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This is the first book-length study to critically examine the work of Ken Burns, the innovative producer-director as a television auteur, a pivotal programming influence within the industry, and a popular historian who portrays a uniquely personal and compelling version of the country's past for tens of millions of viewers nationwide. Ken Burns's America has a three-fold agenda: First it looks at the ideas and individuals that have influenced Burns in the creation of his easily-recognized style, as well as in the development and maturation of his ideological outlook. Second, the book gives readers a window on the Ken Burns production machine. Gary Edgerton shows us the inner working of Florentine Films. Finally, he looks at Burns as a popular historian who reevaluates the nation's historical legacy from a new generational perspective and, in the process, becomes one of the major cultural commentators of our era. The volume finally takes the full measure of the man and the industry he has helped to create.
List of contents
Rebirth of a Nation: Reframing The Civil War (1990) on Prime Time Television Life Lessons: Learning the Basics on Brooklyn Bridge (1982) Variations on a Theme: American Originals, Symbols, and Institutions Inside the Production Process on Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992): The Creative Team as Historian A Whole New Ballgame: Baseball (1994) and The West (1996) as Event TV American Lives: Thomas Jefferson (1997) and the Television Biography as Popular History Mainstreaming Jazz (2001) for a National Audience: Ken Burns's America Reconsidered Notes Videography
About the author
GARY R. EDGERTON is Professor and Chair of the Communications and Theatre Arts Department at Old Dominion University. He is the co-editor of the
Journal of Popular Film and Television
and has published four books and more than fifty essays on a wide assortment of film, television, and culture topics in a variety of books and scholarly journals.
Summary
This is the first book-length study to critically examine the work of Ken Burns, the innovative producer-director as a television auteur, a pivotal programming influence within the industry, and a popular historian who portrays a uniquely personal and compelling version of the country's past for tens of millions of viewers nationwide. Ken Burns's America has a three-fold agenda: First it looks at the ideas and individuals that have influenced Burns in the creation of his easily-recognized style, as well as in the development and maturation of his ideological outlook. Second, the book gives readers a window on the Ken Burns production machine. Gary Edgerton shows us the inner working of Florentine Films. Finally, he looks at Burns as a popular historian who reevaluates the nation's historical legacy from a new generational perspective and, in the process, becomes one of the major cultural commentators of our era. The volume finally takes the full measure of the man and the industry he has helped to create.
Additional text
'In the end, Edgerton ably proves that although Burns is not an academic scholar, he is a historian nevertheless.' - Library Journal
'absorbing...informative and probing book.' - Booklist
'...Edgerton does an admirable job of taking the measure of the man...' - Time Out New York
'This is a fine book about a masterful TV documentary film maker...' - Indianapolis Star
Report
'In the end, Edgerton ably proves that although Burns is not an academic scholar, he is a historian nevertheless.' - Library Journal
'absorbing...informative and probing book.' - Booklist
'...Edgerton does an admirable job of taking the measure of the man...' - Time Out New York
'This is a fine book about a masterful TV documentary film maker...' - Indianapolis Star
