Rebels and Redcoats - How Britain Lost America

BBC - Rebels and Redcoats - How Britain Lost America (2003)

Historian Richard Holmes brings us the extraordinary story of America's first civil war. We've been told that the War of Independence was the American people's struggle for liberty against an oppressive colonial power. However, many Americans were loyal to the British Crown throughout the war; men and women often chose sides not because they wanted freedom, but because they wanted their neighbour's land. Using vivid reconstruction, eye-witness accounts, original documents and paintings, and Richard's proven story-telling skills, this film overthrows traditional perceptions about these compelling years. As the story unfolds, the truth emerges - a truth far more fascinating than we were ever led to believe.

Episode I: The Shot Heard Around The World
America is split over whether to break with Britain or to stay loyal to the Crown. Tensions escalate until a British force is sent out to confiscate an arms cache. They are expecting a riot; they get a revolution. The Americans triumph at Boston, forcing the British to withdraw.

Episode II: American Crisis: 1776
Washington is forced out of New York. His army begins to desert him, until a daring raid across a frozen river gives him victory at Trenton. But the British still seem to be masters in this war, capturing the great Fort Ticonderoga.

Episode III: The War Moves South
The British open a new front in the southern colonies. They win a series of victories against American and French forces, and find a new army of recruits amongst former slaves. Thousands of African Americans join the British in the expectation of freedom. The war in the south is an untold story, the stuff of nightmares. It becomes a savage war of partisans, border raids and guerilla style skirmishing.

Episode IV: The World Turned Upside Down
The British have enjoyed command of the sea, and with it the ability to move thousands of troops to wherever they are needed. But now an extraordinary naval blunder allows the French fleet to isolate a large British garrison at Yorktown. Surrender is inevitable, giving overall victory to Washington and his French allies. Those who have supported the British, the loyalists, thousands of African Americans and American Indians are left to the mercy of the new state.

Technical Specs:
Video Codec: Xvid
Video Bitrate: 1800 Kbps
Video Resolution: 704x400
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.760:1
Frames Per Second: 29.97
Audio Codec: AC3
Audio Bitrate: 128 Kbps CBR 48KHz
Audio Streams: 2ch
Audio Languages: English
RunTime Per Part: 49 mins
Number Of Parts: 4
Part Size: 675 MB
Subtitles: none
Source: DVD
Ripped by: JungleBoy @ mvgroup.org

Release Notes:
Source NTSC DVD: video 720x480i 29.97fps MPEG2, audio 224Kbps AC3
The Xvid files were tested on an upscaling Divx DVD player connected via HDMI to a large LCD screen.