politalX Politics Store - In Search Of The Trojan War [2004]
![In Search Of The Trojan War [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51797WS2P3L._SL160_.jpg)
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List Price: £19.99
Our Price: £14.48
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: Exempt
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5014503142520
Format: PAL
Label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: 2 Entertain Video
Region Code: 2
Release Date: 2004-05-10
Running Time: 344
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
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Editorial Reviews:
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Originally broadcast in 1985, In Search of the Trojan War followed the successful formula established by his first historical detective series, In Search of the Dark Ages, and firmly established Michael Wood as the most personable of TV historians. Wood is not only a born TV presenter, he's got both academic gravitas and narrative skill to craft a compelling mystery from the archaeological, literary and mythological sources. Over six hour-long programmes, Wood marshals the disparate strands of evidence to present as fully rounded a portrait as possible of both historical and the legendary city of Troy, its central place in Western culture, and the Mycenaean Age itself. From Schliemann's initial cavalier bulldozing of the mound at Hisarlik, to Homer's epics, the Hittite Empire and the role of slave-women, Wood journeys back and forth across the Aegean and elsewhere, from a pre-unification Berlin to Liverpool, to illuminate the dawn of Western literature, myth and history. Did the Trojan War ever happen? Or was the city destroyed by natural causes? Wood doesn't claim to find a definitive answer, of course, but for the viewer it's rewarding enough simply to accompany him on this fascinating journey. On the DVD: In Search of the Trojan War is presented on two discs in unremarkable 4:3 TV format. There's a new 25-minute interview with Wood, who looks back affectionately on the making of the series. --Mark Walker
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A simple review
Comment: If you are in any way interested in ancient history or if you're just a fan of exciting detective work and mysteries PLEASE buy this DVD.
In my opinion it's simply the best documentary series ever made. I've watched it many times and it never gets old. It's atmospheric, intelligent and deeply satisfying. Despite the fact that it's over 20 years old Michael Wood's conclusions are amazingly close to the most modern interpretations of the evidence for a war at Troy.
Buy it, you won't be disappointed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Absorbing and entertaining
Comment: Echoing what everyone else has said, and giving this a very deserved 5 stars. The quality of the 1980's filming didn't even put me off, as Michael Wood's enthusiasm more than makes up for it! A very interesting and absorbing series. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Unsurpassed
Comment: Glancing at the quality of the reviews here, you perhaps don't need another five star review to persuade you of its merits. However, if you have the slightest interest in the Trojan War and have never seen this television series then get hold of a copy -you will not be disappointed. Likewise if you have read and enjoyed the book of the same name, the series itself adds a further dimension. Finally, if you recall fondly watching the series back in the 1980s when it was first aired then it is well worth re-visiting - I believe you will find it even better than you remembered.
Michael Wood's series is now 25 years old but the ideas espoused have held their ground remarkably well in the intervening period. This is all the more remarkable given the fact that Hisarlik/Troy has been subject to further major archaeological excavations in the intervening period and our knowledge of the Anatolian Bronze age has advanced greatly. Basically, Michael Wood made the right call on a number of major issues - particularly the identification of Mycaenaean Greece in the Hittite archives - and his pleasure at this success shines through in a contemporary interview included in the DVD set.
This series set the gold standard for TV historical documentaries and remains unsurpassed in my view.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dated but still one of the best on the subject
Comment: Although roughly twenty years old this series is still one of the best documentaries on the Trojan War that I have watched. Michael Wood presents the series in a brilliantly precise way and draws evidence from a variety of sources in order to discover weather the Trojan War happened as Homer tells in the Iliad. As well as this, Michael Wood actually visits many of the sights that he talks about, and interviews many of the people involved in the study of Troy. Also he does admit that many of the conclusions that he draws may be biased by his own views, something that many historians would do well to imitate. There are some more modern Trojan documentaries but there are few that are more all encompassing and accurate.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The greatest historical documentary of all time
Comment: Mancunian-born Michael Wood has been my inspiration as a historian ever since this series aired. INSOTTW blends legend, myth, history, travelogue, art, World War I and World War II history, and modern day politics. It was then and remains now the greatest historical documentary series ever.
Finally the series is out on DVD, with all episodes on one disc. A 30-minute interview is included with Wood as he looks back nearly 20 years at the making of the series and briefly reviews new archaeological discoveries at Troy.
Simply put, Homer's Illiad remains the greatest story in Western literature. The war, set sometime in the Bronze Age era of the 1200s BC, has fascinated the famous and not-so-famous for nearly 3000 years. But was the story based in fact?
In 1985, the scholarly consensus was that the Illiad was not fact. Wood, a historian, sets out on a journey that takes him to Berlin, Turkey, Greece, Ireland, and Britain to discover the truth.
In the first two episodes, Wood reviews the archaeologists who rediscovered the site at Hisarlik in Turkey near the Dardanelles where they believed to have uncovered the site of Troy itself.
In the the third episode, he examines Homer himself and how bards could have transmitted actual facts orally over five hundred years until the actual tale was written down by the Romans on papyrus. He examines the Illiad and looks for clues that remain in the modern day.
In episode four, he examines the life of women in the Bronze Age. In episode five, he discusses the Hittite Empire and how recently (in 1985) discovered clay tablets of the Hittite diplomatic empire make mention of names curiously similar to those mentioned in the Illiad. The evidence suggests Troy was a pawn between two superpowers: the Achaians (the "Greeks" did not call themselves that then) and the Hittites in Anatolia.
Finally in episode six, Wood makes his conclusions and discusses the fall of Mycenean Greece.
At the time, Wood's conclusions were attacked by Troy scholars but over 20 years, his opinions, especially about the Hittite tablets, have become accepted fact.
But whether you care or not about Bronze Age history, the story is riveting. Wood is charismatic and he makes you care. For the time you watch this series, the truth about Troy seems to be the most important historical question ever.
It is hard to create an epic that concerns an epic but Wood did just that. The miniseries in 1985 made his name and though he has done good work since then, nothing has topped this effort because he set the bar impossibly high.
A true masterpiece. ****** out of ******
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