-and notoriety. In this program, Dr. David Chandler-world-renowned authority on the Emperor Napoleon and author of The Campaigns of Napoleon-provides full commentary on the strategies and tactics of the Napoleonic Wars. Large-scale reenactments bring to life the military campaigns that so strongly influenced a century of European history. Maps, hundreds of images and paintings, and analyses of the weapons used by the opposing armies also contribute to this thorough examination of the Napoleonic era. (31 minutes)
#10493 European Studies - George Steiner: Vienna 1900 (Run time 47 min.) DVD $89.95
Behind 1900 Vienna's facade of elegance and affluence, a new generation of artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers was struggling to escape the straitjacket of Austro-Hungarian society. In this vintage program, George Steiner, one of the great literary minds of the 20th century, presents his wide-ranging theories on time, language, and culture within the context of Vienna in 1900-a city and time that gave the world Wittgenstein, Schoenberg, Klimt, Freud, and even Hitler. "Why this look at Vienna at the turn of the century? Because that Vienna now surrounds us," says Steiner. "To speak of Vienna 1900 is to speak very directly of our own condition." (47 minutes)
#31300 European Studies - Cursed Ground, Hallowed Ground: Nazi Death Camps Revisited (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
As time and neglect take their toll, the Nazi death camps of World War II are falling apart. Should these solemn memorials to the millions who died there be restored, as a reminder of the Holocaust and a warning to future generations, or should they be allowed to disappear forever, to help heal the deeply wounded spirit of humanity? And what should be done with the slowly deteriorating shoes and other fragile relics collected by museums? Has the time come to lay these artifacts to rest, or must they too be kept alive for their value as evidence of the Nazis' monstrous atrocities? Filmed at Auschwitz, this ABC News program searches for the answers. (22 minutes)
#34173 European Studies - Frankfurt: The Euro-City (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
An emerging high-tech focal point, Frankfurt has the largest foreign and immigrant population in continental Europe. This program studies the effects of that diversity, for Frankfurt specifically and within the larger context of German culture as it struggles with right-wing extremism. Rosi Wolf-Almanasreh of the Frankfurt Department for Multicultural Affairs focuses on the nation's anti-discrimination policies, while Frankfurt police officers, athletes, construction workers, and others detail experiences with diversity, both positive and negative. Contains mature themes associated with the city's sex industry. (26 minutes)
#37172 European Studies - Inside the European Union: Parliament under Pressure (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95
Defining "European" is one of the main challenges facing the EU Parliament. This program outlines the history of the governing body and assesses the actions it has taken to shape and organize the EU. Shedding light on electoral and procedural methods adopted by the Parliament, the film documents political fanfare and maneuvering accompanying the eastward expansion of the union with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania. The program also shows how these developments influence the path to comprehensive immigration laws-and how foreign workers, illegal immigrants, and asylum seekers are affected. Several members of the EU Parliament are interviewed. (27 minutes)
#37174 European Studies - Human Trafficking: A Crisis for the EU and the World (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95
Europe's wealth represents a golden opportunity for those who smuggle cheap, easily exploited workers across international borders. But how does the loathsome mechanism of human trafficking actually occur, and what are EU authorities doing to fight it? This program investigates by recording the experiences of human trafficking victims and evaluating the work of the EU government in the battle against 21st-century slavery. Corruption, prostitution, victim protection and repatriation, and the creation of FRONTEX-the agency responsible for European border patrol-are all highlighted, while members of the European Parliament and other officials discuss what must be done to improve anti-smuggling efforts. (27 minutes)
#2449 Great Britain - The Battle of Hastings: 1066 (Run time 36 min.) DVD $89.95
The English language, taste and sensibility, and of course government and law changed drastically when the Norman William the Conqueror beat King Harold of Wessex at the Battle of Hastings. This program explains the background of English history, the Viking role in England and in Normandy (where the conquering Vikings became more French than the French they conquered), as well as the battle of Hastings itself, which in many ways stands as the beginning of modern England. (36 minutes)English
#2461 Great Britain - The Battle of Trafalgar: 1805 (Run time 31 min.) DVD $89.95
This was the year that determined who would rule the seas-a question that had been disputed for two centuries by Holland, Portugal, Spain, England, and France. The famous three-master Victory survives from that heyday of the sailing ship, and this program takes us into and around the ship and describes the life of the sailor and the principles of seamanship. The program then proceeds to the famous battle that determined mastery of the seas: the collapse of the Peace of Amiens and the British blockade of the French ports from Brest to Toulon; the French threat of invasion and the building up and staffing of the British fleet; the background and character of Nelson; the battle between the Redoutable and the Victory; the death of Nelson; the end of the battle, whose loss Napoleon blamed on the weather. (31 minutes)English
#2693 Great Britain - Romans, Saxons, Vikings: 43-1066 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
The Romans, who conquered the indigenous Bronze-Age Celts when they arrived in 43, did not conquer Londinium, they created it as a base for conquering England. This program covers the founding of the city on the shores of the river whose name in Celtic means "Bright Water"; shows us the remains of Roman London, the theatre at St. Albans, and such analogues as the baths at Bath; tells of the departure of the Roman legions and the arrival of the barbarians and their record in place names; and covers the building of Westminster Cathedral and the arrival of William-London's last conqueror. The principal illustrations: Tower Bridge, Richmond Park, Boadicea's Statue, London Wall, Roman Baths at Bath, Roman Theatre at St. Albans, Temple of Mithras, All Hallows by the Tower, The Pool of London, Model of a Viking Longboat, Bayeux Tapestry. (20 minutes)
#2694 Great Britain - Medieval London: 1066-1500 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
In Roman times, London's population numbered 50,000; by the year 1000, the number was down to 20,000. St. Paul had become the city's patron saint, and the language of the Angles and Saxons had become the Vulgate, the language in which William issued the first charter of the city. The signs of the times point backwards-sheriffs replaced consuls-and forwards, with separate law courts for separate causes. This program covers the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style; the building of the first permanent stone bridge across the Thames; the reasons for Southwark-London's first suburb; the Black Death of 1348; the growth of London as Columbus's discovery shifted the axis of power from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic; and the birth of rules governing life in the incredibly crammed and teeming city of London. The principal illustrations: The Tower, Guildhall Crypt, Billigsgate Market, Westminster Abbey Chapter House, Westminster Hall, London Bridge, Model of Old London Bridge, Bishop of Winchester's Palace in Southwark, Weymouth Harbour, St. Bride's in Fleet Street, The Golden Hind. (20 minutes)
#2695 Great Britain - Tudor and Stuart London: 1500-1666 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
Between the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the population of London grew from 50,000 to 200,000-despite the popular spectator sport of watching executions. The program covers the uses of the dungeons in the Tower, quotes from the last words of Thomas More and Anne Boleyn, explains the niceties of the private execution ground on the Tower Green, and shows the changes in London's appearance as Tudor houses and Elizabethan dress and jewelry made their appearance. The program also covers the end of the reign of Charles I, the plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666, which wrote finis to the London of earlier times. The principal illustrations: Lambeth Palace, Tower of London, Tower Green, St. Andrew in Lendershaft, Staple Inn in Holborn, Cheapside Head, Stage Set of Brief Lives, Westminster Hall, Banqueting House in Whitehall, Portrait of James I, A Feast of Bermondsey. (20 minutes)
#2696 Great Britain - Stuart and Georgian London: 1667-1830 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
After the Great Fire of 1666, there were carefully-conceived and well-designed plans for the rebuilding of London which-in a foreshadowing of modern times-came to nought as private interest won out over public policy. This program shows Christopher Wren's original design for St. Paul's Cathedral (which was vetoed by a building committee that was sure it knew more about design than Wren) and the church itself; explains the effect of the fire and the population shift westward; shows Dr. Johnson's house and his definition of the civilized life; and describes the institution of the club and analyzes the values of Beau Brummel. The principal illustrations: Cardinal's Wharf in Bankside, St. Paul's Cathedral, Dr. Johnson's House in Gough Square, Temple Bar, George Inn in Southwark, Boodle's Club, Carleton House Terrace, Regent Street, Regents Park, Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch, Inner Temple. (20 minutes)
#2697 Great Britain - Early Victorian London: 1837-1870 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
When Victoria ascended the throne, there were one-and-a-half million Londoners; at her death, there were four-and-a-half million, a population explosion spurred by the Irish potato famine and new laws which allowed Jews escaping from Russian pogroms to immigrate. London was the largest city in the world-new bridges opened up the city; railroads and docks brought people and goods. The 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition was the largest greenhouse in the world, a symbol of Britannic imperial might; meanwhile, living conditions for the poor became worse and worse. The Victorian belief that cleanliness is next to godliness was concretized by the realization that, for the poor, cleanliness was next to impossible, and do-gooders made some headway in introducing decent low-income housing and washhouses with running water. The principal illustrations: Kensington Palace, The London Docks, Hyde Park, The Crystal Palace, The Albert Memorial, Brick Lane and Fournier St. in Whitechapel, A Model Home on Streatham St., Chichester St. Washhouse, Lancaster Gate and Mews. (20 minutes)
#2698 Great Britain - Late Victorian London: 1850-1897 (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
With the discovery that a single steam engine on wheels had the power of 16 horses, the railways began to carve up London, the great expropriations of land began, and suburbia was born. The Thames was still the heart of London; the stench and disease caused by teeming populations were ameliorated by the construction of sewers. By 1900, the outlines of modern London had been fixed; the one-square-mile city of the Romans had grown to 117 square miles, the 50,000 population had in 19 centuries grown to six-and-a-half million, and-if you were not among the huddled poor whose living conditions continued to worsen-you might well agree with Henry James that "London is, on the whole, the most possible form of life." The principal illustrations: Young's Brewery in Wandsworth, The Railway Museum in York, St. Pancras Station, Greenwich Sailing Barge Regatta, Houses of Parliament, Victoria Embankment, The Fleet Sewer, Abbey Mills Pumping Station, Hoxton Music Hall, Old Royal Observatory in Greenwich, St. James' Park. (20 minutes)
#3026 Great Britain - Charles Stewart Parnell (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
This documentary on one of the key figures in Irish history traces Parnell's career from his background as Irish Protestant landowner to the pinnacle of his power at Westminster as leader of the Irish people. Parnell's rise was as brilliant as his fall was tragic; for a decade, he blazed like a comet across the Irish and British political sky: idolized by the Irish, hated by Tory England, admired by Gladstone, blinded by love, he was dead at 45. Scripted by Prof. J.J. Lee and narrated by Barry McGovern, this program follows the story of this proud and aloof and brilliant politician, known in his day as "the uncrowned King of Ireland"-the human story as well as the political one, including his passionate love affair with Kitty O'Shea-and the political catastrophe that ensued after his fall. (58 minutes)
#3279 Great Britain - The Elizabethans (1558-1603) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Elizabethan dress is of particular interest to students of Shakespeare, for in his time, his plays were performed in contemporary clothes. This program explains the court clothes, how they were made and given shape; who wore what, and what kind of nonverbal messages clothing sent; how complicated it was to dress and, once dressed, to move about; how children's clothes reflected their role as miniature-version adults. (26 minutes)
#3280 Great Britain - The Stuarts (1603-1714) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
A new king, who wasn't English (James the First was Scottish), and the style was decidedly different. The 16th century had been dominated by Spanish influence; in the 17th century, the influence was French. The style for men was longer hair, lace and frills around the knees, bucket boots sometimes to the waist, sometimes pushed down; the Van Dyck beard says it all. Women dropped their necklines, narrowed their sleeves and bared their arms to the elbow, showed their hair. The Puritans, with their short hair and plain clothes, looked chic without intending to. (26 minutes)
#3281 Great Britain - The Georgians (1714-1790) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Social barriers were crumbling, and this showed in fashion. Elegance was the goal. His fancy huge cuffs were proof that the wearer was a gentleman; he couldn't work in such garb. When George III came to the throne (he who lost the American colonies), he was the youngest monarch since Elizabeth, and the general style became younger. As he grew older, coiffures became larger, and some of the decorations-fruits, feathers, sculptural ornaments like ships-made such cozy nests for rodents and vermin that they were eventually banned. (26 minutes)
#3282 Great Britain - The Regency (1790-1837) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This was a period when wars and revolutions were coming thick and fast. Industrialization, the French Revolution, Romanticism-all these are reflected in the simplification of dress, the disappearance of lace and ruffles and the kind of ostentation that bespoke aristocracy. The growth of the English woolen industry led to the displacement of silk by wool. The same love of Orientalism and archaism that pervades the literature of the period appears in the Turkish turbans and Grecian waistlines and hairdos. Among other things, we learn from this program the origin of the term "guinea pig" and Beau Brummel's rules for tying a cravat. (26 minutes)
#3283 Great Britain - The Victorians (1837-1901) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
As the age approaches our own, time accelerates; and in the six-and-a-half decades of Victoria's reign, changes came thick and fast: England's population doubled, the economy exploded, railways shrank the country's size, iron and steel were everywhere-in clothing too, in the women's steel hoops and cages and bustles. This was an age that began in moderation and soon became a contest for conspicuous consumption; an age of contradictions, too, when children began to be dressed as children while women were strapped into tight corsets; an age that ended looking not all that different from our own. (26 minutes)
#3284 Great Britain - The Edwardians and After (1901-1939) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
World War I would soon write finis to the world of glitter and elegance. Formality was loosening, the Gibson girl was the rage, and so was wearing grotesque assemblages of dead birds affixed to hats. The first of the major couture houses were established, and Japanese influence belatedly hit the fashion world, combining the worst of East and West. From hobble skirts to tailored suits, women responded to emancipation with raised hems and bobbed hair and the occasional demonstration that an attractive woman looks good even in the most hideous clothes. (26 minutes).
