America's State Capitals

Most of us know that Boston is the capital of Massachusetts, but how about Pennsylvania (it's not Philly!) or perhaps Vermont? This fast-paced video, part of the Just the Facts series, takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of all 50 American states' capitals, offering a fun, fact-filled overview of the whole nation along the way. Structured as an interactive quiz, with each capital introduced through facts and visuals, America's State Capitals features questions on historical background, famous residents, civic and cultural landmarks, and superlative claims (such as “biggest,” “oldest,” “the only,” etc.), revealing answers at the end of each 45-50 second segment. While the quality of the video clips is variable--some are dated, others are nicely shot--it's really the content that makes this program work, with its great mixture of serious information (such as Revolutionary and Civil War history) and true trivia (such as where Elvis last performed). Suitable for viewing either in its entirety, or in short capital-by-capital segments, this is recommended. Aud: I, J, H, P. (E. Gieschen)