Overview
- Airing nightly November 16–21, the full six-part series is also streaming now on PBS.org and the PBS App.
- Directed by Ken Burns with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and written by Geoffrey C. Ward, the project was years in the making.
- The film presents the conflict as a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, drawing on voices from soldiers, Loyalists, Native peoples, Black Americans, and European allies.
- Peter Coyote narrates as about 50 actors read roughly 400 first-person documents, with performers including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Brolin, and Paul Giamatti.
- Critics describe the series as richly detailed and emotionally resonant yet demanding, highlighting meticulous craft, exhaustive research, and deliberate pacing.