Alistair Cooke's America

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
A classic from what now seems like the Golden Age of TV documentaries, Alistair Cooke’s America was first broadcast in 1972-3 and it remains, along with the contemporary The World at War, an example of how documentaries should be made: there’s none of the flashy editing, wobbly camera-work, over-intrusive music or costumed actors prancing around in the mode of Simon Schama’s fussy History of Britain for example. Here there is just scenery, the odd map or illustration and—most importantly—Cooke himself talking directly and unhurriedly to camera. Over 13 leisurely hours, he narrates a "personal history" of his adopted country, beginning with his own arrival as a fresh young Cambridge graduate in the 1930s before taking us back to the very foundations of America, its colonisation, the war of Independence (told in an admirably non-partisan way) and so on through momentous and turbulent decades right up to the early 1970s, where Civil Rights and protest movements are high on the agenda.

Throughout, Cooke interweaves anecdotes and digressions into the main narrative, charming the viewer with his storytelling precisely in the manner so beloved of listeners to his admirable Letter from America. By the end he has a warning that, although delivered in 1973, remains as telling today as it did then: America, like Ancient Rome as depicted by Gibbon in his Decline and Fall, stands poised between its remarkable vitality and its equally remarkable capacity for decadence. Whether, like Rome, the USA becomes a victim of its own internal divisions or somehow manages to pull back from the brink still remains to be seen.

On the DVD: This four-disc set is neatly presented in digipack format, and includes a Pebble Mill at One interview with Cooke in which he discusses the series. --Mark Walker

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Customer reviews

review by: The Speechwriter date: 2008-08-16 rating:
Bold, authoritative and gripping
I've had three great American experiences this year. The first was visiting New York and Washington for the first time. The second was reading Paul Johnson's History of the American People. The third was watching Alistair Cooke's 1972 Personal History. I'm glad I read Johnson's tome first, because it's a long read, Cooke provides the breathtaking pictures: the buildings, the landscape, the people.

I sat through the episodes with a notebook because I was so in awe of Cooke's nonchalant and deft storytelling technique. He always finds a quotation or an anecdote to illustrate his point. He uses the English language beautifully and he conveys the sufferings and the triumphs of a great nation.

So much I didn't know, so many places I'd now like to visit. I love the 70s feel to it, and since many years have passed since it was broadcast, you see how wrong a commentator can be about predicting the future, while at the same time showing an acute sensitivity to how the past has shaped contemporary events. Along with the World at War and Civilisation, every educated Briton should watch this DVD.

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review by: date: 2007-05-14 rating:
Superb - engaging and authoritative
I've rented this and watched it with my wife. I can genuinely say that it is compelling. I echo the statements made by others concerning the brilliance of Cooke's presentation - it is the 'personal history' claimed in the title. The style is at times detached - as you'd expect of a historian - yet is never cold. Although made 35 years ago, by the nature of its content, little has obviously aged in a manner that makes it feel out of date or irrelevant. It's only as you reach the last episode when Cooke looks at the USA of that time - the 1970's - that you realise that a great deal has happened since. If only he had been commissioned to provide one additional episode later in his life, when the Cold War was behind us, replaced by the modern threats we know only too well.

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review by: date: 2005-11-13 rating:
The Greatest documentary of them all!
Without doubt this is the finest documentary I have ever seen. This is Alistair Cooke at his most regal best. A perfect Christmas present. If I had to live on a desert island and could take only one DVD this would be it.

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review by: date: 2005-10-28 rating:
At Last -- Cooke's Superb Series
I fell in love with this series when it was first shown on American television in 1972-1973. I was fifteen years old, mad about history, and immediately embraced this marvelous narrative accompanied by location visits, old paintings and prints, and period music. When videotapes of television series began to be sold, I would have gladly paid almost any price for AMERICA, but it was sold only to libraries and educational institutions. I unashamedly borrowed the series from the library and copied it off for my own use and played the tapes over and over until they were worn out. Now I have had the opportunity to legitimately purchase the series, and what a beautiful job has been done on the episodes: the color is bright and beautiful and the sound impressive for a 30+ year old series. I have watched this series so many times and am now seeing details that only a clear picture can provide. Thank you, BBC, for finally making my dreams come true!


review by: date: 2005-08-20 rating:
Alastair Cooke's "America"
This major piece of television was produced in the early 1970's and was billed as "A Personal History of the USA" by Alastair Cooke. It has aged very well and indeed should be compulsory viewing for the modern documentary maker as it is a classic in terms of style and presentation. Modern TV programmes feature presenters making one line pieces to camera and then moving off stage right. Cooke is a natural teacher - he talks to the camera without notes, without autocue, and he talks with great authority, like a favourite uncle. He speakes for several minutes at a time - mostly fluently but sometimes with the odd fluff or stumble which you tolerate as it makes it feel more conversational. Like his famous "Letter from America" - he is talking to you, the viewer, as if you are the only person in his sphere. The content is fascinating and it certainly has helped this reviewer's understanding of the history of the USA - the men and women who moved west in the late 19th century and carved a life out of a virgin land; the constitution, the relationship beteween the federal government and the states,the inventors like Edison and John Deere; the money men like Vanderbilt and JP Morgan; the philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie.

This is classic stuff - and highly recommended. It was made by the BBC when they made excellent series like this one, as well as "Civilisation" by Kenneth Clark and Jacob Bronowski's "Ascent of Man". It seems to me that today only David Attenborough can hold a candle to any of these giants and we, the licence payer of the BBC are all the poorer for it.

Rent it, buy it, but above all - watch it!

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