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Summary Ken Burns' six-part documentary about the American Revolution narrated by Peter Coyote features archival materials, including personal accounts read by such actors as Adam Arkin, Kenneth Branagh, Hope Davis, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Domhnall Gleeson, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Damian Lewis, Laura Linney, Tobias Menzies, Edward N...

The American Revolution
Season 1
Season Premiere: Nov 16, 2025
Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
80
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Summary Ken Burns' six-part documentary about the American Revolution narrated by Peter Coyote features archival materials, including personal accounts read by such actors as Adam Arkin, Kenneth Branagh, Hope Davis, Morgan Freeman, Paul Giamatti, Domhnall Gleeson, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Damian Lewis, Laura Linney, Tobias Menzies, Edward N...

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ExpressVPN
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$6.67/mth

Season Episodes

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Episode 1 • Nov 16, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
In Order To Be Free: (May 1754 - May 1775)
Opposition in colonial North America to British policies over taxes, land and sovereignty escalates into violent confrontation; war gives 13 colonies a common cause.
Episode 2 • Nov 17, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
An Asylum for Mankind: (may 1775 - July 1776)
Congress puts George Washington in command of a new Continental Army; Congress declares American independence in July 1776.
Episode 3 • Nov 18, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
The Times That Try Men's Souls (July 1776 - January 1777)
Washington abandons New York City and flees across New Jersey, before attacking Trenton.
Episode 4 • Nov 19, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
Conquer by a Drawn Game (January 1777 - February 1778)
Despite losing Philadelphia, Americans win at Saratoga, enabling France to join the war.
Episode 5 • Nov 20, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
The Soul of All America (December 1777 - May 1780)
The conflict continues, expanding into naval battles, Native American territories, and southern regions.
Episode 6 • Nov 21, 2025 • 1 h 56 m
The Most Sacred Thing (May 1780 - Onward)
Victory at Yorktown guarantees independence. Americans seek to build a more perfect union.

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
80
93% Positive
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
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Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 15 Critic Reviews
80
93% Positive
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
Nov 17, 2025
100
The American Revolution achieves that goal brilliantly, sidestepping romanticism of the period (see Outlander) and stripping away myth with a grounding in granular reality. While never losing focus on heroes like George Washington, whose triumphs and mistakes are scrutinized by a diverse faculty of scholars, the series brings history to life through the accounts of lesser-known participants.
By Matt Roush FULL REVIEW
Nov 12, 2025
100
The filmmakers create a masterful narrative of the war’s tactical beats interwoven with the human touch and the necessary myth-busting about the cornerstones of our history.
By Hunter Ingram FULL REVIEW
Nov 19, 2025
80
As with many of Burns’ works, like “The Civil War,” “The American Buffalo” and even “Jazz,” “The American Revolution” is as intricate as it is dense.
By Aramide Tinubu FULL REVIEW
Nov 14, 2025
80
The series makes its case the way Burns’s whole body of work has: by trying to tell a full story and trusting, maybe with quaint optimism, that all kinds of Americans will want to hear it. The series might well draw controversy pointing out the founders’ contradictions. But “The American Revolution” is also deeply patriotic. It gushes with love for America’s natural beauty, for its democracy and for its professed, if not always realized, ideals.
By James Poniewozik FULL REVIEW
Nov 14, 2025
80
Contemporary battlefield sketches, grand post-war history paintings, elegant portraits of the major military and political figures, along with watercolor illustrations and unobtrusive live-action recreations bring the tale to life. As in other Burns projects, the narrative is knit together out of many individual stories, but it’s Washington, the commander of the army, who stands out here.
By Robert Lloyd FULL REVIEW
Nov 17, 2025
70
The American Revolution is yet another example of how Ken Burns and his collaborators take what we already know about a historic event and, through meticulous research and extensive interviews with historians, goes really deep into the topic in an entertaining way.
By Joel Keller FULL REVIEW
Nov 13, 2025
40
Their sanctimonious approach to history becomes very tiresome very quickly. This is unfortunate, and not just because it affects the viewing experience, which is as numbing as a winter at Fort Ticonderoga. .... The Burns-Botstein-Schmidt review is certainly enlightening, at least about who did what and where and why—the military strategies can be fascinating, though. .... When the most energized aspect of a documentary series is the talking heads, it says something.
By John Anderson FULL REVIEW

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