Unknown War. Wwii and the Epic Battles of the Russian Front

Locations
Call Number: DVD 940.54 Un, Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Unknown war
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 3-week checkout	DVD 940.54 Un	3-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult A/V 3-week checkout	Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Unknown war	3-week checkout	On Shelf

Originally produced as twenty forty-nine minute episodes of a Soviet-American television mini-series in 1978.
Companion book, The Unknown War, written by New York Times reporter Harrison Salisbury, originally published 1978.
Disc 1: June 22, 1941 / director, Roman Karmen ; written by Roman Karmen and John Lord -- The battle for Moscow / director, Ilya Gutman ; written by Konstantin Slavin and John Lord -- The siege of Leningrad / director, Thengiz Siemenov ; written by Edwin Polianovsky and John Lord -- To the east / director, Igor Grigoriev ; written by Konstantin Slavin and John Lord Special features: Interview with writer & composer Rod McKuen (23 min.) -- Disc 2: The defense of Stalingrad / director, Seda Pumpianskaya ; written by Sergei Drobashenko and John Lord -- Survival at Stalingrad / director, Seda Pumpianskaya ; written by Sergei Drobashenko and John Lord -- The world's greatest tank battle / director, Thengiz Siemenov ; written by Edwin Polianovsky and John Lord -- War in the Arctic / director, Leonid Kristy ; written by Konstantin Slavin and John Lord -- Disc 3: War in the air / director, Zoya Fomina ; written by Ivan Mendjzeritsky and John Lord -- Partisans: The guerrilla war / director, Vassily Katanian ; written by Alexander Pumpiansky and John Lord -- Battle of the Seas / director, Siemen Kisselov ; written by Igor Itskov and John Lord -- Battle of the Caucasus / director, Gemma Firsova ; written by Gemma Firsova and John Lord -- Disc 4: Liberation of the Ukraine / director, Lev Danilov ; written by Pavel Demidov and John Lord -- The liberation of Belorussia / director, Igor Guelein ; written by Konstantin Slavin and John Lord -- From the Balkans to Vienna director, Igor Guelein ; written by Igor Itskov and John Lord -- The liberation of Poland / director, Ilya Gutman ; written by Sergei Drobashenko and John Lord Special features: Analysis by professor Willard Sunderland-Part 1 (19 min.) -- Disc 5: The Allies / director, Nina Solovjeva ; written by Igor Itskov and John Lord -- The battle of Berlin / director, Alexandra Rybakova ; written by Alexander Pumpiansky and John Lord -- The last battle of the unknown war / Igor Grigoriev ; written by Igor Itskov and John Lord -- A soldier of the unknown war / director, Roman Karmen ; written by Roman Karmen and John Lord Special features: Analysis by professor Willard Sunderland-Part 2 (33 min.).
Hosted and narrated by Burt Lancaster.
In 1978, the Soviet Union produced "The Unknown War" as something of a response to the 1973 U.S. series "The World At War" feeling that the latter series shortchanged the role that Russia played in WWII. While not outright propaganda, it is resolutely pro-Soviet, glorifying their soldiers and people. This includes episodes about everyday life for Russians during the war, and how the Soviet government moved their production facilities to Siberia to escape the Nazis (and ended up being the most productive country during the war). Despite plentiful, revelatory unearthed combat footage, it feels rather stodgy, which--given that it was commissioned by the Soviet government--is not all that surprising.

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