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History

Here we will examine a wide range of historical subjects and periods. We' do so not only to better understand the past, but also to gain a better understanding of ourselves and our problems today. There is both a science and an art to the study of history and politics. We want to learn the lessons of the past, but we also know that every new revolution breaks the mold of those that came before it.

 Survey: Six Great Indian Tribes

This four-part documentary profiles six of the major Native American tribes that were defeated and subdued as part of the settling of the United States. With reenactments, clarifying maps, artwork, and landscape scenery, this program features the Iroquois, a confederacy comprised of several Indian tribes: the Seminoles in Florida, who welcomed escaped slaves and fought three major wars with the United States before meeting their ultimate defeat; the Shawnee, fierce Ohio Algonquians who allied with the French against the British; the Navajo, a farming people who today are the largest remaining Native American tribe; the Cheyenne, a nomadic Plains Indian tribe that depended on the American bison for sustenance; and the Lakota Sioux.

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A Marxist View of the 20th Century

Five Video Lectures Narrated by Alan Woods, with Lal Khan, Ted Grant and Noam Chomsky. Produced by Heiko Khoo. EXTRA SHORT FILM: 'The Curse of the Swastika', a 1940 anti-fascist propaganda newsreel on the rise on the Nazis.

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Lenin: Revolutionary

A Documentary in Four Parts

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Crash Courses in World History

42 12-minute courses on everything from hunting and gathering to world wars and globalization. Piece what you need for your study groups.

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Recent History: China After Deng Xiao-ping

.A documentary/obituary on the life and times of China's Senior Leader Deng Xiaoping. Deng is credited for paving the way for China's economic reforms by establishing the Special Economic Zones in the communist country. While he is regarded in history as a reformist and spearheading the opening of China, he is also known to have ordered the crackdown on the democracy activists in Tianamen Square in 1989. He passed away on February 19, 1997 at the age of 92.

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The Mexican-American War: The Most Unjust of All

Documentary and Docudrama by the History Channel in six parts, about one hour in all. Good for starting a more in-depth study.

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History of the Cuban Revolution. 'Fidel Castro - The Untold Story' , a 90-minute video documentary, tells the intertwined story of the Cuban Revolution and the story of Fidel. Muhammad Ali, Angela Davis and many others are interviewed. ACCESS HERE



Hubert Harrison, Ted Allen and Resources on White Supremacy in History and Strategy A variety of sources, include video interviews, by Jeff Perry 
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  • THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION IN 15 MINUTES. From 1890 to 1922, with actual footage. Fairly accurate on the high points, save for the conclusion. Good to start a discussion or study. For an 8000 word summary of the USSR from beginning to end, read Carl Davidson's 'October After 100 Years.'

    • Radical America Archives. Several years of the SDS-initiated journal on history, edited by Paul Buhle,  that live on after SDS ended.


    Reading Howard Zinn’s ‘People's History of the U.S.:  10 Audio Lectures By Dr John Marciano, Professor Emeritus, State University of New York, where he taught courses on social and historical foundations of education and class , gender and race. The lectures, along with others, are posted on The A-Infos Radio Project, which was formed in 1996 by grassroots broadcasters, free radio journalists and cyber-activists to provide ourselves with the means to share our radio programs via the Internet. Click HERE for links to the 10 Zinn audio files


    The Crusades: An Arab Perspective An ambitious four-part documentary produced by Al Jazeera, the series features handsome production values, convincing historical reenactments and a wealth of revealing information on this much dissected period of world history.

    Al-Nakba: A three-part video series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present. This story starts in 1799, outside the walls of Acre in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, when an army under Napoleon Bonaparte besieged the city. It was all part of a campaign to defeat the Ottomans and establish a French presence in the region. Chick Here


    CLR James with E.P Thompson: Two Giants,A 55 minute video of a wide ranging discussion on the breakup of Cold War structures and the beginnings of a new solidarity. Access Here


    Justice: A History and Overview. Nearly a thousand students pack Harvard's historic Sanders Theatre to hear Michael Sandel, "perhaps the most prominent college professor in America," (Washington Post) talk about justice, equality, democracy, and citizenship. 18 lectures in eleven hours, but topics can be view a stand alones, too. Access Here




    Slavery by Another Name. The powerful PBS documentary, 90 minutes long, covers the oppression of African-Americans from the Civil War to WW2, the story of Reconstruction and its Defeat, Jim Crow and Lynch Law. Using modern actors, the lines spoken are from the text of words written and spoken at the time. Unforgettable.  Access Here


    China in Revolution.  A one hour, 50 minute film, with much original news footage, of the the Chinese Revolution from the fall of the Emporer to the Communists taking power.  Good to start discussion.  Access Here

    Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler' Infamous for his crimes against humanity, Hitler's rise to power was unexpected and devastating. But how could a political party so intolerant gain so much power under one man? Using remarkable and historical newly colourised and impactful footage, Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler is a two-part documentary, 90 minutes total, which takes a remarkable look into the Nazis' ascent, exploring Hitler's path from mediocre student and failed artist to totalitarian dictator. Access Here


    History Is A Weapon This web resource contain hundreds of little-known speeches, articles, book and maps from colonial times in the New World to the present. It is especially rich in Native American and Angela Davis materials . One fascinating manual is an instruction manual in secret work by the South African revolutionaries.  Access Here

    Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek WorldThis is a superb analysis of the too-often ignored class aspect of the nations that dominated the Ancient World. G.E.M. De Ste Croix's compassion for the downtrodden and the oppressed make themselves evident to the reader almost immediately. You are missing out on an awful lot if you willfully ignore one of the great historical masterpieces of the ancient world; particularly of the ancient Greeks. This book is highly-fascinating and revealing and is bound to even make the most serious students of ancient history pause for a second to consider some of the powerful arguments and findings that are made throughout this brilliant study. Who says history must be boring? Thanks to truly great, unconventional minds like Ste Croix, it does not have to be: This is not a story of rulers and Kings; emperors and armies, but of people and of humanity. --Bob Berkowitz.  Access Here


    ENGLISH HISTORY: THE GREAT RISING OF 1381. Eleven 10-minute videos in a playlist. Tony Robinson explores and reconstructs how a peasant uprising in the summer of 1381 came to within a whisker of turning England's power structures on their head. Wonderful way of bringing class struggle and history to life. Access Here

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