Michael Wood's Story of England

This is a fascinating and superb series that very colorfully and entertainingly covers the entire history of England, from pre-Roman times to the 1950s, via the village(s) of Kibworth in the county of Leicestershire. Through various means -- archeological, documents, topographical studies, and local and oral history -- we find out the true story of real and ordinary people. History comes vividly alive in a way that the endless successive repetition of wars, monarchs, and squabbling aristocrats never can.

We are never patronized or asked to indulge in glorious fantasies here. History is told via the words of the people themselves -- through, for instance the amazingly in-depth documents and scholarship that have been preserved throughout the centuries in this uniquely placed village. As it turns out, there's a lot more here than even remotely meets the eye. We get a much fuller and more comprehensive and understandable history of this England than I ever would have thought possible.

The great thing about this series is that it was aimed for a British audience but it's so clearly understandable and tangible that Americans and any other nationality can easily understand it as well.

The series is gloriously and beautifully filmed and scored, and Michael Wood is an unfailingly charming, engaging, charismatic, and knowledgeable presenter.

I promise you will learn much more than you ever thought you didn't know about English history. If, for instance, you are a fan of the films of Ken Burns, or Michael Wood's other programs (e.g., The Story of India), or Simon Schama, you are sure to love this series.

By the way, this is the FULL original UK version, that aired on the BBC. Unfortunately, when it aired on PBS, it was severely butchered to the point of incomprehensibility and was missing missing 40% of the footage (two hours and two episodes) and the timeframes were all mixed up and confused. (The same goes for the video version viewable on pbs.org.) Rest assured that the DVD set, however, is the full thing, and it's definitely worth the purchase price to be able to see the entire unbutchered series, complete with all of the extremely relevant information that was cut when it was televised here.

(The only thing disappointing about this series is the subtitles -- or rather lack thereof. I do not at all recommend it for the deaf or hearing impaired, because the subtitles are so ridiculously incorrect and botched up as to be worse than useless. That's the same case with the Region 2 version, so there's no help there either.)

As far as non-fiction television programming goes, I think that "Michael Wood's Story of England" is one of the most unique examples imaginable. An exciting and informative trip through history, Wood's and his team seek to recreate a working timeline as it affected one small town. The quaint English burg of Kibworth, Leicestershire is host to this educational experiment. The first recorded instance of Kibworth being recognized was in 1086. So Wood begins with archeological findings, then digs through annotated history, and then wraps with more personal accounts on this world wind journey through the ages. The narrative advances through various time periods up until present day to see just how the different eras impacted this sleepy little town. This is taking living history to its most personal level! Not only do the inhabitants share in the story, they are eager participants in the documentary. Part of why this is so captivating is Wood's appeal, but mostly it is how committed to the project that the locals become. Ordinary folks morph into historical crusaders.

The two DVD set contains all six episodes from the 2010 BBC presentation with over two extra hours of footage to compliment the collection. Included are:

1) Romans to Normans
2) Domesday to Magna Carta
3) The Great Famine and The Black Death
4) Peasants' Revolt to The Tudors
5) Henry VIII to The Industrial Revolution
6) Victoria to The Present Day

While obviously geared toward a British audience, "Story of England" still has overwhelming crossover appeal. It takes an immense history and condenses it into a pretty specific world view. The same approach could be undertaken in any town in any land yielding a unique cross section of drama and intrigue. As Wood himself states (and this really encapsulates the show in a nutshell), "In this one place, you can tell the whole story of the nation. You can watch the great events of the nation through local eyes."

Ultimately, what makes "Story of England" an absolute essential for lovers of history is that it feels so fresh. I learned a lot, was completely entertained, and was oftentimes amazed. This brought out the wonder of it all. And by the time the entire village went excavating for artifacts, I knew that I would always remember this historical experiment. Kudos to the BBC and to Wood. With so much of TV taking a turn for the sensational, this proved that you could retain dignity within reality television. KGHarris, 9/12.

I really enjoyed this method of telling, in a basic way, the history of England through the experiences of a small town. British history is pretty detailed and extends back many millennia, unlike American history (or the American history most of us know about). Wood veers away from the escapades of kings and queens and various nobility and instead gives us a more populist version, which might be dubbed the "ordinary man's story." We watch as a region and a town is transformed by time and migration, by war and by love. I liked that approach, and I learned as much about the various cultures that crossed that island nation--and possibly more--than I would have learned by the traditional names-and-dates approach.

The videos (CDS or DVDs actually) consist of several episodes and can be watched over several sittings. I enjoyed how he got the local townspeople--of all ages--involved in helping him tell his story. It's "beginner" British history, in many respects. But it provides some ineresting details that will interest people with more specific interests. I was interested in the interview with the Australian couple who had come to the area in search of information about their British ancestor. This caught my attention because I, too, have British ancestors and hope to eventually figure out what part of England they were from and visit.........Anyone with an interest in genealogy will recognize how much you can learn about different eras of human history and various cultures while you are doing your best to trace your ancestors.