UK /BBC2 / 13x60m-e / 1972-3
Writer: Alistair Cooke / Producer: Michael Gill
Thoughtful retrospective on the growth of the USA.
'A personal history of the United States' was the subtitle to this well-considered account of the birth and development of a nation, presented from the viewpoint of Alistair Cooke, a top British correspondent and an American citizen. Cooke's dual nationality allowed him to portray the USA from both internal and external viewpoints, fashioning a TV history designed for consumption on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 13 weekly episodes he charted the hopes, experiences and achievements of the men who shaped the most powerful country in the world, tracing developments from before Columbus right up to the Nixon era.
His compassionate, gentle narration and poignant anecdotes allowed Cooke to convey the enormity of the problems facing the earliest settlers, and he incisively analysed the political movements and the agricultural and industrial changes that moulded the country over the centuries, winning wide acclaim for his understanding and perception.
His conclusion centred on the fact that America at the turn of the ipyos fell a long way short
of the dreams of its founding fathers. Alistair Cooke was for many years the Guardian's Chief America Correspondent. His Letter from America was the longest-running single radio programme (since 1946) and could be heard weekly on Radio 4 until his recent death. |
|
