A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Episode Three: The River Styx (January 1964-December 1965) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick With South Vietnam in chaos, hardliners in Hanoi seize the initiative and send combat troops to the South, accelerating the insurgency. Fearing Saigon's collapse, President Johnson escalates America's military commitment, authorizing sustained bombing of the North and deploying ground troops in the South. - from The Vietnam War's Episode List On September 19, 2017, 300 PBS affiliates across the U.S. aired "The River Styx (January 1964-December 1965)," Episode Three of The Vietnam War,  a 10-part documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ( The War, Prohibition ). Produced by Burns, Novick, and Sarah Botstein, this 18-hour examination of one of the most divisive events in modern American history was 10 years in the making. It features interviews of participants from all sides, including civilians and veter

Episode Two: Riding the Tiger (1961-1963) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick President Kennedy inspires idealistic young Americans to serve their country and wrestles with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic Diem regime faces a growing communist insurgency and widespread Buddhist protests, a grave political crisis unfolds. - from The Vietnam War 's Episode List On September 18, 2017, PBS stations across the U.S. aired "Riding the Tiger (1961-1963), Episode Two of  The Vietnam War,  a 10-part documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ( The War, Prohibition ). Produced by Burns, Novick, and Sarah Botstein, this 18-hour exploration of one of the most divisive events in modern American history was 10 years in the making. It features interviews of participants from all sides, including civilians and veterans from North and South Vietnam. (Hence the series’ tagline: “There is no sing

Episode One: Déjà Vu (1858-1961) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick After a long and brutal war, Vietnamese revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end nearly a century of French colonial occupation. With the Cold War intensifying, Vietnam is divided in two. Communists in the North aim to reunify the country, while America supports Ngo Dinh Diem’s untested regime in the South. – from The Vietnam War’ s Episode List. On September 17, 2017, PBS premiered “Déjà Vu (1858-1961),” Episode One of The Vietnam War, a 10-part documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick ( The War, Prohibition ). Produced by Burns, Novick, and Sarah Botstein, this 18-hour exploration of one of the most divisive events in modern American history was 10 years in the making. It features interviews of participants from all sides, including civilians and veterans from North and South Vietnam. (Hence the series’ tagline: “There is no single truth in war.”

(C) 2017 Public Broadcasting Service and Florentine Films "I never make films about things I know about. I make films about things I want to know about." - Ken Burns on Twitter, September 11, 2017.  On Sunday, September 17, The Vietnam War, a 10-part, 18-hour-long documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, premiered on PBS with the episode "Deja Vu: 1858-1961." Written by Burns' frequent collaborator, historian Geoffrey C. Ward, this epic series seeks to explore a complex and still divisive topic - the Vietnam War.  Two days later, PBS Distribution released The Vietnam War on DVD and Blu-ray even though the series is still (as of this writing) in progress. PBS affiliates all over the country will air "Resolve: January 1966 - June 1967"  tonight, although some PBS members are already able to stream the series as part of their paid supporter's perks. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's ten-part, 18-hour documentary series, THE V

(C) 2007, Alfred A. Knopf On September 23, 2007, PBS aired A Necessary War,  Episode One of Ken Burns' seven-part series The War. Co-written by Burns and historian Geoffrey C. Ward, The War is a 14-hour look at World War II and how it affected the U.S. through the experiences of four geographically-distributed towns in America - Luverne, Minnesota; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; and Sacramento, California. 12 days earlier, Alfred A. Knopf had published a companion book, The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945. The 408-page hardcover was co-written by Ward ( Before the Trumpet: Young Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1905 ) and filmmaker Burns. (Ward and Burns have co-written five books and collaborated on many documentaries since 1990's The Civil War, including Baseball, Jazz, Prohibition, and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. ) The vivid voices that speak from these pages are not those of historians or scholars. They are the voices of ordinary men and women who