Challenge to SDN.net: History of Everything, in Video

[Broomstick]

One of my co-workers has a fascination with history, but between youth and a crappy public school system there are a lot of holes in his knowledge. He's also a child of the 21st Century, meaning he likes videos and documentaries rather than, say, reading On the Origins of Species by Charles Darwin in the original text format (frankly, that was a slog even for a power reader such as myself). He definitely likes science and technology, but real history in general seems to hold a fascination.

This has led me to attempting to construct an outline of history with references to various movies/films/documentaries I can recommend (not just to him - I run into people like this from time to time). And I'd like to issue the challenge to SDN.net to come up with the same. The videos don't have to be absolutely and completely true, but based on reality, no violations of physical laws, and a decent introduction to various events and discoveries are the requirements. Ease of understanding for the layperson with little background is a plus.

For example, Apollo 13 or The Right Stuff are not wholly accurate in all details but either would serve as an introduction to the events depicted. Space Cowboys, while a very fun movie, would NOT make the list being wholly fictional and occasionally stupid in places. Tora! Tora! Tora! was the recommendation for learning about Pearl Harbor.

And, for my own purposes I'm going to include books because, what the hell, I like them. (The works of Charles Darwin are on the list, for instance). This is no longer about the co-worker but also for my own amusement in assembling a list of such things for the History of Everything from the Big Bang to Now.

Suggestions, anyone? Non-American contributions are welcome (actually, very strongly desired) as long as there are English translations.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Neil deGrasse Tyson's incarnation of Cosmos is a great overview of not just scientific concepts, but also the actual history of the development of science. It sounds like it would be right up your co-worker's alley.

Band of Brothers is an excellent dramatized introduction to (the American perspective of) WWII. If he's ready for something heavier, Ken Burns' The War, which of course is purely non-fiction. Ken Burns' other work is also generally great for all manner of American history.

HBO's Rome is beautiful. Definitely recommended. Bits and pieces are fictionalized of course, but that seems to fit the criteria.

[SCRawl]

How about James Burke's works? You can find "Connections" and "The Day the Universe Changed" on Youtube these days. Great stuff.

[Thanas]

HBO's Rome is beautiful. Definitely recommended. Bits and pieces are fictionalized of course, but that seems to fit the criteria.

Nope. Not Rome.

Andrew Marr's history of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Mar ... _the_World
Eight episodes and you know more than most people.

[madd0ct0r]

Seconded for Andrew marr. Each episodepulls together key themes and events around the world with the emphasis on how they explain each other. It's more then a timeline, it's a story, and a delight to watch

[Terralthra]

John Green's YouTube series "Crash Course in..." is fairly good.

[Darmalus]

John Green's YouTube series "Crash Course in..." is fairly good.

I was about to suggest that, but was beaten to it. So have a link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 2FB1EF80C9

[Broomstick]

That's great for general overall history. Any specific suggestions for

- WWI
- WWII
- space exploration
- ancient (pre-AD) history

[HMS Sophia]

That's great for general overall history. Any specific suggestions for
- space exploration

the BBC series 'Space Race'. It's a four part dramatised history of everything from the flying of the V-2 to the Moon Landing. Not entirely accurate, for instance it treats Glushko as Korolev's arch-nemesis, but pretty fair to both sides. And certainly incredibly interesting thanks to being a dramatisation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race_(TV_series)
It's also, joyfully, available on youtube and each part is only 50 minutes. And it has lots of pretty CGI of rockets.

[LadyTevar]

The BBC's "Walking With ...." series covers Dinosaurs, Ancient beasts, and other fun topics.

Terry Jones (of Python fame) did several Historical Documentaries: "The Surprising History of ... (Egypt, Rome, Sex & Love)"; "Terry Jones' Medieval Lives"; "Crusades"; "Ancient Inventions"; "Terry Jones' Barbarians", "Terry Jones' Great Map Mystery"; "The Story of 1" (mathematical based)

[Alyrium Denryle]

- WWI

PBS did a HUGE series on WWI a while back that I find to be very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtdSoe ... h8tfLdyewH

- WWII

Ken Burns "The War" was really good. Available on Netflix. If one looks for a good fictionalized account of Submarine warfare and a nuanced look at the Kriegsmarine, Das Boot (I use it to practice my German). The BBC also has Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State for the Holocaust, and there is another one called Homo Sapiens 1900, for a history of Eugenics.

- ancient (pre-AD) history

There is SO MUCH. I dont even... OK.

