Late at night on 4.18.75, the 40-year-old Paul Revere, a silversmith and a proud member of the Sons of Liberty, leapt on his trusty steed to warn the citizens of Charleston and Lexington about the imminent arrival of British troops in Massachusetts. But his repeated cry wasn’t “the redcoats are coming!”– it was “the regulars are coming!”
How many Millennials and Zoomers can accurately recite any of the basic historical bullet points of the American Revolution? Answer: Probably close to zero.
Remember when Ken Burns‘ The Civil War, a resonant, authoritative, nearly twelve-hour PBS series, was an absolute must-watch in every region of the country? It premiered almost exactly 35 years ago, on 9.23.90.
It was narrated by the great David McCullough, used beyond-classic photographs by Matthew Brady and was enlivened by a long cavalcade of savory insights from the late (albeit not woke enough) Shelby Foote.
Now comes Burns’ The American Revolution, a six-part, twelve-hour documentary. It will debut on PBS on 11.16.25. I wouldn’t miss these six episodes for the world, but tens of millions of deadheads won’t even give them a glance.