At the Library...

June 19, 2008

Biography the EZ way

The following DVD’s are available to Library patrons and may be checked out from the main library.

The problem with historical docudramas is sorting the drama from the historical record. PBS tried hard in this biography to make one of history’s great women into a human being to whom we can relate… and succeeded up to a point. Actual historical fact interrupts the drama and drama occasionally plays fast and loose with historical fact.

What we know is that Catherine the Great dragged Russia, her country-by-marriage, often kicking and screaming into a more modern structure that included a westernized concept of government, justice, and even health.

The fun lies in watching how a minor German princess-of-last-resort (nobody wanted to marry Peter, the hapless heir to the Russian throne) managed to become Empress of all the Russias and gained the power to affect change in favor of the people.

As British businessmen had insinuated themselves into the governing of India so did American businessmen insinuate themselves into the governing of Hawaii. Both eventually arrogated to themselves the complete governance of the local people, displacing local rulers.

On January 17, 1893 United States Marines forced Queen Lili'uokalani to yield her throne and Sanford B. Dole was put in place as president of a provisional government.

Lili'uokalani would spend the rest of her life struggling for the sovereignty of the Hawaiian people. This is her story.

This authorized biography from the History Channel presents a fairly unbiased and balanced account of the life of The Great Communicator.

In interviewing the people closest to him the focus is on Reagan’s political career and presidential legacy rather than his accomplishments as an actor. Home movies give insight into his troubled early life and provide interesting insights into the man – and politician that Reagan would become.