#3285 Great Britain - To the New Elizabethans (1945- ) (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Drabness and shortages marked the years after World War II, until Dior's New Look arrived. And then a parade of innovations: artificial fibers, separates, casual clothes, stiletto heels and witches' toes, Teddy boys and zoot suits-an example of fashion coming from below and not above. It took 15 years from the introduction of the lady's pantsuit until a woman wearing pants was admitted to a tony London restaurant; meanwhile, Mary Quant arrived with clothes made for young people, miniskirts, tights. Boutiques were in. And above all, people asserted their own personalities in selecting their clothes, instead of letting "fashion" dictate. (26 minutes)
#3297 Great Britain - Causes of Poverty (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This program sets the stage for the coming disaster by examining the state of Ireland as the famine was about to begin, and explains why the humble potato had such a devastating effect. (26 minutes)
#3298 Great Britain - The Irish Holocaust (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95
This program follows in the steps of the reporters from the London Illustrated News who provided posterity with contemporary illustrations and horrifying eyewitness accounts by neutral observers to document the true horror of the famine. (27 minutes)
#3299 Great Britain - Managing the Famine (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
In this program, we meet some of the leading players to see what was and was not done that might have prevented the catastrophe, or its extent, and to relieve its effects. (29 minutes)
#3300 Great Britain - Exodus (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95
The conclusion of the story of Ireland's Great Famine is the beginning of another vast saga-the story of a million Irish men, women, and children who left their country rather than face death and destitution at home. (27 minutes)
#3844 Great Britain - The Turn of Time (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Traditional games, music, songs, and dances are one way to trace cultural influences. This introductory program shows both how the ancient Celtic magic is preserved in the Hebrides, Cornwall, Ireland, Wales, and Brittany today, and how some elements that are considered typically Irish are traceable to Napoleonic France. (30 minutes)
#3845 Great Britain - Celtic Harvest (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Having come from central Europe, the Celts found the Western seaboard a very different environment. But their god, Mananann Mac Lir, soon took command of the oceans; when storms raged, his white-maned horses could always be seen heading towards land. The blessing of the fleet is a custom still practiced today. This program shows traces of how the Celts farmed their land and the seas and how they used their environment, which can still be seen in remote areas of the modern Celtic lands. (30 minutes)
#3846 Great Britain - The Treasured Lands (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The treasures in gold and bronze that came to Europe were partly the reason why the Northwestern Isles proved so attractive for the Celts. Veins of copper in the cliffs could be seen from the sea along the southern Irish coast. This program traces the role of tin, copper, bronze, and gold, and the men who mined them, as well as the craft of the smith in Celtic areas, reminding us that Goibniu, one of the Celtic gods, was a blacksmith. (30 minutes)
#3847 Great Britain - Home in the Celtic Lands (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The early wooden homes have long since disappeared, but there are reminders of the ancient past everywhere-in Cornwall, in the stone forts of County Clare, on the Isle of Lewis and at Glenelg, and particularly in the poorest areas along the Atlantic fringes of western Ireland and the Outer Hebrides, where traces of the ancient way of life still exist. (30 minutes)
#3848 Great Britain - Landscape of Belief (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The Celtic landscape is rich in megaliths, many of them-like the standing stones of the Scottish Islands or the passage tombs like Gaurinis in Brittany or Newgrange in Oreland-taken over by Celts and dedicated to the Celtic pantheon. Dolmens, too, were taken over by the Celts, who gave the prehistoric stone tables new meaning in the stories of Diarmuid and Grainne and Tristan and Iseult. The Christian Celts carved their beliefs on the Celtic Crosses and Calvaries of Brittany; there is no mystery in what they depict, unlike the Stone Age monuments, whose meaning is lost. (30 minutes)
#3917 Great Britain - The House of Lords (Run time 64 min.) DVD $89.95
Americans fed up with the ineffectiveness of American government frequently wish for the British system. Here is a look at what such a wish fulfilled would bring. The House of Lords-the half of Britain's bicameral government that is generally ignored by the media-is explained and its history presented. Its contemporary role, frequently questioned by the British public, is examined and evaluated, and its members scrutinized and found, variously, irrelevant and tradition-bound but on the whole perhaps (but not definitely) a valuable counterbalance to the House of Commons. (64 minutes)
#4652 Great Britain - The Age of Charles II (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
This program looks at some of the lasting achievements of the age of Charles II and at the life and character of the king who, somewhat waywardly, presided over them. The period between his restoration in 1660 and his death in 1685 saw the birth of the Royal Society, the establishment of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the growth of the Royal Navy, the Great Fire and the rebirth of London, the architecture of Christopher Wren, and the development of the mathematical sciences. The program also traces Charles's personal history, from his escape following the battle of Worcester in 1651, to the period of exile and restoration, to the Exclusion crisis, which prompted Charles's finest display of statesmanship and political acumen. (50 minutes)
#6126 Great Britain - Restoration England: Charles II, the Arts, and Pornography (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
This program is not for those who attach fig leaves to Michelangelos. The historical fact is that the pendulum in 17th-century England made some wide sweeps, from the Virgin Queen to the witch-loving James I, the beheaded Charles I, the Puritans, and the final counter-swing, the ultimate negation of Puritanism: the Restoration. Charles II was a libertine, rake, roue, and the model of sexual excess for his countrymen. The chronicler of London, Samuel Pepys, collected erotica; Henry Purcell, composer of some of England's loftiest anthems, wrote bawdy ballads. The program shows some of the excesses of this period, sometimes executed with great artistry, more often not. Regardless, the role of sex in Restoration England cannot be downplayed-politically, because it was the king who created and dominated the style, and artistically, because this was the way station between the lofty Metaphysical poets and the loftier Age of Reason. (25 minutes)
#8530 Great Britain - The Wars of the Roses (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Using large-scale reenactments of 15th-century warfare, detailed maps, graphics, and expert commentary by Dr. David Chandler, military historian and former Head of War Studies at Sandhurst, this informative program explores the roots and the results of the brutal and exhausting civil war between the houses of York and Lancaster. From St. Albans to Bosworth Field, the program provides a penetrating examination of a complicated yet compelling period of English history. (30 minutes)
#8531 Great Britain - King Henry VIII (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Flamboyant, headstrong, and outrageous, Henry VIII was a man of passions and appetites. In this program, the Tudor king's life-including details of his six marriages-is examined, with a special focus on his role in the Protestant Reformation and self-appointed position as the supreme head of the Church of England. Superb reconstructions and reenactments, combined with analysis by Dr. Les Prince of Birmingham University, England, create a vivid picture of one of history's most colorful rulers. (30 minutes)
#34172 Great Britain - London: The Post-Imperial City (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
Defining the typical New Yorker has always been impossible; today, the definition of a Londoner is nearly as elusive. This program travels London's increasingly cosmopolitan neighborhoods, sorting through perspectives on immigration and resistance to it. Interviews with leaders and everyday citizens reveal distrust in several quarters; Lord Nazir Ahmed and East London Muslims cite examples of Islamophobia, and several Londoners express frustration with foreigners who refuse to conform. But a tour of the city's food markets reflects an astonishing diversity that is, according to many interview subjects, a source of newfound civic pride. (26 minutes)
#2785 Medieval History - Medieval and Later Antiquities: The Casual Survivors (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
This program covers a wealth of historical memorabilia housed in the British Museum, including medieval ivories, Richard the Lionhearted's signet ring, Queen Elizabeth's horoscope, and Robert Burns' punchbowl. The highlight of the department is the Sutton Hoo treasure. The program takes us to the royal burial site and explains the site itself and some of the more spectacular objects found in it. (26 minutes)
#2886 Medieval History - Gold, God, and Glory (Run time 48 min.) DVD $89.95
Five hundred years after the fact, an exact replica of the Nina sailed from Cadiz to replicate the historic voyage of 1492. This program documents the story of this second voyage of the Nina, as authentic as scholarship and lack of technology could make both the ship and the voyage: without engine or electronics, powered only by the sails on her three masts; meat stored medieval style, alive, in cages on deck; no bunks, with the crew sleeping in the dark hold. The program offers compelling insights into the physical realities and intellectual challenges of Columbus's journey. (48 minutes)
#3351 Medieval History - The Magna Carta (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
This program depicts the origins, contents, and long-lasting effects of perhaps the most basic document of law in the Western world. It explains the historical background-the determining factors in King John's character, his quarrels with the Pope, and his problems with his rebellious barons-to explain the grants of rights contained in the Magna Carta. It explains how and why and where its various copies were disseminated. And it explains what the rights granted entailed, what it was that the king granted his barons, and what it has meant (and been misconstrued to mean) in the development of American democracy. (22 minutes)
#3352 Medieval History - The Luttrell Psalter: Everyday Life in Medieval England (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
Posterity owes to Sir Geoffrey Luttrell an inestimable debt for having commissioned the psalter that bears his name, for its illuminations provide an unmatched illustrated guide to life in England in the early 14th century: life on the estate for lords and their ladies, for cooks and ploughmen; what they ate and how they ate it; games and other entertainments; what it meant when the lord went off to war, and whom he took with him. We learn as well about why and how extraordinary books like this psalter were made, how they were written, and what they were written upon. (22 minutes)
#4294 Medieval History - Crusader: By Horse to Jerusalem (Run time 54 min.) DVD $89.95
The march to Jerusalem was the greatest land journey of the Middle Ages. Recreating the 2,500-mile trip from the green lands of northern Europe to the burning deserts of Sinai, this program leaves from the castle of Duke Godfrey de Bouillon, hero of the First Crusade, plodding along on a one-ton descendant of the medieval battle charger across the lands of medieval Christendom, climbing the Anatolian plateau, seeing the Crusader castles and ancient battlefields in Syria, finally crossing the Jordan River and reaching the jewel in the Crusader's crown, Jerusalem. (54 minutes)
#5978 Medieval History - The Lindisfarne Gospels: A Masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon Book Painting (Run time 35 min.) DVD $89.95
The Lindisfarne Gospels manuscript is one of Britain's greatest treasures, the outstanding surviving example of Anglo-Saxon book painting of the late seventh century. Written and illuminated about AD 698, it is famous for the superb quality and intricate design of its pages. This program tells the story of the creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels, combining location footage with images from other manuscripts of the period, and reveals the major pages of the Gospels in fascinating close-up. The complex process of making and decorating an illuminated manuscript is also explained, with detailed evidence drawn from the Gospels manuscript itself. (35 minutes)
#7619 Medieval History - A World Inscribed: The Illuminated Manuscript (Run time 24 min.) DVD $89.95
"Writers write so that the future may learn," a 5th-century French monk once inscribed in a diligent hand. This program is a concise history of the illuminated manuscript and book production. The everyday lives of the writers, scribes, and illustrators are revealed, and honor is paid to the best known: Einhard, biographer of Charlemagne; Gerald of Wales; the Abbot of Wearmouth Jarrow; the poor miscreant scribe, Raulinus; and Jean Mielot, scribe of the court of Philip the Good of Burgundy. The work of husband-and-wife illuminators, Richart and Jeanne de Montbaston, is shown and discussed, along with the operation of Florentine bookseller Vespasiano da Bisticci-book agent to kings and nobles. The program ends with the arrival of the printing press and movable type. (24 minutes)
#7624 Medieval History - The Jeweled City: The Cathedral of Chartres (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
The Cathedral of Chartres, built from 1150 to 1220 and widely recognized as a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, is now a world heritage site. This program offers a narrated tour of the cathedral, along with a historical portrait of the political and religious fervor of the medieval architects who saw it through to completion. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)
#7625 Medieval History - The Saint and the Scholar: Portrait of Abelard (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
This is the story of the radical theologian Peter Abelard. Born near Nantes, France, in 1079, Abelard's teaching on the Trinity was declared heretical. He went on to found the Paraclete and became the abbot of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys. Condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens, he retired to Cluny, where he lived a model life of asceticism and theological labor. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)
#7626 Medieval History - The Fires of Faith: Dissidents and the Church (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
