The American Century as the 20th century came to be known, has closed its curtain for more than a decade now. But the consequences of what transpired in the second half of it, will be felt for quite some time to come.
For those who know the works of Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, Oliver Stone hardly adds anything new to the imperial history of the US of A.
Yet Stone still manages to create something that future students of history and especially the widely uninformed masses of the United States should see. These ten episodes are essential viewing for future generations of Americans and Western countries in general, because they show how the hegemony of the western world has been on a decline for some time now and even more importantly, where it all began.
To quote Gore Vidal more than 15 years ago: "Europe began as the relatively empty, uncivilized Wild West of Asia. Then the Americas became the Wild West of Europe. Now the sun, setting in our West, is rising once more in the East".
Things will change, as they always do, and Oliver Stone, less furious and idealistic, has with this TV-Series cemented something of his legacy, that will infuriate some (politics and history do have that effect on people) but will certainly inform a good many more people.
"The Untold History of the United States" is not so much a leftist but a humanist view of the world. It ends with John F. Kennedys words how we all share this planet, and thus it should be clear to everyone, that now matter what century lies ahead, if it is not a human century, humanity will have a very limited future ahead.
For those who know the works of Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, Oliver Stone hardly adds anything new to the imperial history of the US of A.
Yet Stone still manages to create something that future students of history and especially the widely uninformed masses of the United States should see. These ten episodes are essential viewing for future generations of Americans and Western countries in general, because they show how the hegemony of the western world has been on a decline for some time now and even more importantly, where it all began.
To quote Gore Vidal more than 15 years ago: "Europe began as the relatively empty, uncivilized Wild West of Asia. Then the Americas became the Wild West of Europe. Now the sun, setting in our West, is rising once more in the East".
Things will change, as they always do, and Oliver Stone, less furious and idealistic, has with this TV-Series cemented something of his legacy, that will infuriate some (politics and history do have that effect on people) but will certainly inform a good many more people.
"The Untold History of the United States" is not so much a leftist but a humanist view of the world. It ends with John F. Kennedys words how we all share this planet, and thus it should be clear to everyone, that now matter what century lies ahead, if it is not a human century, humanity will have a very limited future ahead.