TV Documentary Review: 'Liberty! The American Revolution'
On November 23, 1997, the 300 member stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) aired The Reluctant Revolutionaries, the first episode of Liberty! The American Revolution, a six-part miniseries about the American Revolutionary War (1775-1781) and the birth of the United States of America. Written by Ronald Blumer ( The U.S. Constitution, Benjamin Franklin ) and co-directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer ( Benjamin Franklin ), Liberty! is an earnest if a somewhat superficial attempt to explore America's War of Independence, its root causes. and its long-lasting impact on American, British, and world history. Featuring an all-star cast of Hollywood and Broadway stars (some of whom were just starting out) and a team of American and British historians, including Pauline Maier, Ron Hoffman, Gordon S. Wood, Richard Norton Smith, John Keegan, Jeremy Black, and Nicholas A.M. Rodger, the miniseries portrays the tumultuous 25-year period between 1763 and 1788 through a mix of li...