This program discusses papal reactions to church dissidents. Thirteenth-century fragmentation of religious orders into various sects is examined. Discussions include St. Francis of Assisi; the French Albigenses sect and the Albigensean Crusade; the fall of Albi; the Cathars and their extermination by the Inquisition; Pope Innocent III; the founding of the Dominican order; and the Ecumenical Council of 1215. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)
#7627 Medieval History - The Circles of Light: The Divine Comedy (Run time 50 min.) DVD $89.95
The most celebrated work of Dante Alighieri is certainly the Divina Commedia-a vision of hell, purgatory, and heaven that provides a strangely surrealistic view of medieval attitudes on religious dogma and the price of disobedience. In this program, dramatizations of scenes depicting courtly love, sexual love, love of God, and love of the Virgin Mary are featured. A BBC Production. (50 minutes)
#34157 Medieval History - In the Name of Allah (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Military conflict accompanied the spread of Islam during the Middle Ages. This program reveals the ironies of that union between war and faith: how Islam was adopted rather than marginalized by invading Mongols; how the rise of strict Islamic orthodoxy countered the scholarly advances of Arabic culture, weakening the empire; and how European appreciation of Islamic culture grew after the Christian reconquista of the Iberian peninsula. Interviews with respected scholars-including Drs. Raif Georges Khoury of the University of Heidelberg and Patrick Franke of Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg-illuminate key developments in Islam's Mediterranean dominance.(30 minutes)
#2675 Eastern Europe - The Polish Pantheon: The Wawel (Run time 40 min.) DVD $99.95
Royal Residence, as well as cathedral where its kings were crowned and tomb where they were laid to rest, Wawel Castle is perched above the city of Cracow, a monument of an irretrievable past. This program looks back to the city's glory days, when Cracow was the capital of a flourishing country that extended from the Black Sea to the Baltic; from the year 1000 through the struggles with the Teutonic knights, to the flourishing Renaissance, to the cycle of betrayals by Poland's supposed friends, and to the territorial dismemberments and occupations. Throughout, the Wawel has remained a witness. (40 minutes)
#2548 European Studies - The Paths of Colonialism (Run time 17 min.) DVD $99.95
From the Spanish conquests of the New World to Mussolini's effort to annex Ethiopia, the goals of colonialism have coincided with those of the conquerors and colonists only by chance. This program uses maps, prints, and archival documentary footage to document the birth of Empire in the 16th century, the burgeoning British Empire, including the Far East and South Africa, the efforts and successes of the French in North Africa-all in support of the mother country's search for raw materials for its industries and markets for its manufactured products. The program ends with the last of the great large-scale colonial adventures: Mussolini's subjugation of Ethiopia in 1935. (17 minutes, b&w/color)
#33707 European Studies - World War: The Deaths of Franz Ferdinand and Adolf Hitler (Run time 51 min.) DVD $99.95
One bullet sparked World War I and indirectly led to the rise of Nazism in the war's aftermath. Another bullet, fired 31 years later, ended Nazi rule and World War II in Europe. This riveting, highly realistic program cinematically dramatizes each stage of the grim events surrounding the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the suicide of Adolf Hitler-from the start of the Archduke's ill-fated car trip through Sarajevo to the Fuhrer's final hours in his Berlin bunker as Soviet forces raced to fly a red flag from the roof of the Reich Chancellery, the seat of Nazi power. Original BBCW broadcast title: The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the Death of Hitler. (52 minutes)
#5823 Great Britain - Kings and Queens of England: The Anglo-Saxons to Elizabeth I (Run time 52 min.) DVD $99.95
Using period images, contemporary "eyewitness" accounts, and superb character reenactments, this program breathes new life into the history of the British monarchy, from the dark days of Anglo-Saxon times to the glorious reign of Elizabeth I. (52 minutes)
#5824 Great Britain - Kings and Queens of England: 16th Century to the House of Windsor (Run time 52 min.) DVD $99.95
This program explores the life and times of the monarchy from the turbulent years of Charles I, the joy of the Restoration, the uneasy Hanover period, the somber reign of Queen Victoria, and the constitutional crisis caused by the abdication of Edward VIII. (52 minutes)
#11050 Great Britain - Richard Lionheart: Crusader King (Run time 52 min.) DVD $99.95
Of his ten-year reign as king of England, Richard I spent only five months actively ruling his country, devoting himself instead to crusading and defending the Angevin lands of France. Who was the man behind the larger-than-life crusader king? And what was warfare in the Holy Lands really like during the 12th century? This program recounts the life story of the legendary Lionheart, including his questionable rise to power, his war against Saladin for control of Jerusalem, and his imprisonment by Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire and subsequent ransom. (53 minutes)
#10437 Medieval History - Conrad II: The First Salian Emperor (Run time 47 min.) DVD $99.95
The Salian dynasty came to power with the election of Conrad of Swabia after the Saxon dynasty died out in 1024. This program charts the career of the first of the Salian line, Emperor of the Romans and King of the Germans. A formidable ruler, Conrad II obtained suzerainty over the kingdom of Burgundy and reasserted German power in Italy. He also ordered the construction of the architectural centerpiece of his empire: the imperial cathedral in Speyer. (47 minutes)
#10438 Medieval History - Henry III: The High Noon of the Salic Empire (Run time 47 min.) DVD $99.95
The reign of Henry III, which began in 1039, marks the zenith of Salian rule. This program presents the story of the man who formed the strongest central government in medieval German history-a government under which Romanesque culture blossomed while making the papacy a virtual vassal to imperial power. However, lay opposition to the emperor in the Holy Roman Empire and criticism of Henry's regime over its treatment of the Church were on the rise during the last years of his reign. (47 minutes)
#10439 Medieval History - Henry IV and Henry V: The Salic Empire Besieged (Run time 47 min.) DVD $99.95
Henry IV succeeded his father as a young child, and after a childhood troubled by conflicting ambitions of lay and ecclesiastical magnates, he led a life worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy. Continually battling with the Pope, excommunicated, deserted by his wife, and betrayed by his closest supporters-including his son Henry V, who deposed him in 1106-Henry IV struggled to keep his empire together. However, the usurper Henry V proved to be the last in the Salian line because he died without an heir in 1125. (47 minutes)
#11431 European Studies - Francois Mitterrand: A Tale of Power (Run time 56 min.) DVD $119.95
Fueled by an unflagging determination, Francois Mitterrand succeeded in revitalizing France's political left and then holding the nation's highest office for fourteen pivotal years. Drawing on interviews with Mitterrand, his former cabinet members, and others, this program sorts out the melange of triumphs, failures, rivalries, and scandals that made up the late president's career in power politics. Archival footage firmly sets the life of the magisterial leader of the French Socialist Party within the context of post-World War II-and post-Soviet Union-European history. (56 minutes)English
#7560 Eastern Europe - Eastern Europe: 1900-1939 (Run time 55 min.) DVD $129.95
This program traces the history of Eastern Europe from the reign of Franz Josef to the rise of Hitler and the beginnings of the Second World War. Topics covered include the war for Macedonia pitting Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece against the Turks; political manipulation of the Balkans by Russia, Austria, Britain, and France; domination of Serbia; the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; the fall of czarist Russia; the Hungarian Revolution of 1918; rise of the Communist Party; birth of the Czechoslovakian Republic; the Treaty of Versailles; the rise of Marshal Pilsudski in Poland; formation of the United Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; and the Munich Conference. (55 minutes)
#7561 Eastern Europe - Eastern Europe: 1939-1953 (Run time 59 min.) DVD $129.95
The events leading up to World War II had a devastating political and economic effect on Eastern Europe, as did the rise of Stalin and the thirst for empire of the Soviet Union. This program traces how both Hitler's and Stalin's quests for power left this vulnerable area of the world permanently destabilized. Topics include the invasion of Poland by Germany; intrigues and internal politics of the Balkan States; declaration of Croatian independence; the war between Russia and Germany; the Warsaw Ghetto; Marshal Tito and the Anti-Fascist Liberation Council; the battle for Stalingrad; American intervention; the Slavic resistance movement; the Yalta Conference; the Potsdam Conference; the Communist takeover; Tito's break with Moscow; and closing of the Iron Curtain. (59 minutes)
#7562 Eastern Europe - Eastern Europe: 1953-1991 (Run time 59 min.) DVD $129.95
This program begins with the death of Stalin, which precipitated a rash of political intrigues in the Balkans, and ends with the fall of Communism. Topics include the rise of Nikita Khrushchev; the 1956 Polish Workers Revolt; the liberation of Cardinal Wyszynski; the Hungarian Revolt; the rise of Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania; Tito's socialism; the Czechoslovakian Revolution; the death of Tito; the Helsinki Conference; Lech Walesa and the Polish miners' strike; Gorbachev and perestroika; and the rise of democracy. (59 minutes)
#5343 European Studies - The Battle of the Somme: 1916 (Run time 94 min.) DVD $129.95
The Forces of the British Empire suffered 80,000 casualties on the first day of the famous Battle of the Somme-21,000 men from Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and India died, most in the first horrific half-hour of fighting. It was the worst day in British military history. Yet even after that terrible first day, the Battle of the Somme blazed on for a further four-and-a-half months, heralding the arrival of modern warfare complete with tanks and aircraft. This program charts the monumental battle from beginning to end, interweaving recollections of men who survived the killing fields of Picardy with archive film; it also looks at the use of the tank, and at the aerial battles between British and German flying aces, and places within the larger context of World War I the critical Battle of the Somme. (94 minutes)
#7865 European Studies - Stalin and Hitler: Strange Bedfellows (Run time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
In this program, a former interpreter for Molotov and Stalin, ex-Soviet agents, eyewitnesses, and historians provide detailed information on the Russian Revolution, the growth of Communism and National Socialism, and the dissolution of the Weimar Republic. Extensive archival footage, a letter from Erich Ludendorff naming Lenin as a German agent, a Soviet spy's report on Communist agitation in post-World War I Germany, and KGB files on the rearmament of Germany within the Soviet Union redraw the accepted picture of Soviet and Nazi relations. (51 minutes)
#7866 European Studies - Stalin and Hitler: Appeasement Leads to War (Run time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
In this program, eyewitnesses such as a Soviet ambassador, a Soviet journalist, and a Comintern agent reveal how Stalin's fear of a massive German invasion during his preparations for war caused him to push for an alliance with Hitler at any price-including assisting the Nazi war machine. The Borders and Friendship Treaty-long-denied by the Soviets-and previously undisclosed clauses in the Germano-Soviet Pact; Gestapo and NKVD orders to eliminate the Polish intelligentsia; and compromising photographs of Russian/German military cooperation, combined with powerful archival footage, cast a new light on the alliance between the Soviets and the Nazis. (51 minutes)
#7867 European Studies - Stalin and Hitler: The Confrontation (Run time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
In this program, the revelations of military historians, army officers, journalists, and government officials combine with Soviet documents and voluminous archival footage to provide stunning insights concerning Stalin's foreknowledge of Operation Barbarossa, his political triumph at the Potsdam Conference, and the tacit moral justification of his wartime atrocities at the Nuremberg Trials. Using first Hitler's ambitions and then the cooperation of the Allies to further his plan of Communist domination, Stalin emerged from World War II ostensibly as a champion of democracy-and the victor in the contest between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. (51 minutes)
#33167 European Studies - The Crusades (Run time 51 min.) DVD $129.95
This well-dramatized overview of the Crusades demythologizes the epic clash of Christianity and Islam that spanned two centuries. James Reston, Jr., author of Warriors of God; historians David Nicolle and Micah Halpern; historical geographer Ronnie Ellenblum; Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies at American University; archaeologist Eliezer Stern, of the Israel Antiquities Authority; and other specialists reveal recent discoveries that bear on military tactics and technology of the era, massacres perpetrated by both sides, and the personalities and motivations of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. A Discovery Channel Production. (50 minutes)
#33547 European Studies - The Invention of Banking (Run time 49 min.) DVD $129.95
In 13th- and 14th-century Tuscany, money became the new tool of power as industry, trade, and finance flourished. This program follows the remarkable rise of the great banking families whose groundbreaking innovations in finance led to the economics of international big business practiced today. Merchant bankers also supported the aims of the Catholic Church by using their extraordinary wealth to become patrons for charities and spectacular works of art and architecture. Featured interviews include Nicholas Terpstra and Dr. Elizabeth Leesti, historians at the University of Toronto. (49 minutes)
#33548 European Studies - The City: Building Reputations (Run time 49 min.) DVD $129.95
This program focuses on the fierce competition between the newly wealthy merchant classes in Sienna and Florence throughout the 13th and 14th centuries over the creation of new buildings, services, and ways of governing. Leading art historians interpret this jarring 200-year conflict through detailed analysis of each city-state's stunning cathedrals and exquisite artworks. Their revealing discussions show how city planning, law, regulation, justice, and Christian virtues brought order to this period of rivalry and war prior to the outbreak of the great plague. (49 minutes)
#34696 European Studies - The Renaissance Theatre (Run time 21 min.) DVD $129.95
