Documentaries and Nonfiction DVDs – March 2008 | Find It @ Sewickley Public Library

Ancient Rome
This program highlights the Roman Empire’s history, civilization and architecture, including the Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon. Featuring graphics, computer animation, and location footage.

Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel
This History Channel program examines the development of the steel industry and the part Andrew Carnegie played in it.

Anthony Bourdain No Reservations
Anthony Bourdain No Reservations Collection 2
Chef and author Anthony Bourdain travels the world sampling local foods and culture.

Art Across the Ages
In this 4 part set from The Teaching Company, Professor Ori Z. Soltes has crafted a course in Western visual art that serves as both a mind-broadening survey and an essential introduction. It is designed to give anyone interested in Western art a firm familiarity with its basics, acquainting you with major artists and styles in various media and providing a broad foundation for deeper exploration.

Black Gold: The Story of Oil
Originally produced as an episode of the television program Empires of industry on the History Channel, a fascinating history of the petroleum industry in the U.S. DVD 665.5 BLA 2005

Egypt’s Golden Empire
This episode of PBS’s Empires series examines 500 years of Egyptian history, from 1567 B.C. to 1085 B.C., via the preserved letters and personal accounts of pharaohs and ordinary citizens.

Empires in the Americas
This fascinating program highlights the amazing parallels between the two great American societies of the Aztecs and the Incas — two nations doomed to violent destruction.

The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition
Presents the story of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 expedition to Antarctica, in which 27 men found themselves stranded in the ice for 635 days.

Europe to the Max: Alpine Secrets
Several episodes of Rudy Maxa’s populat video travel program: includes: Bologna and Emilia Romagna, Italy’s Veneto and Dolomites, Switzerland and the Alps, and Alpine Christmas.

Europe to the Max: Great Cities of Europe
Several episodes of Rudy Maxa’s popular video travel program: features many different cities in Europe, including: Barcelona and Costa Brava, Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris.

Europe to the Max: Mysteries of Greece and Rome
Selections from Rudy Maxa’s popular video travel program: including: Athens and Delphi, the Greek Islands, and more.

Europe to the Max: Romantic Germany and Beyond
Selections from Rudy Maxa’s popular video travel program: features Germany’s Romantic Road, Rhine and Mosel River, Prague and Budapest, and Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast.

Europe to the Max: Splendors of France
Selections from Rudy Maxa’s popular video travel program: features France’s Champagne Region, Normandy, Carcassonne, the Pyrenees, and more.

Europe to the Max: Treasures Outside London
Selections from Rudy Maxa’s popular video travel program: features Dublin and Beyond, Ireland’s West Coast, Bath, South Wales, Edinburgh and Scotland.

Fat to Firm Fitness Ball Workout for Dummies
This workour DVD offers step-by-step instructions of 15 exercises that work the entire body. It also ten rules for healthy living, an excerpt from the book Dieting for dummies.

15-Minute Workouts for Dummies
Step-by-step instructions for 26 toning and shaping exercises

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
This episode of the PBS series, Empires, charts the rise, glory, demise, and legacy of ancient Greece, focusing on prominent figures of the times including Cleisthenes, Themistocles, Pericles, and Socrates. Includes comments from scholars.

The James Bond Story
This documentary looks at the different characterizations each actor has bought to the role of James Bond. It also traces the character back to its origin, the Bond novels by Ian Fleming. Features interviews and film clips.

Jeff Dunham Arguing with Myself
A recorded live performance of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, portrays a comedian whose revival of an old-fashioned art has made ventriloquism more relevant to modern societal concerns. Starring his six main characters, from Bubba Jay, a Nascar-obsessed hick, to Peanut, a flamboyant gay monkey.

Jeff Dunham Spark of Insanity
Ventriloquist Dunham welcomes two never-before-seen partners “Achmed the Dead Terrorist,” and “Melvin the Superhero.” Long-time favorites “Peanut,” “Walter” and Jose Jalapeno are back in an entirely original show taped at the historic Warner Theater in Washington D.C.

Live to Tell about It: Self Defense Techniques
Learn simple self-defense techniques to help prevent sexual assault, assault at gunpoint, assault at knifepoint, domestic violence and more. Taught by a woman for women.

The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
This episode of the PBS series, Empires, tells the tale of one family’s ambition and of Europe’s struggle to emerge from the ravages of the Dark Ages. The Medici used charm, skill and ruthlessness to garner unparalleled wealth and power, ruling Europe for more than 300 years.

Monarchy Set 2
David Starkey continues his multi-part examination of the English throne, with five episodes covering nearly 250 years, from Charles II to Victoria. Replete with infidelities, betrayals, and rivalries, English history emerges as a compelling family saga.

My Favorite Universe
The Great Courses series pesents lectures by Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson based on essays written by him for Natural History magazine.

No End in Sight
An insider’s look at the decisions that led to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the handling of the occupation. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials, as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers and prominent analysts. Examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy helped to create the insurgency and chaos that Iraq faces today.

Operation Homecoming
Operation Homecoming is a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American troops through their written words. Interviews and dramatic readings by such actors as Robert Duvall, Josh Lucas, Beau Bridges, Blair Underwood, Justin Kirk, Aaron Eckhart, Chris Gorham, and John Krasinski, transform selections from this collection of writing into a deep examination of life on the front lines. At the same time the film provides depth and context to these experiences through a broader look at the universal themes of war literature. The writing in Operation Homecoming covers: poetry, fiction, memoirs, letters, journals, and essays. Originally broadcast as a segment of the PBS television series, America at a Crossroads.

The Roman Empire in the First Century
This episode of the PBS series, Empires, tells the story of the emperors, slaves, poets, and peasants who wrested order from chaos, built the most cosmopolitan society the world had ever seen, and shaped the Roman Empire in the First Century. DVD 937 ROM 2005

Rome and Pompeii
Imagine being among the bloodthirsty thousands at a gladiator bout in the Colosseum, or at the chariot races in the Circus Maximus. Think of yourself among the decadent few in the ancient baths, theatres, temples, or palaces. Be an eyewitness to the burning of Nero’s Rome. See the devastation caused by Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. Meet the ancients, experience their daily customs, and visit the imperial cities of Rome and Pompeii as they appeared 2,000 years ago. This program makes it all possible through computer recreations and a renowned team of Italian archeologists and historians

Secrets of Lost Empires: Inca
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Explore the magnificent mountainside citadels – and marvel as villagers create a 150-foot suspension bridge using nothing but grass.

Secrets of Lost Empires: Pyramid, Obelisk
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Face the challenge of quarrying, chieseling, hauling, and mounting an obelisk – using stones, ropes, logs and dirt.

Secrets of Lost Empires: Stonehenge; Colosseum
Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to two archaeological sites where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Watch a band of experts move, raise, and cap a structure like the mysterious Stonehenge – armed with Stone Age tools.

Shaping Up with Weights for Dummies
Demonstrates how to perform twelve dumbbell exercises for toning the upper and lower body as well as burning calories.

Superstring Theory: The DNA of Reality
From the Teaching Company, twenty-four lectures delivered by Professor S. James Gates, Jr., University of Maryland at College Park.

True Life Adventures. Volume 4. Nature’s Mysteries
Disney’s acclaimed, groundbreaking nature series captures the wonder of animals and nature.

War Planes of World War II
During World War II, many men and women worked to build war planes for the military. Some companies which changed from commercial to military aircraft were Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas.