Binge-able History

     I'm currently watching the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. It ran for 5 seasons and won twenty Emmys ( of 57 nominations), but I  didn't watch the original run. Wow! This show is great storytelling and great history combined. The lead character is Nucky Thompson, the corrupt politician, bootlegger, and gang leader in Atlantic City New Jersey in the 1920s, based on a real-life figure named Enoch Johnson. Many of the figures are based on real-life characters.  If you're a person who knows 1920s history, this show has it all:  Prohibition, organized crime, competing Irish, Jewish, and Italian mobs, women's suffrage, the temperance movement, the beginnings of improved women's healthcare, and the Ku Klux Klan.Real life figures are brought to life, like Al Capone, Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, Warren G. Harding, Eddie Cantor, and Andrew Mellon. Every episode is packed with twists and turns, double and triple crosses, and lots of sex and violence. It's becoming one of my favorite shows. ( https://www.hbo.com/boardwalk-empire )

    Here are some more great series based on history that you may have missed and that are worth a look. They may be available on a streaming service or On Demand from your TV provider.

    Hell on Wheels  and Deadwood are two of my favorite westerns ever.  Hell is about the race to build the transcontinental railroad, and features all the groups involved: Blacks, Irish, Chinese, Mormons, and others. ( https://www.amc.com/shows/hell-on-wheels--49 ) 

    Several people told me for years that I should watch Deadwood, but I resisted for a while. When I finally watched, I was blown away. The show follows the growth of Deadwood South Dakota from mining camp to town. Like Boardwalk, the show revolves around corrupt local politician/criminal Al Swearengen. Just as Boardwalk's  leading protagonist is masterfully played by Steve Bucsemi, Swearengen is played by Ian McShane. Also, like Boardwalk, the writing of the show takes it to a whole new lever. The dialogue in Deadwood is Shakespearean, beautiful. ( https://www.hbo.com/deadwood) 

    

    HBO's John Adams set a whole new level for limited series. It is based on the great David McCullough's Pulitzer prize-winning  biography, and dramatizes the life of Adams from the Boston Massacre in 1770 to his death in 1826. The biography and the series helped to humanize the founders, and, at least in my mind, greatly rehabilitated the image of John Adams. When I was growing up, I didn't really give much thought to Adams, favoring Jefferson. As I read and learned more, my estimation of Adams grew dramatically, and my opinion of Jefferson declined. The series covers so much of the conflict, division, triumphs, and failures of the early republic. Every American who wants learn this history should see it (and read the book). (https://www.hbo.com/john-adams)

    If you want to dig deeper in history, then Rome is the series for you. Running for two seasons, the series follows the lives of two Roman soldiers whose lives straddle the end of the republic and the beginning of the empire, and they find their lives intertwined with all the great players of the time, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian. ( https://www.hbo.com/rome)