Educational Media Reviews Online

One word comes to mind when viewing this series: perfect. This is a complete account of the military history of the War of 1812. The series meticulously examines the war’s causes, principals, strategies (and blunders), and its legacy. It captures the viewers’ interest by presenting personal accounts of the war and how these individual personalities reflected and affected its outcome. The series pays particular attention to the motivations of principals through close examination of primary documents, such as personal letters and military communiqués. The film deserves particular praise for its extensive examination of the role and vision of Chief Tecumseh.

The War of 1812 is replete with vast reenactments with countless ornate costumes. This series could hold its own against any Hollywood production in terms of cinematography. Viewers are shown animated maps of military movement, images of the aforementioned primary documents, superb artwork of the events, and footage of the sites of the various battles as they exist today. The writing of this documentary is very lean. Each piece of narration, depiction, and even each aside, adds value to the progression of this historical account. With such a large undertaking, it would be easy for the documentary to wander, but it does not. This series admirably strikes the rare balance between comprehensiveness and conciseness.

It should be noted that volumes 2, 3, and 4 of this four volume series each begin with a brief synopsis of the previous volume. Each volume could, therefore, be viewed as an independent work, but doing so would deny the viewer of the great information and insight offered in the companion volumes.

This is simply an outstanding piece of work. It is difficult to conceive of a better documentary of the War of 1812. This film earns the utmost recommendation for all those interested in American history, aged high school and higher.