The Civil War
The Civil War Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 8.8 |
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About
"The documentary that redefined how history gets told"
Ken Burns's landmark PBS documentary traces the American Civil War from its causes through Reconstruction, using period photographs, letters, and diaries read by a roster of actors, all stitched together with haunting fiddle music. The pace is deliberate and elegiac rather than fast-moving, built on slow pans across still images and quiet narration instead of reenactments. Historian Shelby Foote's storytelling voice becomes a throughline of its own. It feels less like a history lecture than a mournful, intimate portrait of a nation tearing itself apart, carried by its craftsmanship and emotional restraint.
the way ordinary soldiers' letters and photographs make a century-old war feel devastatingly personal.
you need fast pacing or reenactment footage rather than still images and narration.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
| Ep | Title | Rating | Yours | Votes | Runtime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▶ | 1 | The Cause | 8.5 | 590 | 100 min | |
| ▶ | 2 | A Very Bloody Affair | 8.4 | 501 | 69 min | |
| ▶ | 3 | Forever Free | 8.4 | 463 | 76 min | |
| ▶ | 4 | Simply Murder | 8.5 | 450 | 61 min | |
| ▶ | 5 | The Universe of Battle | 8.7 | 448 | 96 min | |
| ▶ | 6 | Valley of the Shadow of Death | 8.5 | 418 | 69 min | |
| ▶ | 7 | Most Hallowed Ground | 8.5 | 412 | 72 min | |
| ▶ | 8 | War is all Hell | 8.7 | 409 | 69 min | |
| ▶ | 9 | The Better Angels of Our Nature | 8.8 | 415 | 68 min |