History Through Literature

Facts may be the backbone of history, but stories, plays, and poems offer valuable insight into an era's culture and politics. This 12-part series uses literature to unlock the world of the past, helping viewers make sense of history through the narratives and observations of major writers. With a global, multicultural approach, each program introduces works and authors from numerous countries and regions, evoking an age-old interplay between the written word, human beliefs, and human events. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky reads specially selected texts throughout the series, while other scholars, including Dr. Rosalind Remer-an expert in early printed literature-provide additional commentary. A Discovery Channel Production. 12-part series, 20-28 minutes each.

Showing how religious fervor shaped events in the Middle Ages, this program discusses faith in the literature and cultural intersections of the late medieval world. Viewers learn about the era's intellectual reawakening embodied in Muslim efforts to preserve classical learning, the emergence of Church-run universities in Europe, and increasing discontent with the Church and its power. The program compares the chivalrous ideals depicted in El Cid (Spain) to those in Tale of Genji (Japan) and Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan (India). It also shows how religion stimulated the desire to encounter other cultures, as in the courts of China's Great Khan, and the urge to conquer, as in the Crusades. A Discovery Channel Production. (25 minutes)

Exploring the ancient river valley civilizations and others around the globe, this program traces the move from oral traditions to literature. Viewers encounter universal literary themes such as those found in the story of Job and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The program reveals practical reasons for the development of writing in China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Phoenicia, highlighting connections to the religious, political, and economic power centers of those cultures. It also surveys the literary forms used by ancient poets-epics, lyrical poems, and sacred dramas-and underscores the timeless questions raised in many of these works. A Discovery Channel Production. (28 minutes)

Illuminating the building of empires ruled from Rome, India, and China, this program examines sophisticated literary works within the brutal context of the age. Viewers are introduced to poetry, plays, and histories by Plautus, Horace, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, Polybius, Lucretius, and many others. The program shows how the period's literature recorded the deeds of military heroes, provided a common moral standard of loyalty and courage, created a mythology on which to claim power, and even served to prick the conscience of the powerful. The influence of religious literature-such as the New Testament, Taoist writings, and Ashoka's rock edicts-is identified in imperialist value systems. A Discovery Channel Production. (24 minutes)

Illustrating cultural and societal uncertainties following the collapse of the classical empires, this program examines literature during the rise of feudalism in Europe and Asia. Viewers learn how faith provided the impetus for basic survival, as institutional religions such as Christianity-and Buddhism, to a degree-generated narratives of hope, salvation, and reassurance. The program discusses the songs, poems, plays, histories, and inspirational books of this epoch, such as Beowulf and Gildas' commentaries, which give insight into British life around the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions. The rise of Charlemagne, the birth of Islam, and the Muslim drive into Spain are studied. A Discovery Channel Production. (23 minutes)

Focusing on the Enlightenment values of industry, progress, and scientific thought, this program explores the writings and ideas of Benjamin Franklin, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and other figures. Viewers learn about the spread of Enlightenment-era ideas concerning the responsibilities of government to the governed, and how these concepts gave rise to the American and French Revolutions and catalyzed the Industrial Revolution. In addition, students will see how the printing press enabled the mass circulation of literature in the form of newspapers, magazines, and political pamphlets that spread new ideas quickly. A Discovery Channel Production. (26 minutes)

Guiding viewers through the decades following World War II, this program sheds light on the literature of the Cold War years as well as narratives that emerged from other global paradigms in the late 20th century. Students are introduced to works by George Orwell, J. D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Toni Morrison, Pablo Neruda, Wole Soyinka, and others. The program reveals how the threat of nuclear oblivion shaped American, European, and developing-world cultures as the superpowers struggled for world dominance-and how writers gave voice to the disadvantaged, the oppressed, and those who felt alienated from an increasingly conformist society. A Discovery Channel Production. (24 minutes)

Highlighting the world-changing effect which the discovery of the Americas had on Europeans-not to mention on the New World's indigenous peoples-this program examines prominent cultural and literary currents of the time. Viewers learn how colonial alliances between merchants and monarchs brought the middle classes increased wealth and power and led to new ideas about liberty and individual worth. Excerpts from John Milton's Paradise Lost and soul-searching adventure stories such as Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress reveal speculations about free will and divine purpose, as well as early notions of the New World and the noble savages" living there. A Discovery Channel Production. (22 minutes)"

Surveying the expansion of Greek, Chinese, Indian, and other civilizations, this program explores the idea that imperialism provided a formative context for the great thinkers of the period. Viewers will gain insight into the birth and development of writing systems, the emergence of Greek dramas and how they were performed at festivals, the ascent of humanist ideas, and their treatment in the works of Homer, Herodotus, Socrates, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, and Lao-Tzu. The rise of the Greek city-states is detailed, and the history and significance of the Great Library at Alexandria is an important topic. The life and teachings of the Buddha are also outlined. A Discovery Channel Production. (24 minutes)

Moving from the theoretical radicalism of the Enlightenment to the drama of outright rebellion, this program examines the cultural impetus of the American Revolution, its influence on the French Revolution, and subsequent sociopolitical shock waves. Viewers learn how the concept of revolt became a romantic idea connected with freedom, dignity, and hope for a better life, and how, by the early 1800s, both Romanticism and revolution had spread to Greece, Latin America, and North Africa. The program guides students through the pantheon of Romantic poets and profiles notable Americans, such as Frederick Douglass and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who posed challenges to both the spiritual and political status quo. A Discovery Channel Production. (23 minutes)

Using literature to dissect the first half of the 20th century, this program illustrates the ravages of two global wars, the hardship of worldwide economic depression, the nightmare of fascism and the Holocaust, and the rise of communism in Europe and elsewhere. The responses of the world's authors to this epoch of upheaval are surveyed, revealing a wide range of commentary on the savagery of the time. Viewers are ushered through the writings of T. S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, W. E. B. DuBois, Richard Wright, and others. The program also touches on the New Deal, nuclear warfare, and the nonviolent philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. A Discovery Channel Production. (20 minutes)