Civilzation: The Skin of Our Teeth

On the strength of my recent enjoyment of BBC documentary, a British friend recommends to me this 13-part series from the BBC on Western Civilization. I am told it is from 1969, twelve hours long, and one of the finest examples the BBC ever produced.

You may think you're having trouble committing to a 12-hour documentary. Don't. Give it three and half minutes, starting at 5:58 into this video.



Now that you've seen that, and since you're the sort of person who spends his or her time in the Hall, I expect you'll probably watch a bit more. Some of you will probably find time to watch it all.

7 comments:

raven said...

Sold. Thank you!

Feels like it was produced on another planet. How invigorating to hear speech free from PC waffling and obfuscation. like getting out of a smoke filled car on the edge of the sea and breathing deeply.

Texan99 said...

I remember this series, though I don't think I'm remembering it from 1969; they must have rebroadcast it later. I'd love to watch it again, if my poor neighborhood's internet system recovers more fully from this week's lightning assault. Right now it's not quite up to playing video.

Grim said...

Sorry about your weather, Tex. We had a hailstorm earlier this week ourselves.

Texan99 said...

Actually the intermittent net slowdown cleared up last night and I watched the first episode with real pleasure.

The weather hasn't been bad generally; it's just that there was lightning for several days, and the wifi guy hasn't had a chance to replace everything that power-surged all over the neighborhood. We've been getting a small amount of rain just about every day, and the garden is loving it. Wettest spring in recent memory. I couldn't be happier about my pond.

Eric Blair said...

I'm rereading some stuff on the mid to late empire. Yes, could have gone a couple of different ways.

douglas said...

Certainly refreshing- thanks for the tip. I think I'm hooked in for the duration.

As someone who is quite familiar with the architectural edifices he has discussed thus far (2 episodes), I must say I find his analysis and presentation quite interesting and meaningful. Goes way beyond what we learned in History of Architecture class.

Texan99 said...

Those gorgeous Romanesque bas-relief carvings! They make me want to put my hand through the screen and trace the outlines.

I'm on Episode 4 now. Very much hooked.