The theater familiar to most modern viewers had a lowly medieval birth-in churches, on festival platforms, and in the great halls of the European nobility. Hosted by Professor Richard Beacham of King's College London, this program weaves together elaborate visual tours and the latest scholarly research, surveying the evolution of Elizabethan and Renaissance stage formations and the conventions they established. With striking depictions of the Globe as Shakespeare would have known it, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, and the Teatro Farnese in Parma, the program also studies the importance of Sebastio Serlio and Inigo Jones to the history of stage design. (21 minutes)
#35324 European Studies - Slovak Churches (Run time 25 min.) DVD $129.95
Straddling two worlds of Christian belief, Slovak churches are places where Byzantine and Roman Catholic religious traditions meet and merge. This video analyzes eastern- and western-style Slovak church design in two ways: first, it points out their underlying similarities by tracing their architectural roots back to their common ancestor, the basilica of ancient Rome; then, to explain their very visible differences, it follows the history of Christianity over the centuries immediately following the religion's division into its eastern and western branches. By reaching out in both directions, Slovak church architecture partakes of Constantinople and Rome in a way that is uniquely its own. (25 minutes)
#35633 European Studies - Elie Wiesel: Dead Stars, Dead Eyes (Run time 58 min.) DVD $129.95
In this powerful program narrated by William Hurt, Elie Wiesel shares his innermost beliefs as he talks about his commitment to Holocaust awareness, his ongoing fight against anti-Semitism, and his tireless efforts to help the weak. From his birthplace in the town of Sighet and back again via Auschwitz, postwar Paris, Jerusalem, and New York City, the iconic humanitarian talks about the things that matter most to him: family, Judaism, human rights, and, most of all, the duty to remember. Footage of Wiesel at Boston University captures the Nobel Laureate in a teaching moment, while passages from his acclaimed memoir Night, read by Hurt, articulate the surreal horror of living in a death camp. (58 minutes)
#36135 European Studies - The Prime Minister and the Press: The State of the Italian Media (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
With his vast media empire, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is Italy's richest man. This Wide Angle documentary explores questions about the independence of the Italian media under Berlusconi, analyzing the effect of his combination of political power and personal ownership of a large sector of the press. Clearly illustrating the impediments that the Berlusconi machine placed before the country's leading critical voices-including Marco Travaglio, one of Italy's most prominent investigative journalists-the program shows how Berlusconi gained prominence and explores what happens to public debate when wealth and political power dominate the fourth estate. In addition, author Alexander Stille discusses Berlusconi and the media with anchor Jamie Rubin. (57 minutes)
#36344 European Studies - Mixed Blessings: Changing Irish Identity (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
Ireland never had an industrial revolution-its economy leaped from agrarian gloom into high-tech high-gear almost overnight. This Wide Angle case study visits Limerick, one of the country's largest cities and the epitome of the Celtic Tiger's rise. Once the blighted setting of Angela's Ashes, today's Limerick boasts the glories and the growing pains of all economic boomtowns: heavy foreign investment, a burgeoning services industry, high levels of immigration-and a real estate explosion in which a venerable Jesuit church is on sale to the highest bidder. The program profiles Limerick citizens whose lives are caught up and conflicted by this avalanche of change. In addition, it features an in-depth discussion between anchor Daljit Dhaliwal and Irishman Peter Sutherland, UN Special Representative on Migration & Development and BP Chairman. (57 minutes)
#36488 European Studies - The Sephardic Legacy of Segovia, Spain: Pentimento of the Past (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95
Jewish culture has been present in Spain for centuries, but it is not always visible. In the ancient city of Segovia, layers of urban development have largely concealed a rich Sephardic heritage. This program explores that legacy and documents recovery and restoration efforts in Segovia's Jewish quarter. Combining interviews with scholars, historians, and residents with footage of medieval architectural features, the film vividly illustrates the long-term influence of the city's age-old Jewish community. Special attention is given to the cultural impact of the Edict of Expulsion in 1492-an event that interrupted but did not erase the Sephardic tradition in Spain. (Portions in Spanish with English subtitles, 33 minutes)
#3314 Great Britain - Working Lives (Run time 20 min.) DVD $129.95
How were people's working lives affected by industrialization, and how did they react to these changes? This program concentrates on the crucial century of radical change between 1750 and 1850, when large numbers of people began for the first time to work in factories rather than on the land, and when agriculture had to adapt to provide for an expanding population. The program also covers the drift to towns; the factory and apprentice systems; early conditions in the mines; and the reactions to working conditions as frustration led to rebellion, new legislation was proposed, and trade unionism developed. (20 minutes)
#3315 Great Britain - Evolving Transportation Systems (Run time 20 min.) DVD $129.95
Preindustrial society managed with toll roads, but industrialization required low-cost, efficient transportation systems. This program examines developments in road building and the revolutionary impact of canals, and charts the rise and subsequent decline of canals as a good example of social and technological change. (20 minutes)
#3316 Great Britain - The Railway Age (Run time 20 min.) DVD $129.95
This program examines the enormous impact of the introduction of railways, covering the technological revolution, the commercial and human reactions that culminated in Railway Mania, and the economic and social results: the increased demand for coal and iron, the delivery of fresh food and milk in cities, the reduction of local isolation and differences, the requirement of new management skills, the landscape changes created by viaducts, bridges, and tunnels, and the establishment of railway towns and entire new industries. (20 minutes)
#3317 Great Britain - Harnessing Steam (Run time 20 min.) DVD $129.95
The history of the development of coal, iron, and steam during the Industrial Revolution is extensive and complex. In the era of the microchip, it is easy to overlook the critical role of the steam engine in powering the 19th-century machine. This program looks at the role of water power, examines Newcomen's and Watt's machines, looks at the interdependence of steam, coal, and iron and at the new demand for coal, and examines the growth of electrical energy. (20 minutes)
#3318 Great Britain - The Growth of Towns and Cities (Run time 19 min.) DVD $129.95
This program looks on urban landscapes as a series of layers of architectural evidence, each of which is the key to another chapter in the history of the area, and another chapter in the way people's lifestyles have been changed by technology. The program examines how industrialization led to urbanization, which led to higher rents, overcrowding, and problems of sanitation, which in turn led to governmental controls; it also shows how railways and improved transportation opened up cities and led to the growth of suburbs. (19 minutes)
#8348 Great Britain - Irish Civil War: The Madness from Within (Run time 60 min.) DVD $129.95
In 1922, the people of Ireland turned against each other in one of the bloodiest civil wars in history. In its wake, internecine feuding incited decades of terrorist atrocities. This program features interviews with participants in the Civil War, some in their 90s, whose passionate defense of the side they took remains as strong and vivid as ever. Contributions from surviving relatives of participants in the war, including three sons and daughters of members of the 1922 Provisional Government headed by Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins, provide insights into the infighting that led to Collins' assassination. The political roles of the parties Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail are examined, as well as the military role of the Irish Republican Army. Interviews are interwoven throughout with archival footage and photographs from the period. (60 minutes)
#9379 Great Britain - Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady (Run time 53 min.) DVD $129.95
Margaret Thatcher once predicted that there would never be a female Prime Minister in Great Britain in her lifetime, yet she went on to become the longest-serving Prime Minister in 20th-century British history. Composed of powerful archival footage, this program tracks the controversial career of the woman dubbed "The Iron Lady"-a forceful leader who dismantled decades of political consensus by warring with the Labour opposition, trade unions, the Argentine army, the European Union, and even her own party. As both a biography and a concise summary of British politics from the '50s through the '90s, this documentary is a valuable resource. (53 minutes)
#30085 Great Britain - Breaking the Trade: The Abolition of Slavery in the British Empire (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
In the early 1800s, an extraordinary event occurred in British politics: a small pressure group successfully lobbied against the entrenched, well-moneyed interests of slavery. This program uses dramatic reenactments, readings of Parliamentary minutes, and expert commentary to tell the story of the three men largely responsible for slavery's abolition: William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp, and Thomas Clarkson. Michael Dottridge, the director of Anti-Slavery International, explains that the barbarous practice has not been eradicated everywhere: an estimated 27 million people are still enslaved worldwide today. (30 minutes)
#35814 Great Britain - The Normans (Run time 47 min.) DVD $129.95
To William, the Duke of Normandy, England was "Angleterre" or the Old French equivalent-and in 1066 the country became as French as William could make it. This program describes the Norman invasion that ended Anglo-Saxon rule, summarizes William the Conqueror's transformative reign, and profiles the six rulers who followed him. How Henry I wrested the crown from his brothers and solidified royal authority, how Stephen of Blois succeeded instead of Henry's own son, how Richard Coeur de Lion fulfilled chivalric ideals but as a king fared no better than his hapless brother John-these and other accounts compose a lively proto-history of England's "foreign" royalty. (47 minutes)
#35815 Great Britain - The Yorks and Lancasters (Run time 47 min.) DVD $129.95
At what point did England's Norman rulers begin to think of themselves as English? This program addresses that question as it surveys the history of the monarchy from Henry III to the birth of Henry Tudor. Recounting the scramble for power that followed the death of King John, the program explores the little-known rule of Louis-the French king "imported" by ambitious barons, then ousted when he wore out his welcome-and explains why it took yet another French newcomer to sow the seeds of representative government. The progression of Edward I-III and Henry III-VI features the first king for whom English was not a second language and the first to conquer all of France. (47 minutes)
#35816 Great Britain - The Tudors (Run time 46 min.) DVD $129.95
With a French princess and Welsh courtier as its progenitors, the Tudor dynasty continued England's tradition of rule shaped by outside influence. This program examines the saga set in motion by Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois, illustrating the events that led to the coronation of Henry Tudor and shedding light on the entire succession of Tudor monarchs. With the murderous power-grab of Richard III as counterpoint, the program explores the bloody reigns of Henry VIII and Mary I, and shows how their successor, Elizabeth I, reversed the trend-becoming synonymous with England's domestic tranquility and supremacy on the world stage. (46 minutes)
#35817 Great Britain - The Stuarts (Run time 47 min.) DVD $129.95
The death of Queen Elizabeth foreshadowed a power struggle between parliament and the monarchy. This program begins with the crowning of James I-whose policies made the confrontation inevitable-and documents five generations of tumultuous Stuart governance. Sifting through the complex mixture of financial crisis and mounting religious factionalism that characterized Jacobean England, the program describes the eruption of the Civil War, the execution of Charles I, the heavy-handed authority of Cromwell, and the legacy of the prolonged conflict: an enthusiastic return to monarchy and a general distaste among the English for political extremism. (46 minutes)
#35818 Great Britain - The Hanoverians (Run time 46 min.) DVD $129.95
As the 18th century dawned, foreigners continued to dominate the English royal line. This program profiles the four Kings George and William IV, and their significance in the German House of Hanover. Beginning with the rancorous relationship between George I and II, the program explores the origin of the position of Prime Minister, the courtly rivalry between George II and his son Frederick-expressed largely through opera sponsorship-and the American Rebellion. The personally disastrous reigns of George III and IV, both of whom suffered humiliation and insanity while presiding over a vast colonial empire, are explained in detail. (45 minutes)
#35819 Great Britain - The Modern Monarchs (Run time 47 min.) DVD $129.95
How has the importance of English royalty evolved over the past two centuries? This program examines the passage of the monarchy into figurehead status, tracing the line of descent from Queen Victoria to the current ruling family. Recounting Victoria's bereaved isolation and her son's rejection of her standards of propriety, the program reflects on English rule through two world wars, the Princess Diana tragedy, and the media circus that is now a feature of royal life. The episode concludes with an analysis of the crown's vague national purpose-ultimately recognizing an age-old interdependence between the monarchy and its subjects. (47 minutes)
#36149 Great Britain - Gutted: The Demise of Scotland's Fishing Industry (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
Scottish fishermen have trawled for cod in the North Sea for generations. Under new European Union laws, many families are being forced out of the trade. This Wide Angle documentary poignantly depicts a year in the life of Fraserburgh, a hard-hit community caught between E.U. policies designed to preserve fish stocks and the need to earn a living. Showing how commercial overfishing has decimated the local whitefish population, the program joins one veteran fisherman on the final voyage of his family boat, and profiles the Cod Crusaders-a group of Fraserburgh women who besiege E.U. committee hearings in a last-ditch effort to save their town's livelihood. Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission, discusses the state of the world's oceans and marine life with guest anchor Carol Marin. (57 minutes)
#1954 Medieval History - The Birth of the Middle Ages (Run time 43 min.) DVD $129.95
