Michael Wood: In Search of Myths and Heroes

I enjoy Michael Wood's adventures, have several

I suppose I should have known that something like this from a PBS travel show would have too superficial of coverage. Each of the four people/places covered warranted 2-3 hours of coverage or more. An hour was simply not enough. Plus, there were times when the filming, as they passed thru the current towns and landscape, was so fast that you really didn't get much of a feel for the situation. The interviews of experts and locals were way too short to really be as informative as these topics could have been.

I originally saw three of the four PBS episodes years ago and missed the one of Arthur just as I finished a rather detailed book on Arthur and his possible historical reality. Now that I have watched the episode with Wood I was amused that he may have found the answer where no one else was looking, as did the author of the book.The episode on Shangri-la was also amazing and I just could not move away from the TV screen. The historical reality of 1949 and the end of the town that was still alive at that time is just too tragic. It is fun to see that the Jason and the Golden Fleece story is still alive and continues to this day and the story of the Queen of Sheba takes on a different perspective through Michael Wood's lens.The narrantives flow like a detective story trying to solve a mystery and uncovers many clues that take you off the trail until you finally reach the answer in the quest.Great to see that it was still available for viewing on DVD.

In my opinion, Mr. Wood brings history into a wonderful light with his vast knowledge and extraordinary presentation skills. With impeccable videography to match his seemingly unquenchable hunger for history's details, perhaps the only other presenter of equal note would be another Brit: David Attenborough. His productions on the nature of Mother Earth, along with Michael Wood's historic masterpieces, could easily be the most memorable and informative DVD's in your collection. If early childhood educators were to include Mr. Wood's marvelous storytelling in the classroom, the world would be a far better place. Both Wood and Attenborough are as gifted as any when it comes to exciting adults and their children about the world in which we live. If you value education to any degree, purchase all of Mr. Wood's DVD's and watch them repeatedly. There are endlessly delicious details about the lives of the people who made history. You will come to understand how those details are important in understanding the larger picture we have all come to know as history itself.

I bought this to show to a class I am teaching on James Hilton's Lost Horizon. It gave my students not only historical insight into the novel's possible origins, but on life and conditions in Nepal and Tibet that are almost unchanged since 1933. But it also covered some of the destruction wrought by Mao's Cultural Revolution (which I am sure was tough for my Chinese student). Wood is an excellent narrator, fascinating traveling companion, and a balanced cultural observer and commentator.

As usual, mr wood does a fantastic job and never gets pretentious.

Great documentary from an interesting perspective that brings myth to life. I stopped watching television years ago and being able to acquire shows like at this time is wonderful.

I watched this on PBS and will send it to my dtr as a gift.I've learned that Michael Woods info is always accurate and even more interesting than movies based on the info in books...he delves into the remains of history and pairs it with the historical references. This may be the last of a period, where we're able to make videos and capture these things for posterity; & what he's doing is extremely important work.

Michael Wood's In Search of Myths & Heroes was a four-part TV series in 2005, looking at the historical truth behind the stories of the Queen of Sheba, Shangri-La, Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and King Arthur. It is bubbling over with Wood's trademark TV style - full of enthusiasm, energy, plenty of smiles and amazing landscapes.On the historical front is rather more of a mixed bag than his previous  In Search of the Trojan War [DVD ]. That had a full series to in which he could play historical detective, trying to locate the truth by tracing a story around the Aegean and through the works of different historians.This time each piece of historical detective work is condensed into just one 50 minute episode. For Sheba and Arthur that means a helter-skelter journey through many conflicting tales, raising many questions and showing many beautiful scenes but offering little in the way of historical answers amongst all the conflicting thoughts. The other two, Shangri-La and Jason are rather better in this respect and each involve him tracing one continuous journey, making it for a historically-enriched travelogue through some of the most beautiful parts of the planet.However, even the weaker episodes are still highly enjoyable and are likely to have you reaching for the computer either to find out more about them or to see how you can visit some of the locations on holiday. In Search of the Trojan War [DVD

Michael Wood is an excellent presenter, and he's got the best subject material here...the mysterious East, the unfathomable Hymalayas…etc. I loved this DVD, can't praise it enough. I only wish they'd done a 2nd and 3rd series.Buy it, watch it, love it!

I have been a fan of Mr. Wood ever since his 1985 In Search of the Trojan War--the standard for all historical documentaries ever since. In this engaging series, Wood follows the same premise as his Trojan quest: to discover whether there is any historical truth behind famous legends. Like most of his series, his documentaries are not just history but travelogues mixed with modern history and politics. Each show is only one hour long and for the most part, none of the four episodes seemed rushed to get to a conclusion, except perhaps for the last episode on King Arthur (as a side note, Wood has gone over the Arthur myth before in his career and its retelling here once again makes this episode perhaps the weakest of the four). I was particularly satisfied that the historical facts he relates about Jason and the Argonauts and the Queen of Sheba are probably accurate inspirations for the tales. My one complaint was the brevity of the series--four hours. Surely there were no more myths to take on? Come on Michael--we were just getting started!

I just enjoy everything by Michael Wood. He is such a rigorous researcher with an easy presentation

With 'In search of the Trojan War'(another BBC DVD) Michael Wood made a thorough study of the age of heroes and legends. He tried to find historical facts only to end up with hypotheses.The same goes for 'In Search of Myths and Heroes' but this time Wood seems to have lost his panache that took a hold on us in The Trojan war DVD.Of course his journey through the Himalayas, through frozen and barren landscapes are able to take a hold on us, but we keep asking:'Is this all there is?'.His quest for hidden realms since long gone, treasures and objects give the impression that he lost the intellectual spirit to investigate as thoroughly as in the Trojan War. Is the queen of Sheba a historical person? Maybe.Does Shangri-La exist? Could be. Does the Grail exist? He does not answer but takes us to a place in England where they keep a tiny wooden cup and say to every visitor that this is The Holy Grail. No further comment. Yes this is all there is.(From the intellectual point of view.)But the real value of 'In Search of Myths and Heroes' liesin the fact that it is a very well directed documentary of several countries in the far East. In particular the hardship that Michael Wood and his companions have to suffer during their travel through icy cold mountain paths, make this DVD interesting enough for four stars.