Wildflowers1245

(2013-05-05 01:54:28)

Fascinating family histories

This is a fascinating series on the genealogy of famous people. I lovethe way these stories unfold layer by layer to reveal the drama that ishumanity from the great wars, massive migrations, and religiouspersecution to stories of everyday life. Birth, census, marriage,property, court and death records provide factual information of thosethat came before us and are woven with general historical informationthat is known about the time period to bring to life ancestors who werenot previously known. These stories are often poignant and emotional aswe come to know personal struggles. They educate us today of the waylife used to be; where young children often died from diseases thattoday are easily prevented, where prejudice was accepted as the normand a lack of social safety nets led to destitution. It reminds us howfar we have come. How medical advances such as vaccinations andcontraception have improved lives by saving children from horriblediseases and helping families plan the size of families in order tobetter support them. For all that is wrong with media today, it can puta spotlight on abuses and human suffering which lead to social changetoday. It brings to mind that great quotation attributed to GeorgeSantayana and repeated by Winston Churchill "Those that fail to learnfrom history are doomed to repeat it." Although I really enjoy this series, it sometimes has a scripted feeland is a blatant commercial for Ancestry.com. I rate this series an 8out of 10.

Maniac-9

(2013-05-04 20:42:44)

If you're interested in genealogy

If you're a person who's interested in seeing where people came fromand what made them what they are today then this is definitely the showfor you.The show focuses on a different celebrity each episode whether ifthey're an actor, musician or athlete. You have them go around thecountry and sometimes the world looking up birth certificate, deathcertificates or whatever to find out what took place in the earliergenerations of your family. A lot of times the ancestors of thesecelebrities were involved with some fairly significance moments inhistory.Not the best show ever but it's an interesting watch for an hour at atime.