Mankind: The Story of All of Us

I love documentaries, and this is the best documentary I have ever seen ! The way it was created, with lots of dramatization and special effects makes it fun to watch, which is great for learning and remembering material ! I was literally glued to the screen, watching it very intently. Very broad in scope, it goes over a vast body of material, so it does not get into a lot of details about even some of the most significant developments in history, but that is understandable given the ambitious nature of the project. One of the things I loved about the documentary is it tells a lot of stories of lesser known people and their impact on development of civilization. That makes it more memorable and easier to relate to the material, as opposed to just having very sweeping and impersonal narrative.I recommend everyone to watch it, but do know that it can get a bit violent since the history of Mankind was steeped in blood and warfare.This is the first documentary I have ever seen that was associated with the History Channel and I am absolutely impressed ! It inspired me to buy two other sets from them.

I turned this on while I was at home alone, next thing you know my entire family started watching this with me. I love history related shows and usually my kids would rather watch cartoons. However, this is very well done and entertaining as well as informative. Some things missing that I really wanted to know more about, like early man (differences in ancient bipeds and migration patterns) but this is a great show and has a focus on societies and the bigger picture.

This is a fantastic video revealing the connectedness of humanity and how an invention or societal development of one nation or culture then caused influences on other cultures and parts of the world. I have been teaching world history for the past 36 years. What was neat for me on these discs was seeing beyond my career focus on western world history and appreciating the greater picture of all of the world's history. Josh Brolin is a great narrator. His narrative perfectly complements the recreated historical scenes and advance CGI. Later this summer, I am going to watch the whole series again so I can pick up more subtleties I'm sure I missed on round one.

This show is about as comprehensive of known history as you can get. Granted, the later years are more from an American perspective, but since history is eclipsed by the empires who contributed the most during their times, America does deserve the same respect for the 20th Century as does Egypt, Greece, Persia, Rome etc during their respective times and height of power. This does cover some non-western civilizations, but more in a western civilization view.The reason I give this 4 stars is because of the shipping. As a prime customer, I expect 2 day shipping. Living in Seattle, sometimes I am graced with rapid shipping, sometimes within 1 business day, especially when the shipment originates from here. However in this case, the package originated in Seattle and then took a trip down to Portland. Last week I had a California shipment go out to Kentucky the day before it was to be delivered to Washington state. How this seems economical, or efficient, I can't bring myself to understand. Now my Blu-ray order is going to burn up over 350 miles (to and fro) just to travel 15 miles! On top of the 1000 miles between Washington and California vs the 5000 miles when you throw in Kentucky! I don't want to here any more about my "carbon footprint" when this is the type of logistics Amazon prime operates with!

This documentary is one of the best I've ever seen! The history of mankind is presented is a well thought out way, and is also politically neutral, so that was a plus. This is a 12 hour viewing experience that I highly recommend everyone see. Even the kids may watch it all, in increments. The cinematography is excellent, taking you on a journey of mankind's rich history every step of the way. You will be riveted to this one. I liked it so much, I sent it to my older brother for a Christmas gift!

I teach high school World and AP World history. This series is useful in small chunks. It's definitely made to be engaging to the teenage brain, and has fast paced segments and very good graphics. It seems historically accurate, but is definitely an overview and doesn't go into great depth, but that's okay. I use it as a tool to get kids engaged and give them some background info, so we can go more in depth in my lessons.If you search online, you can very easily find worksheets made for this series and the series broken up into segments with time markers. SUPER useful to have on hand as an emergency sub plan, or as a preview/review of a unit.

Astounding series.Telling our history and yes ALL of our history in 12 hours. That alone means they need to carefully pick and choose what to tell and what to keep out, and damn if they did not make excellent choices. All relevant and awe inspiring moments in our past laid bare and examined.And the faith they manage to have in our future in spite of the horrors and selfishness of our past has me, a student of History a bit humbled and ashamed for never feeling the same.Show it your kids, your friends, spouses.This is OUR story and one we all need to sit and listen to.

Regardless of your position on creation vs evolution, this show is one to watch. It was extremely well done and it is clear the producers spared no coin in putting together the best piece they could. Its so well done in fact, it is a bit saddening that they didn't cover more or do more seasons on smaller segments of time. Even after finishing the last episode (this is a long series) I was hungry for more; I'll be hunting for any other shows put out by this group. If you are a history buff or just a documentary enthusiast, this is a must have for your collection. A++