The Meiji period (1868-1912)
The arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854 marked the stage for Japan's dramatic leap from the Middle Ages into modernity. The ports of Japan were forced open; the English, French, Russians, and Dutch promptly demanded-and got-the same privileges. In 18...
The Birth of the Middle Ages
About the title: This program provides an introduction to medieval Europe by showing surviving traces to provide a feel of medieval style and practice and by tracing the roots of the fall of civilization and the onset of darkness. Much that is medie...
The City of God
About the title: Augustine of Hippo is a symbol of humankind in early medieval times, seeking to understand the terror and destruction resulting from the barbarian devastations of the Roman world, seeking to find the hand of God—and finding it in ...
Pompeii: Daily Life of the Ancient Romans
A walk through the streets of Pompeii, into villas and shops, baths and gardens, temples, basilicas, the stadium, and the marketplace, demonstrates and explains the history of Pompeii and its relationship to Rome; the customs, lifestyle, living stan...
Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire
About the title: Out of the ashes of the Roman Empire rose the Holy Roman Empire, born during Christmas of 800 in the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. This program covers the antecedents and the life of Charlemagne, shows life at the court, life o...
Byzantium: From Splendor to Ruin
About the title: This program covers the founding of Constantinople as a second Rome, its flowering when the Roman Empire in the West was shattered, its gradual decline under the impact of Normans, Turks, Venetians, and the Crusades, and finally, it...
Christians, Jews, and Moslems in medieval Spain
Due partly to the weakness of its Visigothic rulers, partly to its proximity to Africa, the Iberian peninsula was conquered by Berbers and by Arabs belonging to the Ommayad Dynasty of Damascus. This program describes the history of Spain from the ti...
The Essence of Being Japanese
Japan in the modern age: a people existing between the protection of the kami and the geological dangers of earthquake. This program covers the cataclysmic events of the 20th century—the devastating earthquake of 1923, the rise of militarism, the ...
Picasso and his time
This superb documentary covers the long and extraordinary life of Picasso, beginning with the first period of his life in Malaga, La Coruna, and Barcelona (the time of his classic painting) and continuing in Paris, Vallauris, and Vouvenargue. This b...
The Role of Theatre in Ancient Greece
This program looks at the theaters of Herodus Atticus, Epidauros, Corinth (where Arion is said to have taught the dithyramb), and many others to explain the design of the ancient theater, the synthesis of art forms that was ancient Greek drama, the ...