This program provides an introduction to medieval Europe by showing surviving traces to provide a feel of medieval style and practice and by tracing the roots of the fall of civilization and the onset of darkness. Much that is medieval survives, sometimes in unlikely places: in a feudal community in sub-Saharan Africa, where an absolute ruler holds court surrounded by ministers, courtiers, and hangers-on, with paladins in mail and mercenaries who, according to local tradition, are descendants of the crusaders; and in numerous folk festivals held in modern Italy, which reenact the futile battles against the invading nomadic hordes. The program traces the fall of Rome and the development of fortified monasteries and their gradual transformation into centers of prayer, work, and the study of ancient learning. With the acceptance of eastern peoples into the Church of Rome, Europe achieved its frontiers. (43 minutes)
#1955 Medieval History - The City of God (Run time 39 min.) DVD $129.95
Augustine of Hippo is a symbol of humankind in early medieval times, seeking to understand the terror and destruction resulting from the barbarian devastations of the Roman world, seeking to find the hand of God-and finding it in the counterpart to the destroyed city of man in the city of God. The program covers the church resurgence, filling the vacuum left by the collapse of civil government and changing to meet its new obligations and fill its new role in society; the creation of the Vulgate Bible; mass conversions; the rule of Pope Gregory the Great-the last of the Roman popes and the first of the European; monastic life; Romanesque architecture; and the role of the pilgrimage in medieval society. (39 minutes)
#1956 Medieval History - Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire (Run time 31 min.) DVD $129.95
Out of the ashes of the Roman Empire rose the Holy Roman Empire, born during Christmas of 800 in the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome. This program covers the antecedents and the life of Charlemagne, shows life at the court, life of the courtiers and of the peasants, recounts the battle of Roncevaux-site of the epic Chanson de Roland-and counterpoints the glories of the Carolingian Renaissance with the everyday realities of hunger, plague, and constant violence. The program concludes with the first of Europe's major confrontations between empire and church, in this instance between Henry IV and Gregory VII. (31 minutes)
#1957 Medieval History - The Feudal System (Run time 36 min.) DVD $129.95
This program covers the social and economic organization of Europe in the Middle Ages: life in a medieval farming hamlet; the role of the feudal lord, whose role was to defend its inhabitants in return for a share of the produce and other tribute; the role of tenant farmers, indentured servants, and serfs; the economy of the peasant community and the landed estate; construction and organization of the medieval castle; the relationship between lord and vassal; the pyramid of medieval social organization, with pope and king at the apex and impoverished peasants at the base; the concession of lands by the king and the financial and military obligations in return; the role of the church in feudal Europe, and of the clergy; and courtly love and other literary inventions. (36 minutes)
#1958 Medieval History - Christians, Jews, and Moslems in Medieval Spain (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95
Due partly to the weakness of its Visigothic rulers, partly to its proximity to Africa, the Iberian peninsula was conquered by Berbers and by Arabs belonging to the Ommayad Dynasty of Damascus. This program describes the history of Spain from the time of the first landing in 711, through the nearly 800-year-long war that ended in the expulsion of both Moors and Jews in 1492; the development of a culture whose people spoke various Spanish dialects while the official language was Arabic; the role of the School of Toledo in preserving, translating, and making known the ancient Greek scientific texts as well as Arabic treatises on philosophy and science; the rabbinic center in Toledo; and the history of the Jews in Spain. (33 minutes)
#1959 Medieval History - Byzantium: From Splendor to Ruin (Run time 43 min.) DVD $129.95
This program covers the founding of Constantinople as a second Rome, its flowering when the Roman Empire in the West was shattered, its gradual decline under the impact of Normans, Turks, Venetians, and the Crusades, and finally, its fall in 1453. The program describes the history, art, and religious significance of Byzantium, its attempts to restore the Roman Empire, its influence in the West, and its heritage. (43 minutes)
#1960 Medieval History - Vikings and Normans (Run time 37 min.) DVD $129.95
The Vikings were farmers and food gatherers, fierce and violent in battle, with family and clan loyalties that lasted beyond life. This program covers the Viking sea prowess and explorations: Viking influences in England and Scotland, trade with the Far East 300 years before Marco Polo and the discovery of America 500 years before Columbus, the Viking presence as far as the Black Sea, and encounters between Slavs and Vikings. The program also covers the Normans-Vikings who had conquered northern France and adopted both Christianity and the French language-and their establishment of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily; the Norman conquest of England in 1066; and the Magna Carta and its effects. The program concludes with the final barbarian invasions of Europe by the Magyars. (37 minutes)
#8636 Medieval History - Cluny: A Light in the Night (Run time 53 min.) DVD $129.95
During the Middle Ages, Cluny Abbey dominated western Europe with a power that rivaled the papacy itself. The abbots of Cluny-men of great sanctity and commanding ability-centralized the Benedictine Order into a system in which they directly controlled all of the hundreds of other monasteries. Under their guidance, thousands of monastics joined together in studies and activities that greatly enriched medieval life. As an outgrowth of their efforts, the code of chivalry was created, which redirected the energies of warring knights into the Crusades; pilgrimages to the numerous monasteries became fashionable, which increased the exchange of knowledge and culture throughout Europe; and monastic business models began to influence secular commerce. This program offers a fresh look at the architecture and sociopolitical impact of Cluny, at one time the largest church in the Western world. (53 minutes)English
#11057 Medieval History - Visions of Prophecy, Voices of Power (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
By the Middle Ages, women's roles as defined by the Church were strictly circumscribed; however, alternate role models were also available, beginning with the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the transvestite saints from the early Church. This program examines the options available to women living in the 12th through 15th centuries and how some subverted traditional roles in order to discover and express their own freedom, dignity, and power. Professors Kathy Garay and Madeleine Jeay, of McMaster University, offer insights into the medieval world and how medieval women's struggles for recognition reflect contemporary issues. (24 minutes)
#11058 Medieval History - Julian of Norwich (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
A 14th-century English mystic who enclosed herself for life in order to fully develop her relationship with God after a series of revelations, Julian of Norwich and her writings are still studied by Christian theologians. Her prose, some of the most terrifying and compelling, is the first to refer to God as "She," forging the way for inclusive language that is used in many Bibles today. This program offers a concise overview of Julian's life, times, and writings, along with commentary by Anne Savage of McMaster University, who discusses influential contemporary books such as Holy Maidenhood and A Guide for Anchoresses along with the reception of Julian's writings by the medieval Church. (24 minutes)
#11059 Medieval History - St. Clare of Assisi (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
Inspired by Saint Francis, Clare of Assisi abandoned a comfortable and privileged life to establish her own order; founded on vows of poverty, self-denial, and working for the poor, it flourishes to this day. This program provides a biography of Clare's life along with an in-depth analysis by McMaster University's Kathy Garay of Clare's relationship to the Church and to her peer St. Francis. A history of religious orders is also provided, as is testimony regarding the legacy that continues to draw contemporary women to her vision. (24 minutes)
#11060 Medieval History - Douceline de Digne (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
A 13th-century French mystic, Douceline de Digne established the first community for laywomen devoted to caring for the sick and the poor. This program presents an in-depth biography of an early mystic who embraced an ascetic life and who was emulated by many, both rich and poor, male and female. Commentary from Kathy Garay, of McMaster University, offers insight into medieval culture and Douceline's role as a lay icon. (24 minutes)
#11061 Medieval History - Margery Kempe (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
As women mystics became more common throughout Europe in the late 14th and 15th centuries, the manner in which they expressed and practiced their devotion became more diverse. In this program, Kathy Garay, of McMaster University, presents Margery Kempe's unconventional life in context. Topics such as bridal mysticism are discussed, along with Kempe's pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The transcription of her life into the first autobiography in the English language presents a portrait of a woman who defied social norms by following her visions and risked the charge of heresy in doing so. (24 minutes)
#11062 Medieval History - Constance of Rabastens (Run time 24 min.) DVD $129.95
An illiterate common woman, Constance of Rabastens' visions of the apocalypse and prophecies of the coming of the Antichrist resulted in her imprisonment at the hands of the Inquisition and the Archbishop of Toulouse. In this program, McMaster University's Madeleine Jeay places Constance of Rabastens in the historical context of the tumultuous 15th century, including the Hundred Years' War, the French Civil War, the struggle between the Avignon Pope and the Pope in Rome, and frequent famines that decimated the common people. (24 minutes)
#33150 Medieval History - The Myth of the Holy Grail (Run time 47 min.) DVD $129.95
The Holy Grail may be history's most legendary artifact, but did it ever really exist and, if so, was it a chalice or something very different? Filmed at key locations in England and France, this program follows the intriguing efforts of two modern-day Grail hunters, providing along the way a concise account of the Grail story, its role in Arthurian legend, and its enduring fascination. Dramatic reenactments, paintings, and original manuscripts are blended with commentary from scholars, archaeologists, and experts, including Graham Phillips, author of The Search for the Grail, and Henry Lincoln, author of Key to the Secret Pattern and co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail. (47 minutes)
#33405 Medieval History - Pisa: The Riddle of the Leaning Tower (Run time 52 min.) DVD $129.95
To save the Leaning Tower of Pisa from further leaning and eventual collapse, the Italian government appointed a scientific committee to devise a solution. Filmed over three years, this classic program documents the engineering challenges and the committee's controversial answer to the structure's ongoing decline-the most fateful moment in the Tower's eight centuries of existence. Experts interviewed include John Burland, professor of geotechnics at Imperial College London; Piero Pierotti, professor of medieval architecture at the University of Pisa; and Giorgio Macchi, professor of structural engineering at the University of Pavia. (53 minutes)
#37609 Medieval History - Kill Them All: Christian Crusaders Against Christian Heresy (Run time 56 min.) DVD $129.95
After hundreds of years of ideological discord, one form of early Christianity, Roman Catholicism, defined itself as the only true version and began to eliminate all other versions. Using history as an analytical lens, this program looks at Christian heresy in the form of the Cathars, on the one hand, and the Apostolics, on the other-examples of two different types of alternative Christianity that were squelched in a similar way. Brutal military expeditions and the gruesome Inquisition effectively spelled the end of these schismatic sects' resistance. The commentary of Michel Roquebert, author of History of the Cathars, and historian Corrado Mornese is featured. (56 minutes)
#4871 Eastern Europe - The Politics of Children: Hope for 100,000 (Run time 26 min.) DVD $149.95
We know about the politics of food; this program is about the politics of children-Romanian children born as part of the country's Communist breeding program, and now living in institutions, orphaned and abandoned. There are said to be a hundred thousand of them. The program visits Romania and provides a brief history of the country under Ceausescu. It visits one orphanage with which American adoption agencies have worked successfully to place children in the U.S.; then looks at what is perhaps Romania's worst facility, a home for handicapped children with its own contiguous mass grave for children who have died there; and finally spends a cold night underground with some of Romania's uncounted and unwanted street kids. (26 minutes)
#9353 Eastern Europe - Kosovo: Of Blood and History (Run time 41 min.) DVD $149.95
To fully understand the recent bloodshed in Kosovo, one must go back 600 years and trace the causes of the undying hatreds that permeate Serbia and the surrounding region. Using eyewitness accounts, maps, and footage both of historic events and of Serbian life, this program examines the ethnic nationalism and religious extremism that have resulted in the long-standing hatred between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians-a hatred that continued to destabilize the Balkans during the Milosevic regime. (41 minutes)
#31492 Eastern Europe - Putin: Stairway to Power (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95
This program tracks the career of Vladimir Putin from KGB spymaster for the U.S.S.R. to president of the Russian Federation. Footage of landmark events-the fall of the Berlin Wall, the election and re-election of Boris Yeltsin, the war against Chechnya, terrorist attacks on Moscow-are featured, as well as archival interviews with former Stasi official Horst Jemlich, former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gusinsky, al Qaeda-trained Chechen army commander Omar ibn al-Khattab, the IMF's Michel Camdessus, former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, and Putin himself. (50 minutes)
#31493 Eastern Europe - Putin: A Bitter Decision (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95
In the mind of Vladimir Putin, 9/11/01 marked the day that triggered a chain of events that ended with Russia's acceptance into the ranks of the West-but at a terrible cost to national pride and the balance of nuclear power. This program narrates the circumstances leading to President Putin's bitter decision to trade U.S. approval of the war in Chechnya for what has proved to be a diminished role in world politics. Footage of Putin, George W. Bush, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo, and Djuma Namangani, military commander of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, is featured, along with gripping images of New York's Ground Zero and Central Asian Islamist extremists in action. (50 minutes)
