# The American Revolution (2025)

> Ken Burns's six-part PBS documentary traces the American Revolution as a war for independence, civil war and global conflict, told through the voices of the generation that lived it.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/172573

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 116 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, history, war
- Created by: Ken Burns
- Network: PBS
- Cast: Peter Coyote, Adam Arkin, Josh Brolin, Josh Charles, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Marcus Davis-Orrom, Alden Ehrenreich
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35328184/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: contemplative, sober, reflective, measured

## Synopsis

The American Revolution (2025) is a PBS documentary miniseries created by Ken Burns and produced by Florentine Films and WETA. Told across six feature-length episodes of roughly two hours each, it is a single continuous historical account rather than a case-of-the-week format. Narrator Peter Coyote guides viewers through the story, while Josh Brolin voices George Washington, Paul Giamatti voices John Adams, and Claire Danes voices Abigail Adams, with Hugh Dancy voicing the British commanders Hugh Percy and John Burgoyne. Their letters, diaries and recorded words anchor each stretch of the conflict, which the series presents as a war of independence, a war of conquest, a civil war and a world war fought from Vermont's Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina and out to the Iberian Peninsula. The emotional register is measured and reflective, with long archival passages, period imagery and sober attention to the human cost on both sides. Its tone is contemplative rather than dramatic, and its approach resembles the earlier Ken Burns history series, so fans of The Civil War and John Adams will find a familiar kinship in its voiced primary sources and sweeping, carefully paced account of the nation's founding.

## Shows like The American Revolution

- [World War II with Tom Hanks (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105057)
- [The War (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/29234)
- [John Adams (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/14090)
- [Franklin (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/123472)
- [500 Nations (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/6031)
- [Prohibition (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/36677)
- [Exterminate All the Brutes (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/98107)
- [American Experience (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/1112)
- [George Washington (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/19685)
- [Amend: The Fight for America (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/98207)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt