A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 2014 Random House Audio, Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL), and The Walt Disney Company. Illustrations by Nicolas Delort The year 2017 marks the 40th (Ruby) Anniversary of the theatrical debut of writer-director George Lucas's space-fantasy film Star Wars, aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. In honor of the occasion, many of the storied franchise's licensees have released enough 40th Anniversary merchandise to fill a Star Destroyer's cargo hold.  As a result, Marvel Comics, Del Rey Books, and even smaller publishers like Quirk Books have published new Star Wars books, including Star Wars: Thrawn, Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View, and the long-awaited William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh, the latter two being published in October.  The Force Awakens gets the Ian Doescher treatment in   William Shakespeare's The Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh (C) 2017 Quirk Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  Random House A

Episode Nine: A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick South Vietnamese forces fighting on their own in Laos suffer a terrible defeat. Massive U.S. airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive. After being re-elected in a landslide, Nixon announces Hanoi has agreed to a peace deal. American prisoners of war will finally come home - to a bitterly divided country. - from The Vietnam War 's Episode List On September 27, 2017, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) aired "A Disrespectful Loyalty (May 1970-March 1973), the ninth episode of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's The Vietnam War. Produced by Burns, Novick, and Sarah Botstein, this 10-part documentary series is an attempt to explain, as best as possible, one of the most tragic and controversial events in American history. A decade in the making, The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn

Episode Eight: The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns & Lynn Novick With morale plunging in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinkable massacre committed by American soldiers, the public debates the rectitude of the war. An incursion into Cambodia reignites antiwar protests with tragic consequences. - from The Vietnam War 's Episode List On September 26, 2017,   PBS premiered "The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970),” Episode Eight 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

(C) 2017 Alfred A. Knopf  Books; Cover art by Public Broadcasting Service On September 5, 2017, almost two weeks before The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick premiered on TV's Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Alfred A. Knopf published the companion book, The Vietnam War: An Intimate History. Co-written by the series' writer, Geoffrey C. Ward, and producer-director Ken Burns, this 640-page volume brings the tragedy of the Vietnam War back to life on the printed page with the same sense of historical sweep as the 10-part documentary it complements. The Vietnam War was more than a Cold War-era clash of arms fought mainly by the U.S. and its South Vietnamese allies against the Communist-led government of North Vietnam and its guerrilla allies of the National Liberation Front - known by Washington and Saigon as the Viet Cong - in the South. It was that, of course, but the war was also the most divisive event in American history since the Civil War of the m

Episode Seven: "The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward Directed by: Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions and wrenching moral choices. After police battle with demonstrators in the streets of Chicago, Richard Nixon wins the presidency, promising law and order at home and peace overseas. In Vietnam the war goes on, and soldiers on all sides witness terrible savagery and unflinching courage. - from The Vietnam War's Episode List.  On September 25, 2017, 300 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations aired "The Veneer of Civilization (June 1968-May 1969)," Episode Seven of directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's The Vietnam War. This epic 10-part documentary series is an in-depth exploration of one of the most divisive and controversial conflicts in American history. It is a "from the bottom-up" narrative told from the per