The American Revolution on PBS is a master class in global-changing history from the world’s finest storyteller-filmmaker Ken Burns.
A story 250 years in the making, The American Revolution explores the founding of the United States of America and its eight-year war and struggle for independence. It is a six-part, 12-hour documentary co-directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, premiering Sunday, November 16, 2025 on PBS.
Ken Burns
As enthusiastic as he was when he introduced his celebrated Civil War series 35 years ago, Burns once again talked to members of the Television Critics Association (TCA) during a recent PBS press session via Zoom.
It was riveting to hear Burns describe the American Revolution as “one of the most important events in world history. It’s certainly the most consequential revolution, …but I think it’s the most important event since the birth of Christ.” Not a hint of hyperbolize in that statement, just a straightforward observation from the master documentarian who did his research.
Burns explained to the TCA journalists that this production goes beyond the history lessons we were taught in school. “We have sort of seen our revolution in kind of bloodless gallant myth, just guys in Philadelphia thinking great thoughts.”
That’s a big part of the story, Burns noted, “but, this is a revolution, a bloody, bloody revolution, superimposed by a bloody civil war, superimposed by a bloody world war. The cast of characters is extraordinary. There’s an unbelievable variety of a cast of characters. I think that’s the thing for me, is just the sheer sense of how long it took, how bloody it was, how anybody involved in it didn’t know they were who they were. George Washington didn’t know he was going to be George Washington. The sense of contingency and the idea that it might not turn out the way we know that it did was the surprising aspect for us to try to work into our work.”
Burns and his team at Florentine Films have spent more than ten years working on the 12-hour documentary that examines how America’s founding turned the world upside down. They’ve created an expansive look at the birth of the United States of America, with its virtues and contradictions, following dozens of figures from a variety of backgrounds. Viewers will experience the war through the memories of the celebrated and ordinary men and women who made history.
Narrated by Peter Coyote, The American Revolution comes alive with colorful maps and paintings, interviews with historians and effective re-enactments.
Burns said, “It’s a deep dive with a complicated story with villains and heroes, and people sometimes warring within themselves over that stuff, I don’t know a better story than the American Revolution.” And he adds, “There is no other place where this film could have been made but PBS.”
If there have ever been any doubts about the value of Public Broadcasting, this exceptional program that enlightens and makes us realize of the relevance of our history, should put them to rest. With its mission to educate, inspire, and entertain, PBS deserves our support.
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