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.

This tries to cover a lot of ground in a short time, obviously, but as a way to get kids in particular to think history is exciting and interesting I think it's pretty good. Not a complete source of info, but a great jumping-off point.I teach history to 5th Graders and have kids of my own, so I watch these shows with an eye to what I know will engross children. How often do you hear kids say, "Oh, boy!" when you tell them it's time for history?? These kinds of shows (and a great teacher) bring this stuff to life."Empires Pt. 1" features Jesus, St. Paul, and an overview of the Roman Empire. This was one of the highlights of the series, with great storytelling and exciting visuals of the scale and scope of Rome.

I can't stop watching it and wish I could keep all of the series .... I love History and this series knocks the Human race out of the park .... explains using facts and stay clear of controversy and by the experts weighing in on the details it brings the whole documentary into a New Light that helps you appreciate who we were, while feeling sorry for our mistakes, greed, selfishness and malice, while still destroying the natural resources. If the Human race every so needed reasons to change our behaviors this is a series that checks all the reasons why we all need to take a closer look at what we've involved into. Awesome but sad and scary!

Finally, something not reality TV related from the History channel! This is a great series. Josh Brolin does a really good job of narrating. The series begins with a very broad, high-level overview of how we came to be. It then proceeds into specific events and turning points in human history. It spotlights certain battles as well as influential individuals. I would loved to have had this series when I was growing up. It can really open a lot of doors into new facets of interest for beginning history buffs. My only complaint is some of the people they interview for opinions. Simply being a celebrity actor/singer does not make you qualified for historical commentary.

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 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.

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.