Death and the Civil War (2012)

With the coming of the Civil War, and the staggering casualties it ushered in, death entered the experience of the American people as it never had before.  Ric Burns’ Death and the Civil War explores how the war’s overwhelming toll of casualties permanently altered the character of the republic and the psyche of the American people. The war forced Americans to grapple with trying to die well, far from home and family; with naming, accounting, burying, remembering and honoring the dead; and with finding meaning in their loss. Death transformed the American nation as well, changing the relationship between citizens and their government, between the individual and the state.

Video

Credits

Written and Directed by: Ric Burns

Based on the book: This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust

Edited by: Li-Shin Yu

Produced by: Robin Espinola, Bonnie Lafave and Ric Burns

Narrated by: Oliver Platt

Original Concept Developed by: Paul Taylor

Voices: James Cromwell, Keith David, Josh Hamilton, Gene Jones, Robert Sean Leonard, Amy Madigan, Elizabeth Marvel, Aleksa Palladino and Stark Sands

Cinematography: Buddy Squires, Stephen McCarthy and Allen Moore

Music By: Brian Keane

Associate Producers: Leigh Howell, Katie O'Rourke and Joshua Woltermann

Assistant Editor: Dawn Rider

Senior Producer FOR AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Sharon Grimberg

Executive Producer FOR AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: Mark Samels