#2679 European Studies - Epitome of the Italian Renaissance: The Gonzagas of Mantua (Run time 40 min.) DVD $149.95
The Gonzagas and Mantua were, in their heyday, largely one and the same: together they emerged from the Middle Ages, became strong, fortified their strength, and learned to decorate their fortifications, pitted brother against brother and sons against fathers while fostering artists from Mantegna and Donatello to Titian and Rubens. Popes and kings were houseguests, Tasso and Ariosto lived here. This program revisits the centuries of history that were written and often painted upon the walls of the Palace of the Gonzagas. (40 minutes)
#3335 European Studies - Lillie Langtry: Her Life and Times (Run time 26 min.) DVD $149.95
"Simply the most beautiful woman in England," is how Oscar Wilde described the intelligent, ambitious, ruthless, resilient, and enviably lovely woman who rose from obscurity to make her way into the highest echelons of London society, becoming the mistress of the Prince of Wales, a famous actress, and the confidante and inspiration of a score of the greatest artists, writers, and actors of the Victorian and Edwardian age. This is her story. (26 minutes)
#3928 European Studies - Karl Marx and Marxism (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
The impact of Marx on the 20th century was all-pervasive and worldwide, costing tens of millions of lives where Communism was imposed, resulting in brutal wars to contain or expand it, and vastly improving the lives of workers where fear of Communism resulted in social reform. This program looks at the man, at the roots of his philosophy, at the causes and explanations of his philosophical development, and at its most direct outcome: the failed Soviet Union. (52 minutes)
#8392 European Studies - The Dream of an Empire (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
Although Rudolph von Hapsburg was crowned in 1273, the Hapsburg dynasty did not firmly take root until Frederick III passed the crown to Maximilian I-a total of 220 years later-and even then, an electorate vied with the emperor for ascendancy. This program traces the roots of that monumental power struggle and reveals how the Hapsburg dynasty established itself both in Austria and Spain, shaping the course of European history for six centuries to come. (53 minutes)
#8393 European Studies - Cross and Crescent (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
Under Charles V, the Hapsburgs reached their zenith. However, the religious and military forces set in motion during the latter part of the 16th century changed Europe-and the Hapsburg empire-forever. The Reformation, assisted by the printing press, dissolved Catholic hegemony in Europe and led to pan-European warfare employing large numbers of mercenaries. This program examines the political, religious, and class conflicts that precipitated the Thirty Years' War and the resultant flux in Hapsburg fortunes through contemporary accounts and histories. The advance of the Ottoman army to the very gates of Vienna during the Austro-Turkish War and their ensuing defeat also presents the external threats that led to the establishment of modern Europe's boundaries. (53 minutes)
#8394 European Studies - The Jewel in the Crown (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program explores the dynastic crisis that culminated in the War of the Austrian Succession and the ascendancy of Maria Theresa to the Hapsburg throne. Her father's death in 1740 without a male heir led to the dynastic conflict between the Hapsburgs and Hollenzollerns. Although Frederick the Great was the very embodiment of the Enlightenment-advised by Voltaire, establisher of public education, and grantor of equality to all citizens before the law-he refused to recognize Maria Theresa as ruler. Even though she retained her grip on the throne, it took the Seven Years' War to firmly and finally establish Maria Theresa's benevolent rule, which lasted for 40 years. She was succeeded by her son, Joseph II. (53 minutes)
#8395 European Studies - Between Empire and Nation (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program examines the liberal forces at work in the 19th century, the conservative policies of the Hapsburg rulers, and the inevitable results of this conflict. It shows how demands for greater freedom, combined with Metternich's resignation, eventually resulted in greater oppression. In examining the revolution of 1848, the program shows the resulting policy of security over liberty and preservation rather than renewal. The nation that emerged from this period remained the keystone of an empire-until the assassination in 1914 of the last Hapsburg heir triggered a world war. (53 minutes)
#9174 European Studies - Napoleon Bonaparte (Run time 104 min.) DVD $149.95
"They may try to write me out, suppress me, or alter the facts, but it will be difficult to make me disappear altogether." A military and political leader passionately driven by ambition and possessed of a genius for rallying the French people to his cause, Napoleon Bonaparte is not likely to be forgotten. Filmed at historic locations ranging from Corsica to Egypt and from Spain to Moscow, this epic program tracks the course of events surrounding that peerless figure in French history who took on all of Europe-and very nearly won. (2 parts, 53 minutes and 57 minutes)
#11980 European Studies - The Year One Thousand (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95
The 11th century saw calamities, famine, and war. The literate clergy interpreted these events as confirmation of the predictions in St. John's Book of Revelation. This program depicts this tumultuous time by dramatizing the life of Ademar de Chabannes, a monk who wrote a remarkable chronicle of the early years of the millennium. Through his eyes the whole range of 11th-century life can be seen, with all its hysteria, religious zeal, and visions of Apocalypse. Though a low point in Europe's history, the year 1000 also heralds a continuous rise that would produce Gothic cathedrals, a rebirth of the arts and sciences, and the transformation of a terrifying God into a more human one. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (French with English subtitles, 49 minutes)
#29040 European Studies - Berlin: A City in Search of Itself (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
The seat of the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the German Democratic Republic, Berlin was powerfully shaped by the political aftershocks of World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. As the capital of Europe's wealthiest and most populous nation wrestles with its past in pursuit of its future, this program searches for the essence of modern Berlin. Markus Wolf, the former head of East German foreign intelligence; ice skating champion Katarina Witt; and other contemporary figures provide insights into the city's development as a major hub in a unified Europe. (53 minutes)
#29351 European Studies - Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program surveys the life and work of the perennially fascinating genius Leonardo da Vinci, from his birth in Tuscany to his final years in Cloux. Painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and student of anatomy, physiology, botany, architecture, hydrodynamics, aeronautics, and other disciplines, he was the quintessential "Renaissance man." (53 minutes)
#30642 European Studies - From the Mists of the North, the Germanic Tribes (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
In the 2nd century BCE, the Cimbri and Teuton tribes began to move southward from their Scandinavian homeland, Jutland. Soundly defeating the Roman army at Noricum in 113 BCE, they set in motion an era of migration that spelled the beginning of the end of Roman military and political supremacy. This program examines the reasons why these Germanic peoples left their homeland, explores their traditions and beliefs, and illustrates the clashes of arms and of culture that marked the first contacts between Roman and barbarus. (52 minutes)
#30643 European Studies - Furor Teutonicus, Pax Romana (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
At the time the Roman Empire supplanted the failed Republic, the Rhine River marked Rome's northern frontier in western Europe-until Emperor Augustus tried to push the boundary east to the Elbe. Focusing on the events during the 1st through 4th centuries, this program traces the movements of the Goths and the tribes of Germania, including the epic battle in the year 9 when Arminius, leader of the Germanic resistance to Roman colonization, destroyed three Roman legions under Publius Varus-and the emperor's plans for conquest. (52 minutes)
#30644 European Studies - Storm Over Europe: The Huns Are Coming (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
When the Huns charged into the lands of the Goths and then, in the 5th century, into Europe, they started a new wave of terror and tribal relocation. This program tracks the displacement of the Visigoths to Spain and the Vandals to North Africa. Both succeeded in defeating proud and once-mighty Rome in its own capital-but who would stop the hordes of Attila as they raced onwards into the Frankish Kingdom? (52 minutes)
#30645 European Studies - The End of Rome, the Birth of Europe (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
By the 6th century, the migrating peoples of Europe had begun to settle down, establishing the boundaries of their domains-but not of their ambitions. Who would become the heirs of the Roman Empire and the allies-and enemies-of the Church? This program reconstructs the development of key non-Roman kingdoms including those of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Merovingians in Gaul, and the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. (52 minutes)
#32477 European Studies - Revolution of Conscience: The Life, Convictions, and Legacy of Martin Luther (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95
Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg hoping to open a theological dialogue. Instead, he sparked the Reformation. This definitive documentary chronicles Luther's life and lasting impact on religion and society through a wealth of location footage, original manuscripts, period paintings, and expert commentary from Dr. Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School, and Dr. Paul Richardson, professor of hymnology at Samford University. Providing social and historical context, the program elucidates key theological issues, such as sanctification, justification, the sale of plenary indulgences, the dogma of transubstantiation, and, ultimately, the origin of religious authority itself. (56 minutes)
#32672 European Studies - When Propaganda Ruled: Nicolae Ceausescu, King of Communism" (Run time 60 min.) DVD $149.95
Life in Romania during the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu was at once tragic and absurd as the nation's head of state erected a cult of personality that literally turned his country into a stage show. Tapping Ceausescu's video archives and drawing on interviews with many of the talented people who made Ceausescu's political theater come to life, this program examines the creation and application of propaganda within the context of Romanian political history during the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Ceausescu scripted an epic with himself as the star, but others wrote the inevitable denouement that brought down the curtain on him and his wife, Elena, a "scientist of world renown." Portions are in Romanian with English subtitles. (60 minutes)
#36447 European Studies - Agincourt (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
For centuries, the Battle of Agincourt has been a classic symbol of England's national heroism in the face of impossible odds. This program tells a different story. Based on firsthand accounts of the illustrious French knights Gilbert de Lannoy and the Duke of Brabant; Davy Gam, personal bodyguard to Henry V; two Lancashire archers; and an English army chaplain, the program uses vivid re-creations supported by expert commentary to provide a new perspective on the events of St. Crispin's Day 1415, when chivalry died. Juliet Barker, author of Agincourt; medieval historian Michael Jones; The University of York's Craig Taylor; and Tobias Capwell, Curator of Arms and Armor at the Wallace Collection, London, are featured. (52 minutes)
#38747 European Studies - Life During the Early Years of Napoleon's Reign (Run time 54 min.) DVD $149.95
Covering the years from the end of the French Revolution to the zenith of Napoleonic power in 1806, this program opens windows of insight into life under Napoleon through the stories of a merchant apprentice, a young nobleman, a beer brewer, a draft dodger, and a war widow. They tell of industrialization, municipal improvements, the standardization of measurements, the new power of mayors to conduct marriages and authorize divorces, and the body of laws known as the Napoleonic Code-as well as of crippling taxation, compulsory military service, strict censorship of newspapers, and the pitiless auctioning of monasteries-as the self-proclaimed emperor traveled from victory to victory. (54 minutes)
#38748 European Studies - Life During the Later Years of Napoleon's Reign (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
The years of Napoleon's reign between 1806 and 1815 were characterized by unremitting war-against his neighbors through force of arms on the battlefields of Europe and against impregnable Britain through an embargo on commercial transactions known as the Continental System. In this program, the stories of a high-ranking nobleman under sentence of death, war profiteers, smugglers, and anti-French rebels illustrate the abuses of the French army committed in Napoleon's name against people living in the subjugated territories-and the spreading unrest that ultimately led to outright rebellion and the fall of a ruler who achieved immortal fame and yet died in utter obscurity. (52 minutes)
#39378 European Studies - Helmut Kohl: German Giant (Run time min.) DVD $149.95
A crystal-clear window into European politics during and following the Cold War, this program presents an intimate portrait of Helmut Kohl-Germany's longest-serving chancellor and the leader largely responsible for reuniting that country. Candidly discussing his extraordinary career, Kohl offers his perspective on many of his decisions, political alliances, and objectives as chancellor, as well as his painful family experiences. Additional on-screen commentary is provided by former President George H. W. Bush, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, and several German political experts and insiders-including Chancellor Angela Merkel and former MP Norbert Blum. Rarely seen archival footage is featured as well. (50 minutes)
#39408 European Studies - The Moorish South: Art in Muslim and Christian Spain from 711 to 1492 (Run time 51 min.) DVD $149.95
