So, there is a new program on the History channel called Mankind: The Story of Us All. It is actually quite good and does cover the world's history as our civilizations evolved into what they are today. It talks about key points in our history like democracy in Greece and the discovery of iron and their impact on our world. I'm happy to see something historical come out of the history channel. Someone has already blogged about the History Channel so I won't repeat what they said. The show comes on Tuesday nights, as I recall, at 8pm. It is a good show to watch. I''m not sure how close to the present the show will get though. The halfway mark is at the invention of gunpowder and the resulting weapons.
My father and I were watching it and we got into a debate about the Crusades. I like that this show is making us think and look at history from various perspectives. Personally, I think the Crusades were silly and never should have happened if people just looked beyond their religion. The Jewish faith, Islam and Christianity have more in common that in differences. Religion has had such a huge role in defining our history and still impacts us today.
I watched the first episode of this show, and I wasn't as impressed. The show makes hardly any mention of societies that aren't considered "western," such as the ancient Chinese dynasties for example. Also, the importance of African culture is hardly mentioned, either. The show does focus on Egypt and that mankind most likely began in Africa, but nothing more is mentioned on that front.
ReplyDeleteI think the name of the show is misleading because it really isn't the story of "all of us." It should have been renamed "Mankind: the History of the Western World and some Parts of the Middle East."
They do bring up the Chinese in the second episode more with the Silk Road and trade. They also talk about the inhabitants of Easter Island and other peoples. You do make a good point that they do seem to focus on Europe the most. Perhaps in the other episodes they'll bring in more cultures as they become more important. Tomorrow is the third episode so we'll see how it goes. ^_^
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