Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom

An excellent documentary, Lincoln and Lee at Antietam: The Cost of Freedom illustrates the socially and historically pivotal role played by the Battle of Antietam. In fact, the film suggests that America might not be the country it is today if Abraham Lincoln had failed to win this particularly bloody chapter of the Civil War. Two opposing forces met at Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862: Lincoln desperately needed a military victory in order to convincingly issue the Emancipation Proclamation, while General Robert E. Lee hoped to invade the North and attack a beleaguered and demoralized Union army. The results were staggering, producing twice as many casualties than all the deaths in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War , and Spanish-American War combined. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Child (Gettysburg: Three Days of Destiny), and narrated by Ronald F. Maxwell (director of Gods and Generals), Lincoln and Lee at Antietam draws on vintage photographs, archival letters and journals, and interviews with historians and other Civil War experts (including Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson) to bring this remarkable story to life. DVD extras include a commentary track with Child and Maxwell, and an interview with Maxwell. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)