There is a classified America we were never meant to see. From Academy Award®-winning writer/director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick, this twelve-part documentary series looks back at human events that at the time went under reported, but that crucially shaped America's unique and complex history over the 20th century.
From the atomic bombing of Japan to the Cold War and the fall of Communism, this in-depth, surprising, and totally riveting series demands to be watched again and again.
In the documentary series opening, Stone explains:
“When I was a young boy growing up in New York City, I thought I received a good education. I studied history extensively, especially American history. It made sense. We were the center of the world. There was a manifest destiny. We were the good guys.
“Well, I’ve traveled the world now. I continued my education as an infantrymen in Vietnam, made a lot of movies (some of them about history) and, when I heard from my children what they were learning in school, I was perturbed to hear that they were not really getting a more honest view of the world than I did.”
Aided by the latest archival findings and recently declassified documents and building on the research of scholars, Stone and Kuznick construct a “People’s History of the American Empire.”
In The Untold History, the authors reveal that:
- The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were militarily unnecessary and morally indefensible.
- The United States, not the Soviet Union, bore the lion’s share of responsibility for perpetuating the Cold War.
- The U.S. love affair with right-wing dictators has gone as far as overthrowing elected leaders, arming and training murderous military officers, and forcing millions of people into poverty.
- U.S.-funded Islamist fundamentalists, who fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan, have blown back to threaten the interests of the U.S. and its allies.
- U.S. presidents, especially in wartime, have frequently trampled on the constitution and international law.
- The United States has brandished nuclear threats repeatedly and come terrifyingly close to nuclear war.
Video Chapters
Prologue, Chapter A (Part 11 above):
World War I, The Russian Revolution & Woodrow Wilson: Roots of Empire How did the United States become an empire? A look back at the election of 1900 and the Spanish-American War — climaxing with World War I and the Russian Revolution as the mother of the ensuing conflict between the British, Soviet, and newborn American Empire.
Prologue, Chapter B (Part 12 above):
1920-1940: Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin: The Battle of Ideas Franklin Roosevelt inherits a divided nation rife with conflict. Struggle leads to change in the United States, Hitler rises to power in Germany, and World War II pushes the U.S. and the Soviet Union toward an uneasy alliance.
Chapter 1 (Part 1 above):
World War II The first chapter explores the birth of the American Empire by focusing on Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Through examination of key decisions during World War II, discover unsung heroes such as American Henry Wallace and explore the demonization of the Soviets.
Chapter 2:
Roosevelt, Truman & Wallace Highlights from the historical upset of Harry Truman replacing Henry Wallace as Roosevelt’s Vice President during his fourth term — this dramatic shift in leadership propelled the U.S. towards empire-building. Exploration of the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and the beginnings of the Cold War. The relationships between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill are an integral part of postwar Europe’s division at the Yalta conference.
Chapter 3:
The Bomb The strategies behind the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan are explored, as well as the new mythology that emerged from the war. The bombing haunted the Soviets and mistrust towards the Allies grew quickly. The consequences of beginning a process that could end life on the planet are examined.
Chapter 4:
The Cold War The equation changes: specific month-by-month causes of the Cold War. Highlights include Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech, the civil war in Greece and the Red Scare that prompts the rise of Joseph McCarthy, the House Un-American Activities Committee and the FBI.
Chapter 5:
The ’50s: Eisenhower, The Bomb & The Third World Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles replace Truman. Stalin dies but relations with the Soviet Union turn colder. The H-bomb and the doctrine of nuclear annihilation are explored, as are the Korean War and U.S. rearmament. McCarthyism grows and so does the ruthlessness of U.S. policy towards the Third World. Eisenhower emerges as a game changer.
Chapter 6:
JFK: To The Brink JFK and the Bay of Pigs; on the brink of total war during the Cuban Missile Crisis; early Vietnam; JFK’s attempts at peace with Khrushchev; JFK assassinated.
Chapter 7:
Johnson, Nixon & Vietnam: Reversal Of Fortune Cataclysm in Vietnam as the war reaches a turning point – there’s no going back. The betrayal by Richard Nixon.
Chapter 8:
Reagan, Gorbachev & Third World — Rise of the Right Carter’s dreams of change give way to Ronald Reagan’s secret wars in Afghanistan and Central America. Gorbachev emerges. Fresh opportunities for peace arise. The debate over Reagan’s legacy.
Chapter 9:
Bush & Clinton: Squandered Peace — New World Order Russia introduced to American Capitalism. U.S. goes to war in Middle East. New World Order shaped.
Chapter 10:
Bush II & Obama — Age of Terror George W. Bush’s doctrine of an “endless war” against terrorism manifests in the Department of Homeland Security, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in a worldwide global Security State. The cannibalization of the U.S. economy continues. Obama and the destiny of the American Empire.