The Michael Wood BBC Collection : In Search Of The Trojan War / In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great / In Search Of Shakespeare / In Search Of Myths And Heroes / Conquistadors (5 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

The history

I bought this DVD box set with faint memories of having seen Michael Woods investigations into Troy and the Trojan wars years ago. The subject has always enthralled me and I recall his telling of it to be very engaging. Couple this with the fact that the history of Alexander also intrigued me and, inevitably, I bought the set.I have not been disappointed. In fact this is one of the most enjoyable and informative historical documenary series I have seen. The highlight has to be following in Alexander's footsteps, and the simple fact that Woods takes us to the locations and does just that, brings the stage to life in the mind's eye. His enthusiasm for the subject never wanes, and this also adds enormously to the weight of the programme. I have yet to watch the series on Shakespeare, but the fact that all the others are so finely crafted and so informative, makes the set worth the money for those alone (Troy, Alexander, Myths and Legends, Conquistadors).Someone in a previous reveiew said that the conquistadors was not as good as the rest. Well I'm no historian, agreed, but I couldn't really see that the criticism held water to be honest.All in all this is a must if you are interested in history, and even if you just dabble occasionally.

A fine collection of some of the best (but tantalisingly not all) of Michael Wood's TV series.In Search of The Trojan War is an excellent exposition not only of the history of that conflict but of the men and women who sought to discover the current locations.In The Footsteps of Alexander The Great sees Wood in typical mode, scaling mountains and crossing deserts to follow the greatest conqueror of them all (Genghiz Khan lacking his Arrian); taking us to areas we may never visit but want to see.Conquistadors amps this up even more with the tales of Cortes, the Pissaros, and Cabeza de Vaca as we travel around North, Central and South America.In Search of Myths and Heroes is a hodge-podge of different eras and styles from Sheba to Camelot; involving a lot of exotic locations.and, finally (for my viewing anyway) the BBC allow him to travel in England (and a wee bit of Scotland) for In Search Of William Shakespeare. The locations and research was wonderful, especially for someone who worked at Blackfriars. And if we had rather too many lovies we had some wonderful actors too; Sher in the Scottish Play and Glover in Lear.Astonishing value.

I bought this box-set predominantly for the "In Search of the Trojan War", which I have never seen before (although I have the book). This 6 part series is really well explained, with Michael Wood going through the various turns of discovery and his own conclusions based on the evidence. It also features a more up to date interview of him, which is good too.Also in the set was In The Footsteps of Alexander The Great, which is a fair and unbiased account of Alexander's life. It doesn't glorify him and neither does it vilify him. It gives both sides of a complex man. Following his conquests through the east is really gratifying and Woods encounters many of the same problems two and a half thousand years after Alexander. Very good.In Search of Myths & Heroes is a let-down in one section: King Arthur. It's single episode on Arthur is woefully sketchy and ignores huge amounts of evidence, so I cannot in all honesty recommend this episode. The other 3 episodes Queen of Sheba, Shangri-La and Jason & The Golden Fleece are all well constructed documentaries, and quite interesting.Conquistadors is a four part series shedding light on the appalling Spanish escapades in the New World. It does show the extraordinary lengths these men went to and the undeniable bravery, but the greed of these men also shows through and it isn't a pretty period in human history. The last two episodes are more interesting as they centre on ventures less genocidal and more of discovery. It is a good, if dour, series, but given the subject matter it couldn't really be anything else.In Search of Shakespeare is a real find! I didn't even realize this series featured, but I lapped it up. It is truly enlightening and very interesting. Thoroughly enjoyed this pleasant surprise. Does it take into account the various theories of others having written some of the plays he is accredited to? Sort of. It touches on it. But it does give a much better understanding of who Shakespeare really was.As a box set I would clearly recommend the it. It is clearly presented and won't be too taxing on the brain, while at the same time showing you the realities of its various subjects. I hope this helps potential buyers.

Beneath the creased shirt and easy smile, this is a man with an extraordinary ability to condense and present history in a memorable and above all, a very convincing and credible fashion.This is a formidable intellectual achievement not to be overlooked - to distill the extensive historical record and present it in an entirely plausible manner for non-specialists - is not the sphere of an intellectual sissy.Usually one has to endure the painfully stentorian tones of the Olympian wisdom's usually associated with documentaries of this genre. This is not the case with Michael Wood, whose seeming effortlessness is just a marvel to watch and learn from.The filming in some obviously difficult locations is imaginative and impressive achievement on its own - puts Wood himself in a special league of resilience. The quality of the transfer and colorization of the footage - considering the vintage of some of it - is of a high order.One doffs one's hat in admiration at this man's grasp of history, and skill at imparting it.Hard to over-recommend this boxed series.

As advertised.For the less wary/savvy shoppers of the world, please do heed the very clearly marked notes regarding DVD zones. Just because you've never seen/heard of DVD (or blu-ray, or VHS) region zones, don't assume your disk/tape player is multiregion. Do your due diligence. Learn a thing. You never know when knowing how to hack a DVD player to play disks from Siberia might be useful. In this case, however, just know what regions you can play before you buy, or at the least, before you open their packaging.

Terrible quality DVD's - don't play, skip, stick.......brand new and yet unplayableReally regretting my purchase - would not reccomend

Ver well produced BBC series, with fascinating and informative content. Looking forward to viewing all of them.

Be', non ci sono sottotitoli in italiano e l'inglese, se non è a livello "proficiency" può essere complesso.Ma se vi piace la storia, se riuscite a seguire senza patemi uno scritto veloce (sottotitoli in inglese), le esplorazioni di Michael Wood vi faranno sognare. Buon sangue britannico non mente.

Michael Wood is a fine historian and a great communicator, a master of passion and persistence. He follows the hints of long-past historians, and pursues the footsteps, as well as the background and implications, of monumental events that changed the course of everything people thought they knew. After many years with his videotapes and companion volumes we invested in the boxed set of DVD's and are thrilled with it. At last we have a Michael Wood library of high resolution and excellent sound, to relive his remarkable physical journeys and exhaustive research in Troy, or following the stellar Spanish adventurers who got more in the Americas than they bargained for, and of course Alexander's campaign across half the world, to places even Michael Wood and his camera crew find grueling. And as a treat, we get to follow Shakespeare as well. Michael Wood is a special hero for me, the books go far deeper into their subject and serve as invaluable reference for additional research, but the visual pursuit is breathtaking.