Under Muslim rule, Spain became the most advanced, wealthy, and populous country in Europe, with great leaps forward in art, architecture, and many other fields. In this program, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon travels from Cordoba to Seville and on to Granada as he tells the story of art in Islamic and medieval Spain. Richly designed and decorated buildings such as the Great Mosque in Cordoba, the Alcazar in Seville, and the Alhambra in Granada are examined, along with ornate gardens, other objects of art, and even culinary innovations. All of these striking visual examples help viewers understand the debt which both modern Spain and modern Europe owe to Moorish Spain. Contains some objectionable language and images. Original BBCW broadcast title: The Moorish South. (51 minutes)
#39532 European Studies - Crossroads: Ukraine and the Triumph of Democracy (Run time 63 min.) DVD $149.95
Examining Ukraine's past and present politics, this program features firsthand accounts from six Ukrainians who witnessed and took part in the 2004 Orange Revolution-a climactic chapter in the country's transition to a free, self-governing state. An in-depth look at Ukrainian history is provided, while candid interviews reflect both the optimism of citizens who welcome brand-new freedoms and the foreboding of those who long for the stability of the Soviet system. Scenes shot during the collapse of that system and in the midst of Viktor Yushchenko's bid for the presidency are interwoven with footage conveying the precarious yet hopeful condition of Ukrainian industry, culture, and political life. (63 minutes)
#3286 Great Britain - The Luddites (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95
In 1812, there were violent disturbances in England when new machines were introduced into the wool industry. This docudrama re-creates the attempt, doomed from the start, of the desperate victims of the new machine age to strike back. Unable to get through to management, a group of workers vented their frustrations on the machines. Thus the Luddites have become symbolic, not only of the pointless opposition to machines' taking over human lives, but also of the larger issue of the human toll of industrialization. (50 minutes)
#5362 Great Britain - John Locke (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
This program gives us Locke the man and the thinker. It states, explicates, and clarifies Locke's principal views by placing him in conversational settings as he returns from exile in Holland and in flashbacks with the Earl of Shaftesbury and others. Thus, what emerges is the character of Locke as well as his philosophical positions, which are explained against the political background of his time-when he himself was exiled, and friends, no more revolutionary but perhaps less discreet, were drawn and quartered. (52 minutes)
#6646 Great Britain - Fire and Fever: London 1665-1666 (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program shows London as an overcrowded, filthy city ripe for the two disastrous events destined to strike at its heart within one year's time. In the first part of the program, set in 1665, a live actor uses vivid descriptions by period character Dr. Nathaniel Hodges, and readings from Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, to show a society stretched to its limits by raging disease. Superstitions surrounding the disease are discussed, along with the social and political factors that contributed to its onset and spread. In the second part of the program, an actor playing period character Samuel Pepys uses readings from Pepys' diary to explain the causes and provide political and social insights into the fire that in 1666 destroyed most of London, including St. Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Exchange. (53 minutes)
#7206 Great Britain - A Leap of Faith (Run time 87 min.) DVD $149.95
Politics and terrorism have failed to secure peace for Northern Ireland. Now four heroic families in Belfast band together to create a school that integrates their own Catholic and Protestant children. Using archival sections which dramatically but objectively explain the conflict, this program integrates a history of Ireland's "troubles" with a story of hope. Despite 62 explosions and 40 deaths during the first four months, the school is able to celebrate its first anniversary, proving that peace is not only possible, but inevitable. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Liam Neeson. (87 minutes)
#8535 Great Britain - Oliver Cromwell (Run time 31 min.) DVD $149.95
Parliamentarian, Puritan soldier, treasonous regicide, Lord Protector of England: Oliver Cromwell was all of these things, and this program scrutinizes his eventful life against the turbulent backdrop of 17th-century English political unrest. After the victory of his unstoppable Ironsides at Marston Moor and the decisive defeat of Royalist forces at Naseby by his New Model Army, Cromwell's forces deposed Charles I, defeated the Irish and Scots, and, in 1653, established a short-lived military protectorate. This program, featuring commentary by Dr. Les Prince of Birmingham University, England, examines the tumultuous times of Oliver Cromwell and history's ultimate verdict. Was he a hero or a villain-or both? (31 minutes)
#31486 Great Britain - Sense and Sensation: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century (Run time 51 min.) DVD $149.95
Adapted from his book, The Pleasures of the Imagination, this lavish exploration of the arts in eighteenth-century London is presented by historian John Brewer. Illustrated with period prints and paintings, along with artful reenactments of London cultural life, the program considers the world of commerce and celebrity in which Georgian culture was created-a world with many parallels to today. Brewer relates the remarkable stories of entrepreneur Jonathan Tyers and his Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens; literature, gallery, and theater aficionado Anna Larpent; thespian legend David Garrick; Samuel Johnson and his Literary Club; and John Gay and The Beggar's Opera. (51 minutes)
#33428 Great Britain - Late Gothic Art and Architecture: England, 1400-1547 (Run time 47 min.) DVD $149.95
This program beautifully captures the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance through the Late Gothic art of England and its Perpendicular architecture. Spanning the reigns of Henry IV to Henry VIII-the era of the Hundred Years' War, the Wars of the Roses, and the early Tudors-artists and artisans in England produced exquisite jewelry, glorious devotional sculptures and images, dazzling illuminated manuscripts, and monumental structures. Leading historians reinterpret the period, with revealing discussions of patronage, England's artistic relations with the Continent, and the fundamental importance of religion to society of that time. (47 minutes)
#8204 Medieval History - The Bridge: How Islam Saved Western Medicine (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95
While it is true that the Greeks invented philosophy, mathematics, and science, it is equally true that after the fall of the Roman Empire, throughout the Dark Ages, much knowledge was preserved by Islamic cultures who later passed it back to the West. This program uses footage shot in the Aegean, Middle East, Iran, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany to explore the process by which medical knowledge was passed on. Throughout the program, the brilliant medieval world of Islam is revealed. Monuments, historical sites and personalities, libraries and universities woven into scenes of everyday Islamic life paint a colorful, vivid picture of the period. This revealing documentary reinforces our debt to the Islamic world and clarifies history. (50 minutes)
#8637 Medieval History - Cluny: A Light in the Night (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
During the Middle Ages, Cluny Abbey dominated western Europe with a power that rivaled the papacy itself. The abbots of Cluny-men of great sanctity and commanding ability-centralized the Benedictine Order into a system in which they directly controlled all of the hundreds of other monasteries. Under their guidance, thousands of monastics joined together in studies and activities that greatly enriched medieval life. As an outgrowth of their efforts, the code of chivalry was created, which redirected the energies of warring knights into the Crusades; pilgrimages to the numerous monasteries became fashionable, which increased the exchange of knowledge and culture throughout Europe; and monastic business models began to influence secular commerce. This program offers a fresh look at the architecture and sociopolitical impact of Cluny, at one time the largest church in the Western world. Also available in English. (53 minutes)French with English subtitles
#30254 Medieval History - Hildegard of Bingen (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95
Poet, essayist, musician, and visionary, Hildegard of Bingen is the most well-known female mystic of the Middle Ages, renowned in Europe for advising popes and bishops, conducting theological debates with Bernard of Clairvaux, and composing Ordo Virtutum. In this program, host Avril Benoit and theology experts Dr. Kathy Garay and Dr. Madeleine Jeay of McMaster University tour the abbey Hildegard founded in the Rhine river valley. Dramatic reenactments highlight key events in Hildegard's life. Audio accompaniments include selections of Hildegard's musical compositions. (49 minutes)
#30257 Medieval History - The Hungarian Princesses: Elizabeth and Margaret (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95
Perhaps no members of European royalty rejected wealth and embraced poverty so utterly as Elizabeth and Margaret, Hungarian princesses and members of a ruling family that produced ten saints. Filmed amidst the spectacular vistas of Hungary's medieval past, this program traces the lives of Elizabeth, queen of Thuringia, and her niece, Margaret, comparing and contrasting their asceticism and devotion to the church. Highlights include the well-known portrait of Margaret in the Dominican habit and a tour of the ruins of Margaret's convent on what has since been called Margaret Island. (49 minutes)
#30258 Medieval History - Divine Negotiators: Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95
Devoting their lives to works of charity and to unifying a divided church, Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena challenged the limitations imposed on their gender, playing key roles in world affairs. In this program filmed on location, theology experts Dr. Kathy Garay and Dr. Madeleine Jeay of McMaster University trace the lives of Bridget, diplomat and prophet whose revelatory visions informed the decisions of the papacy, and Catherine, who helped bring the papacy back to Rome and whose "Dialogue," or "Treatise on Divine Providence," is considered the prose counterpart to Dante's Divina Commedia. (49 minutes)
#30260 Medieval History - Joan of Arc: The Maid of Orleans (Run time 49 min.) DVD $149.95
From within her own brief life to the present day, Joan of Arc's mystique has been appropriated by many groups and causes. This program, filmed in Orleans and Joan's native village of Domremy, allows her to speak for herself through voice-over readings of her letters and her responses before the Inquisition, as well as testimony from the minutes of her rehabilitation trial. Leading scholars discuss Joan's timeless appeal, the growth and uses of her myth, and issues of gender transgression. Images of Joan over the centuries in books, posters, paintings, and film, including illuminations from the manuscript of Les Vigiles du Roi Charles VII, complement the narration. (49 minutes)
#33426 Medieval History - The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels (Run time 48 min.) DVD $149.95
Filmed on location across England and Ireland, this program takes a close look at the Lindisfarne Gospels-a priceless work of art and one of Christianity's most enduring symbols of faith-and the historical and religious contexts in which it was created. Michelle Brown, curator of illuminated manuscripts at the British Library, explains who made it and why, presents new findings about its dating, and shows how it unites a remarkable range of motifs and styles from the Celtic Iron Age, Germanic prehistory, ancient and Christian Rome, Coptic Egypt, and Byzantium. A wealth of other devotional objects and images from early Christianity are also featured. (48 minutes)
#34152 Medieval History - Knights and Nobles (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program surveys the courtly culture of armored knights, their duties and privileges, and their significance in the religious and political conflicts of the Middle Ages. Presided over by royalty, knights formed an elite caste with a code of honor steeped in the arts of hand-to-hand combat and chivalry. Knights and Nobles examines their everyday customs, coats of arms, weaponry, and-with the help of an elaborate historical reconstruction-the castles which sheltered them between campaigns. The program climaxes with the Battle of Crecy in 1346, which initiated infantry-style warfare and effectively ended knighthood in the military sense. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. (53 minutes)
#34153 Medieval History - Peasants, Serfs, and Servitude (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
During the Middle Ages, most of Europe's inhabitants were illiterate and lived in the shadow of the wealthy; knowledge of peasant culture is therefore limited. This program addresses the historical lack of firsthand written materials, viewing serfs and servants through the eyewitness accounts of a fictitious traveler. Although a peasant farmer's daily existence was indeed oppressive, defined by taxation and compulsory military service to the ruling noble, the program details innovations of the era-including the horse-drawn iron plough and the three-field planting system-amounting to an agricultural revolution that set the stage for a heavily populated, modern Europe. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. (53 minutes)
#34154 Medieval History - Bankers, Builders, and New Beginnings (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
This program illustrates life from the perspective of the medieval merchant: urban, financially sophisticated, and revolving around trade and travel. Demonstrating how the growth of European cities prefaced the end of feudal society and the founding of major universities-while unfortunately enabling the spread of the Black Plague-the program reveals surprising facts regarding city planning, banking practices, cartography, and the skyscrapers of the Middle Ages, cathedrals. In essence, a new civilization emerges in this final episode of Europe in the Middle Ages, due in part to the creation of urban centers as bases for global exploration and conquest. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. (53 minutes)
#37635 Medieval History - The Moors: At the Height of Empire (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
With the grandeur and geometric sophistication of the Alhambra as a powerful opening example, this program looks at Islamic culture in southern Spain following the Berber invasion of 711. Scholar Bettany Hughes talks with Professor Antonio Fernandez-Puertas of the University of Granada, who has studied Nasrid art and architecture for 40 years; with Professor Lauro Olmo Encisco of Alcala University in Madrid, an expert on the Visigothic site of Recopolis; and with Islamic historian Ali Raisuni, who posits noble motives behind Moorish expansion. These conversations, as well as the program's energetic visuals and helpful overviews of Islam's origins, yield valuable insight into the social, economic, scientific, and military dynamics of the period. (53 minutes)
#5822 Great Britain - Kings and Queens of England (Run time min.) DVD $199.9
2-part series, 51 minutes each.
