Whilst I was procrastinating from my homework, I was reminded of an interesting documentary I saw a while back called Looking for Lincoln, in which Henry Louis Gates Jr., my favorite historian (yes I have a favorite historian!), looks for the true man behind the legend that is Abraham Lincoln. Like most Americans (except some Southerners apparently),I have a great appreciation for our sixteenth president. But is what we were taught in schools totally accurate? Was the "Great Emancipator" a racist? Gates tries to find out. It is a very interesting documentary. You might be surprised how much you didn't know about Mr. Lincoln.
If you are in the mood for more Lincoln things, check out this documentary free (and legit) on Youtube about Lincoln impersonators. Seriously!!! It's pretty interesting. BTW they have some pretty cool docs you can see legitimately free on youtube. Just search through their movie section.
I love the 1910's, but I'm not into the politics of WWI. I do like to learn about the lives of the soldiers. I can't imagine living in the trenches with bombs, gunfire, and mustard gas. A Very Long Engagment also touches upon the issue of 'shell shock.' It's now called combat stress, which can lead to post traumatic stress disorder. Even though I'm sure that there were people who suffered from combat stress in every war ever fought, it is strongly associated with the First World War. If you've ever seen a documentary about this war, you've probably seen some shocking video of shell-shocked soldiers. Below are a few interesting ones I found on Youtube.
WARNING: Some of these videos can be very disturbing.
