Watch America: A Personal History of the United States(1972) Online Free, America: A Personal History of the United States All Seasons

Seasons & Episodes

EP1 The First Impact Nov 12, 1972

Alistair Cooke explains his own fascination with the United States of America and tells the story of how he first came to the US and tells of the country that he found.

EP2 The New Found Land Nov 19, 1972

Alistair Cooke travels back to the discovery of the American continent by the Europeans and follows the settlement of the Spanish in the Southern continent and the French in the far North of the continent and later their migration into their respective areas of a land now known as the United States.

EP3 Home From Home Nov 26, 1972

In this episode of the series, Cooke tracks the English venture into the New World during the 16th and 17th centuries, from the initial inspiration through to the landing at Jamestown and beyond...

EP4 Making a Revolution Dec 03, 1972

By the middle of the 18th century, the American nation was not a nation at all but a number of separately governed colonies. In this edition of America, Alistair Cooke explores the reasoning of the colonists in rising together against the British king and tells of the rise of a young colonial soldier called George Washington...

EP5 Inventing a Nation Dec 10, 1972

Upon winning the War of Independence, the American colonists returned to their own independent colonies and settled down but all was not well. In this edition of America, Alistair Cooke discusses the coming together of the 13 independent colonies to form a new United States of America and how the men now known as the "Founding Fathers" went about inventing a nation.

EP6 Gone West Dec 17, 1972

Cooke discusses where the West begins and how and why in the early 19th century the West was conquered by outsiders who, in the process of doing so, displaced the Native Americans.

EP7 A Firebell in the Night Dec 24, 1972

In this episode, Cooke travels to the Southern States to explore the world of the 19th century slave and the causes and effects of one of the bloodiest and bitterest wars in history - the American Civil War.

EP8 Domesticating A Wilderness Dec 31, 1972

In the 1840s over the crest of the Rockies there lay the first successful community West of the United States, the residents called it the City of the Saints, it's more commonly known as Salt Lake City. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Americans headed further West, Cooke follows in their footsteps...

EP9 Money on the Land Jan 07, 1972

In the late 19th century, Americans started getting rich through business and technology. Alistair Cooke explores the rise of industry in the United States.

EP10 The Huddled Masses Jan 14, 1973

Three quarters of the population of the United States who call themselves "the American people" are descendants of immigrants from Asia, Africa and, most of all, from Europe. What impact did the flood of immigrants to the US have at the beginning of the 20th century - Alistair Cooke takes an in-depth look.

EP11 The Promise Fulfilled and the Promise Broken Jan 21, 1972

This edition looks at the 1920s, which saw America go from an era of unparalelled prosperity to the severest economic depression ever known.

EP12 Arsenal Jan 28, 1973

This episode looks at the impact that warfare and the military has had on the history of America.

EP13 The More Abundant Life Feb 04, 1973

To give Americans a "more abundant life" was the stated aim of FDR's `New Deal' in the 1930s. Alistair Cooke travels from New England to Hawaii to consider if this was achieved.

8.6| 0h30m| en| More Info

Released: 12 November 1972 Ended

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Country: United States of America

Budget: 0

Revenue: 0

Official Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ffbjg

Synopsis

First transmitted in 1972, Alistair Cooke's America was a series of thirteen, fifty-minute films in colour, written and narrated by Alistair Cooke. The programmes trace the history of the United States from the early voyages of discovery to the present.

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Reviews

LindaY I was in my junior year of high school when this was first broadcast by NBC (1972-1973). I was enthralled by Cooke's skill in imparting history without being dull or pedantic. Especially noted: the episode "Gone West," which brought home the sufferings of the pioneers who crossed the country via "shanks mare," horseback, and wagon, and "The First Impact" (which was the original first episode in the UK, but was broadcast twelfth in the US, with different opening narration), Cooke's portrait of the things that drew him to the US, including New Orleans jazz, the city of San Francisco, and fall color in Vermont. The only episode that fell a little flat even back then, and is very dated now, was the final part, in which Cooke examined "modern" society. It would have been better had he followed up on some critical issues of the 1950s and 1960s--the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the growing feminist movement--to bring it up to the present day. Otherwise the series still holds up, and should be released on DVD here in the States. I made do of copies of library VHS tapes for years and then bought the Region 2 version when it came out.

frankiehudson This is a thirteen hour epic, told by one of the great broadcasters of the twentieth century, Alistair Cooke. He was from Manchester, England, but went to America as a foreign correspondent just before the Great Depression and remained there ever after. His knowledge of America is vast.In England, we know him from his long-running (about fifty years) radio programme, Letters from America, a little fifteen minute gem, once a week on BBC radio. In that programme he spoke about various matters in America, all in an off-the-cuff technique; it was like a 'fireside chat'. He had a unique, lovely voice, ideally suited for radio; his appearance on television is just as benign.Here, it has been transferred to television, with a series of one hour programmes covering the main features of American history. You'll learn about the Pilgrim Fathers, independence and the Philadelphia Convention, the Civil War, various other wars, the political system and so forth. It is a fascinating, relaxing programme, all accompanied by some fine background music.However, this series was made in 1972 and the DVD transfer seems to have had no re-mastering at all. It is scratchy and faded - dated.Alistair Cooke does preface this series with the line 'A Personal History' and in many ways it is so - he often brings in little anecdotes along the way, describing the places he's seen and the people he's met.It's all very interesting but, in my view, it has a long way to go to reach the heights of a Ken Burns masterpiece, such as his The West or The Civil War. Ken Burns' epic documentaries are on a different level altogether; they combine greater research and documentary pictures and interviews, with better, more haunting music. I would recommend The West.Of course, Alistair Cooke made his series twenty years before Ken Burns, and was a pioneer in his own way; perhaps he inspired Burns.