The Civil War.

WARD, Geoffrey C..

Item Number: 112298

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

First edition of this work, basis for the documentary film bearing the same name. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by Ken Burns on the title page, “To Bob with thanks and best wishes Ken Burns.” Additionally signed by historians Shelby Foote, James McPherson and David McCullough, who were each instrumental in this groundbreaking documentary. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. The Civil War includes essays by our most distinguished historians of the era: Don E. Fehrenbacher, on the war’s origins; Barbara J. Fields, on the freeing of the slaves; Shelby Foote, on the war’s soldiers and commanders; James M. McPherson, on the political dimensions of the struggle; and C. Vann Woodward, assessing the America that emerged from the war’s ashes. A unique example signed by these historians, rare and desirable as Foote did not make himself available for book signings.

When the illustrated edition of The Civil War was first published, The New York Time hailed it as "a treasure for the eye and mind." The Civil War is a 1990 American television documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from September 23 to 28, 1990. More than 39 million viewers tuned in to at least one episode, and viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. A companion book to the documentary was released shortly after the series aired. Mathew Brady's photographs inspired Burns to make The Civil War, which (in nine episodes totaling more than 10 hours) explores the war's military, social, and political facets through some 16,000 contemporary photographs and paintings, and excerpts from the letters and journals of persons famous and obscure. The series' slow zooming and panning across still images was later termed the "Ken Burns effect". Burns combined these images with modern cinematography, music, narration by David McCullough, anecdotes and insights from authors such as Shelby Foote, historians Barbara J. Fields, Ed Bearss, and Stephen B. Oates; and actors reading contemporary quotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Walt Whitman, Stonewall Jackson, and Frederick Douglass, as well as diaries by Mary Chesnut, Sam Watkins, Elisha Hunt Rhodes and George Templeton Strong and commentary from James W. Symington. A large cast of actors voiced correspondence, memoirs, news articles, and stood in for historical figures from the Civil War. Production ran five years. The film was co-produced by Ken's brother Ric Burns, written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ric Burns, edited by Paul Barnes with cinematography by Buddy Squires.