First thing is first. There is a disturbingly good fan-made documentary (well, the narration is unpracticed, but accurate) on the first punic war. Linking it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Qdf75r_3I

Then there is Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire, which is a set of narrated docudramas

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... sq7LKpCgOC

Pompeii The Last Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlZ-SGfp6Os

Another one on the Colloseum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR8H4mWItlk

and that is just Rome. Because I am a Eurocentrist.

If your friend speaks German (mine is not good enough for this, for instance), there is Die Deutschen, if you want a good look at the history of what would one day be Germany.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 635A09DB06

I could go on and on and on.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Note: Eurocentrist when it comes to my knowledge of history. It is just where I focus my time. Not some ideological belief in the primacy of europe or anything odd like that.

[Gandalf]

David Christian's TED talk.

He does the history of the universe in eighteen minutes, through the idea of "big history."

[Thanas]

Rome The rise and fall of an empire is a decent first look. However, it suffers from believing too much in sources - like when it comes to Stilicho and Attila - and the dramatization is bad. Like, really really bad.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Rome The rise and fall of an empire is a decent first look. However, it suffers from believing too much in sources - like when it comes to Stilicho and Attila - and the dramatization is bad. Like, really really bad.

Oh god is the dramatization bad. But it is bad to the point that it is enjoyable in itself. On the other hand, it goes into some of the historical figures that you dont hear much about in the usual docs.

[LaCroix]

It's more on the funny/childish side, but BBC's "Horrible Histories" do cover a lot of fact, usually random trivia about an era which you won't find in the mainstream documentaries, in small sketches. Does certainly not replace the mentions above in terms of volume and quality, but always entertaining and educating.

It's also worth mentioning that this series definitely meets the criteria of "History of Everything"...

[Zixinus]

In terms of science history I have one strong suggestion:

The Ascent of Man documentary series made by the BBC and narrated by Jacob Bronowski. It is a mix of history of ideology, science, philosophy and examined the history of humankind trough the greater changes of them. It is a bit old and perhaps hard to get (it is online though, I can guarantee that). However the presenter is very intelligent and having a history in doing radio-documentary, narrates and explains with an excellence and passion that some of today's narrators should take example of.

[Captain Seafort]

I can't believe that the thread's gone on this long without a mention of The World at War.

[Alyrium Denryle]

There are some really good ones on the history of science and medicine. Basically, get on youtube and look for documentaries presented by one Michael Mosley. He does a number of really good ones. He is a Psychiatrist by training, but decided not to practice after medical school, so unlike a LOT of science documentaries, the presenter actually knows what they are talking about and there is some delightful self-experimentation that goes on...

Pain Pus and Poison: The Search for Modern Medicines
The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion
The Brain: A Secret History
Blood and Guts (which is the history of Surgery)

There are a few others.

[Thanas]

And everybody should really watch "Racism, a history" from the BBC. Three parts and it should be mandatory viewing for any westerner.

[Ziggy Stardust]

How far is this person willing to go to do follow-up research on topics of interest? For example, there are a number of books I can think of that are highly entertaining, but ultimately trivial or niche in scope that can act as good launching off points for someone who is determined to learn more about the topic through their own impetus. For example, Michael Farquhar has a series of books that are essentially just collections of funny, bizarre, or interesting historical anecdotes that in and of themselves don't cover a whole lot of history, but I have found are a good way to get people interested in a particular topic. His book on the British royalty sparked my own binge of research that led to reading more detailed and studious histories.

[Broomstick]

At this point it's impossible to say how motivated he would be. Basically, a half dozen examples of decent, general history, maybe specific 20th Century topics, would be a good start. If he stays interested he'll probably follow up. If not... well, basic knowledge is better than no knowledge.

Inclusion of niche sources might still be of interest to me and others here, though.

[StandingInFire]

I always found "History Bites" quite entertaining, teaching some history through comedy, has quite a bit on Canada/North American history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_Bites

[TOSDOC]

The Bounty (1984, with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson) is probably the most faithful movie to history I have in my Age of Sail movie collection.

I remember being impressed by James Stewart's 1957 portrayal of Lindbergh in The Spirit of Saint Louis while working on a class project for aviation.

Rommel's Infantry Attacks was the most compelling read for me about WWI. From WWII, I got into C.S. Forester while reading the Hornblower series, and his account of the Bismark and the subsequent 1960 film Sink The Bismark film was very interesting.

For the space race, I submit HBO's From The Earth To The Moon.

[Broomstick]

I had a chance to talk to him yesterday, and he said he'd be interested in starting with WWII so tomorrow I'll have a short list of that for him.

Even so - keep the suggestions coming, I find I'm interested in some of these myself.