#10436 Medieval History - Out of the Dark Ages: A Tale of Four German Emperors (Run time 141 min.) DVD $299.85
The century beginning with the year 1024 was a shadowy time of major importance to the development of modern Europe. Based on scrupulous academic research, this vintage three-part series combines visits to historical and archaeological sites with dramatizations to shed light on the political, religious, cultural, and social aspects of life in the Holy Roman Empire during the Salian dynasty. Examples of magnificent Romanesque architecture and masterpieces of religious art-the primary legacy of the period-are also showcased. 3-part series, 47 minutes each.
#31491 Eastern Europe - Document Russia: The Rise of Vladimir Putin (Run time min.) DVD $299.9
Drawing on the massive news archives of the NHK Moscow Bureau and footage from Vladimir Putin's personal videographer, this intense two-part series captures the personalities and events that placed Putin at the helm of the Russian Federation. Every stage of his rise to power-and each agonizing decision of his first two-plus years in office as he grappled with a failing economy and global terrorism-is illustrated with compelling footage. 2-part series, 49 minutes each.
#38746 European Studies - Life Under Napoleon: A Social History (Run time min.) DVD $299.9
The civil reforms enacted by Napoleon Bonaparte forcibly reshaped the daily life of a continent. Filmed exclusively from the point of view of the people Napoleon ruled, this two-part series seeks to understand what life was like in Europe between 1799 and 1815-from the end of the French Revolution to the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo. Realistically dramatized accounts based on primary sources such as diaries, letters, reports, and court documents give a voice to people from all levels of society who alternately felt Napoleon's hand upon their shoulder and his boot upon their neck. 2-part series, 52-54 minutes each.
#37629 Medieval History - When the Moors Ruled Europe (Run time min.) DVD $299.9
As the eighth century dawned, Islam pushed beyond the borders of the Middle East and northern Africa-with Spain as its primary foothold in the West. This two-part series guides viewers through that extraordinary period, examining the faith and culture of Mohammed as civilizing forces poised to dominate much of Europe. Presented by celebrated author Bettany Hughes, these programs document a wealth of textual and architectural evidence that reorients traditional views of Islam, Christianity, and the landscape on which they coexisted for centuries. 2-part series, 50-53 minutes each.
#3296 Great Britain - When Ireland Starved (Run time min.) DVD $359.8
"The ruin is great and complete. They are prostrate and helpless. The once frolicsome people, the saucy beggars...have disappeared and given place to wan and haggard objects who are so resigned to their doom that they no longer expect relief. One beholds only shrunken frames, scarcely covered with flesh, crawling skeletons, who appear to have risen from their graves." These are the words of a doctor writing at the height of the Great Irish Famine-undoubtedly the event with the most far-flung effects in Irish history. This series traces its causes, follows its unfolding, and examines its results. 4-part series, 26 minutes each.
#7623 Medieval History - The Medieval Mind (Run time min.) DVD $359.8
The philosophy, art, literature, and theology of Western Civilization can find their roots in the fervent and fertile Middle Ages. This four-part series helps belie the notion of the Dark Ages by examining the complex worldview of the medieval mind through its religious personages, institutions, and poetry. Original BBC broadcast series title: A Strange Landscape. 4-part series, 50 minutes each.
#7559 Eastern Europe - Eastern Europe: Political Powder Keg (Run time min.) DVD $389.85
This three-part series provides an in-depth look at the troubled history of a part of the world that has served as a linchpin and tinderbox for much of the 20th century. The programs use rare archival footage to trace events from 1900 to the fall of Communism and the rise of democracy. 3-part series, 55-59 minutes each.
#7864 European Studies - Stalin and Hitler: Dangerous Liaisons (Run time min.) DVD $389.85
The dissimilarities between Communism and National Socialism are today recognized as largely rhetorical. The differences are predominantly national, and both states strived to achieve the same goal: European domination. This three-part series examines the compelling evidence that Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany were closer allies than either could or would acknowledge. Using startling archival information temporarily declassified after the Soviet Union's collapse, these programs present details of the true motives behind the Stalin/Hitler alliance. 3-part series, 51 minutes each.
#3716 Great Britain - Exploring the Celtic Lands (Run time min.) DVD $449.75
The great Celtic world once stretched from Germany to Spain, from Italy to Britain. Although they were pushed to remote areas along the European Atlantic seaboard, the Celts have left their imprint widely; at the same time, Celts absorbed into their own the culture of the areas into which they moved. These programs cover a broad range of culture and history to show the unique heritage of the Celts. 5-part series, 30 minutes each.
#39407 European Studies - The Art of Spain: From the Moors to Modernism (Run time min.) DVD $449.85
From the Rock of Gibraltar to Basque country, this sweeping three-part series reveals the richness of Spanish art and architectural history. Renowned critic and scholar Andrew Graham-Dixon travels northward across the country, illustrating its heritage of Islamic, Judaic, and Christian culture through the reference points of great paintings, sculptures, and buildings. As the series progresses from the medieval age to the modern era, viewers will improve their understanding of the route by which Spain's aesthetic landscape developed-and impacted our own. Contains some objectionable language and images. Original BBCW broadcast title: The Art of Spain. 3-part series, 51-52 minutes each.
#37170 European Studies - Crossroads: Inside the European Union (Run time min.) DVD $539.7
Europe is undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis. What will the "new" Europe look like? This six-part series presents an incisive portrait of a continent that has become a vibrant tapestry of racial and ethnic identities as well as a political, economic, and cultural pressure cooker. Combining detailed research, on-location filming across the European Union, interviews with policy makers and immigration experts, and reports from inside isolated minority communities, the series reveals many of the challenges facing the EU in the age of globalization. 6-part series, 27 minutes each.
#2692 Great Britain - London: The Making of a City (Run time min.) DVD $539.7
These programs cover the history of London from its founding by the Romans about 2000 years ago through the end of the 19th century, chronicling a growth that parallels the growth of England from its first written records (in Latin) through Queen Victoria's passage across the city (on film): a story that parallels the history of the English language and the development of English literature; the history of England and the changing roles of its ruling, merchant, and working classes; and the history of this, one of the most fascinating cities on Earth, which is the history of the development of urban life itself. With in-depth visits to London's multitudinous hoard of relics, remains, and living monuments, these programs provide a vital backdrop to the study of the literature, history, and sociology of the English-speaking peoples. 6-part series, 20 minutes each.
#8391 European Studies - The Hapsburgs (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
The history of the Hapsburg dynasty, which spanned more than 600 years, is synonymous with the history of Europe from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. This epic, four-part series presents the seminal events of the dynasty-from its founding by Rudolph I in 1273 to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Using on-site footage, documents, and in-depth historical analysis, each segment of this stunning series re-creates the historical period to provide an overview of the events and family that forged modern Europe. 4-part series, 53 minutes each.
#30641 European Studies - The Wandering Tribes of Europe (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
This spectacular four-part series takes an in-depth look at the history of Europe's wandering tribes: their migrations in search of land, their ensuing clashes with the Romans and the Huns, and their adoption, over time, of Christianity. Dramatic reenactments, computer-generated re-creations of period architecture, maps, images of anthropological and historical artifacts, and insights from leading scholars create a compelling picture of life and death in ancient and early medieval Europe. 4-part series, 52 minutes each.
#34150 Medieval History - Europe in the Middle Ages: A Way Out of Darkness (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
This stunning four-part series uses living history to explore the Four Estates of the Middle Ages. Through brilliant reenactments and elaborate reconstructions, the environments and activities of monks, knights, peasants, and burghers come to life. Imbued with fresh, detailed historical perspective, Europe in the Middle Ages suggests a reinterpretation of the Dark Ages as a period of cultural revolution. Portions are in other languages with English subtitles. 4-part series, 53 minutes each.
#7047 European Studies - The Europeans (Run time min.) DVD $629.65
This seven-part series provides a comprehensive study of the major epochs in European history-from the Greeks and Romans to the fall of communism. Colorful and dramatic, each program focuses on major historical events that shaped present-day Europe and the lives of its people. 7-part series, 23-26 minutes each.
#3278 Great Britain - Seven Ages of Fashion (Run time min.) DVD $629.65
Fashion is a mirror of political and social change-in short, a reflection of history. These programs show 400 years of British history, from the time of Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II, reflecting through fashion the enormous changes between the time that Henry VIII forbade women to wear hats to the time when Mary Quant hiked hemlines to the hip. 7-part series, 26 minutes each.
#3313 Great Britain - The Industrial Revolution (Run time min.) DVD $649.75
This series is a basic survey of the Industrial Revolution where it began and where it has had the most striking effects: Britain. The programs follow a case study approach to industry, transportation, and settlement. Their purpose is to provide a basic understanding of the chronology of the main events and the relationships between them. 5-part series, 20 minutes each.
#35813 Great Britain - Kings and Queens of England (Run time min.) DVD $779.7
Although Shakespeare's Richard III boasts that "the king's name is a tower of strength," English history shows how easily the tower crumbles. This six-part series chronicles the royal pageantry and power struggle that have scarred and ennobled the "scepter'd isle" for nearly a millennium. From the Battle of Hastings to the budget battles of today's monarchy, these programs delve into the machinations behind centuries of spilled blood, drained treasuries, and broken alliances-yielding remarkable insight into the past and future of a fragile institution. 6-part series, 45-47 minutes each.
#11056 Medieval History - Mystic Women of the Middle Ages (Run time min.) DVD $779.7
From the 12th century to the 15th, women throughout Europe dedicated their lives to God by founding communes, becoming anchoresses, and even leading armies. In the course of doing so, many challenged the medieval Church and its male hierarchy, and as a result, some were recognized for their contributions while others were labeled as heretics. This six-part series presents the legacy of medieval women who challenged society through their visions, teachings, and writings, and who continue to provoke discussion today. 6-part series, 24 minutes each.
#1953 Medieval History - Europe in the Middle Ages (Run time min.) DVD $909.65
A seven-part series that documents life and events across Western Europe during the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the achievements of late medieval-or early Renaissance-culture. Magnificent to watch, the programs intercut art and artifacts with meticulously documented dramatic reenactments of life among ordinary men, in the monasteries, and at the courts. 7-part series, 31-43 minutes each.
