Anyone watching: Oliver Stone's Untold History of the US

[Irish YJ]

Is anyone on the board watching Showtime's new Oliver Stone series, the Untold History of the United States? Just caught up with the mini-series / documentary this evening. Interesting take on several things. Also read a few articles calling it eye opening, and others calling Stone a revisionist and debunking his "facts". Just starting to research a bit and would like to hear what some of the personalities here say.... LOL.

If nothing more than a show that stimulates people to go read and figure things out for themselves, I like it.

 

[mgriff]

Read this; Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong: James W. Loewen: 9780743296281: Amazon.com: Books

Not the best book but I liked it in high school.
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281

 

[Grahambo]

I watched the first episode and have the 2nd on my DVR. I love history and am a huge history buff but I will say, we will never know what really happened with a lot of things because simply, we weren't there. There is so much fact/fiction out there, nobody really knows and there are so few people around when a lot of WWII history was being made, it's hard to know.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

No Showtime for me... What are some of the things he talks about?

 

[AvesEvo]

I'm reading the book. Nothing that I have read so far is new, but the name Oliver Stone gets the information out there. The book honestly isn't very good. It is so dense that it isn't fun to read.

 

[mgriff]

I'm reading the book. Nothing that I have read so far is new, but the name Oliver Stone gets the information out there. The book honestly isn't very good. It is so dense that it isn't fun to read.

The book is better at highlighting the poor standard of education in the history field than uncovering any new information. Regardless, I loved it a decade ago.

 

[AvesEvo]

The book is better at highlighting the poor standard of education in the history field than uncovering any new information. Regardless, I loved it a decade ago.

I don't think it is the same book. The People's History maybe?

 

[TDHeysus]

I, too am a 'history buff' but I havent seen the series, but I am familiar with Oliver Stone's work thru the movie JFK. Stone certainly took some liberties with the facts in the JFK movie; some very small, but some where just an outright suspension of reality. But I did enjoy the movie as entertainment, and I think Oliver Stone is a really good director.

but the movie was not totally accurate and I think people (mostly younger) who learned details about the JFK assassination thru watching the movie have a skewed version of the facts of the case, and are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.

 

[ACamp1900]

I don't think it is the same book. The People's History maybe?

I haven't seen "Untold" so maybe I am off base, but Stone and Zinn seem to be of the same mindset, that history is oppressive/based on lies and if re writing, re-ordering and or flat out re-lying about facts is what is needed to end that perceived oppression then the means are justified... I have not seen Stone’s work here, but I would assume there is as much misinformation as one would find in the works he is trying to re-write/debunk. That would be my admitted bias goig in as that has been the case to this point with Stone.

I trust his skill as an entertainer I know that much.

 

[Irish YJ]

I, too am a 'history buff' but I havent seen the series, but I am familiar with Oliver Stone's work thru the movie JFK. Stone certainly took some liberties with the facts in the JFK movie; some very small, but some where just an outright suspension of reality. But I did enjoy the movie as entertainment, and I think Oliver Stone is a really good director.

but the movie was not totally accurate and I think people (mostly younger) who learned details about the JFK assassination thru watching the movie have a skewed version of the facts of the case, and are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.

So what you are saying, is that, the bullet really was magic.

 

[irish1958]

Michael Shermer's "The Believing Brain" should be required reading before anyone is allowed to see anything by this moron.
Michael Shermer » The Believing Brain