Product Description
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Ken Burns American Lives (7 Disc Gift Set) - Ken Burns American
Lives Collection is a compilation of seven outstanding
biographies and stories of some of America's most celebrated
pioneers and historical events. Programming in this series began
with Thomas Jefferson in 1997 and concludes with Unforgivable
Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson in 2005. The 7-disc
Gift Set collection includes:
- Thomas Jefferson (1997)
- Lewis and Clark (1997)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (1998)
- Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony (1999)
- Mark Twain (2002)
- Horatio's Drive (2003)
- Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
(2005)
Set Contains:
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Thomas Jefferson
Revered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the
most sacred document in American history, yet condemned as a
lifelong owner of slaves, THOMAS JEFFERSON remains the enigma
that is America. A young Thomas Jefferson from the Virginia
wilderness is transformed by the fire of the Enlightened into his
countrys most articulate voice for human liberty. Torn between
serene family life at Monticello and his passion for politics,
Jefferson suffers heartrending personal loss, even as he gives
voice to a new era of democratic government. He then journeys to
Paris as U.S. Minister to France for George Washington and
supports the rising French Revolution. Returning from France,
Jefferson strives to preserve the new, fragile American
government and helps create the first political party through his
bitter struggles with the Federalists. As third President of the
United States, he doubles the size of the country with the
Louisiana Purchase, but faces controversy and scandal, finally
retiring to his beloved Monticello. His last years are spent
founding the University of Virginia and re-establishing his
friendship with John Adams. By the end of his remarkable life, he
had advanced the cause of religious, political and intellectual
freedom everywhere and had changed the course of human events.
Lewis & Clark
It was the most important expedition in American history, led by
two utterly different men -- the brilliant but troubled
Meriwether Lewis and his friend, the outgoing and steadfast
William Clark. With them, were an African-American slave; the
Shoshone woman, Sacagawea; French-Canadian boatmen; a crew of
young American army soldiers -- even a Newfoundland dog. Charged
in 1803 with locating the mythical Northwest Passage to the
Pacific, this intrepid band of explorers instead discovered a
varied and breathtaking landscape and encountered a dizzying
diversity of Indian peoples. Drawing from the magnificent
journals and stories from Indian oral tradition, the film
recreates the real-life adventure of the Lewis and Clark
expedition.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was the greatest of all American architects.
He was an authentic American genius, a man who believed he was
destined to redesign the world, creating everything anew. Over
the course of his long career, Wright designed over eight hundred
buildings, including such revolutionary structures as the
Guggenheim Museum, the Johnson Was Building, Fallingwater, Unity
Temple, and Taliesin. Wright's buildings and his ideas changed
the way we live, work and see the world around us. Frank Lloyd
Wright's architectural achievements were often overshadowed by
the turbulence of his melodramatic life. In ninety-two years, he
hered seven children, married three times, and was almost
constantly embroiled in scandal. Some hated him, some loved him,
but in the end, few could deny that he was the most important
architect in America -- and perhaps the world. With exquisite
live cinematography, fascinating interviews, and rare archival
footage, this riveting film brings Wright's unforgettable story
to life.
Not For Ourselves Alone: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B.
Anthony
Two women. One allegiance. Together they fought for women
everywhere, and their strong willpower and sheer determination
still ripples through contemporary society. Here lies the story
of two of our century's most celebrated pioneers Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Recount the trials, tribulations
and triumphs of these two women as they strive to give birth to
the women's movement. Not until their deaths was their shared
vision of women's suffrage realized. A powerful historical
introspective.
Mark Twain
Samuel Clemens rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods
of Missouri to become, as Mark Twain, Americas best-known and
best-loved author. Considered in his time as the funniest man on
earth, Twain was also an unflinching critic of human nature who
used his humor to attack hypocrisy, greed and racism. He created
some of the worlds most memorable characters as well as its most
quoted sayings. And, in his often-misunderstood novel Huckleberry
Finn, he brought forth a masterpiece that Ernest Hemingway called
the true beginning of American Literature.
This remarkable film tells the story of Twains extraordinary
life full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and
crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and almost unbearable tragedy.
With fascinating interviews of Hal Holbrook, Arthur Miller,
William Styron and many others, the story is told primarily
through the words of Twain himself, so viewers of all ages can be
personally introduced to this compelling yet contradictory
genius, who said with some justification, "I am not an American,
I am the American."
Horatio's Drive
Horatio's Drive recounts the simultaneously inspirational and
hilarious saga of Horatio Nelson Jackson, an eccentric Vermont
doctor, who in 1903 - on a visionary whim and a 50-dollar bet -
became the first person to drive an automobile across the
continent, heralding the future of the "horseless carriage" as a
vehicle destined for more than inner-city travel and as a machine
that would transform American life.
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, a new
documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns, tells the story of the first
African-American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of
sports and his struggle, in and out of the ring, to live his life
as a free man.
This riveting two-part documentary follows Jack Johnsons
remarkable journey from his humble beginnings in Galveston,
Texas, as the son of former slaves, to his entry into the brutal
world of professional boxing, where, in turn-of-the century Jim
Crow America, the heavyweight champion was an exclusively "white
title." Despite the odds, Johnson was able to batter his way up
through the professional ranks, and in 1908 he became the first
African-American to earn the title Heavyweight Champion of the
World. Johnsons victory set in motion a worldwide search for a
Great White Hope to restore the title to the white race. And when
no one could be found to beat the champion in the ring, his own
government tried to destroy him in the courts, using his
relationships with white women as the excuse to prosecute him.
Determined to live his life regardless of the confines imposed by
his color, Jack Johnson emerges as a central figure in Americas
ongoing struggle to deal with the question of race.