The Story of India with Michael Wood: Complete BBC Series [DVD]

Michael wood is such a great presenter and writer, absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended.

Great DVD. Great historian too.

India: The Peacock's CallIndia: The Tiger's RoarIndia: The Elephant's Blessing: 1I have just watched The Story of India by Michael Wood again. I saw it originally on TV in 2007 but am about to return as ever to India and wanted to immerse myself in the ancient land of my birth before I go. It is even better second time around and seen in a concentrated way over two nights. Michael Wood is as passionate as I am about India and his obvious enjoyment impacts positively. It covers this incredible place very well and I wish actually that more Indians would watch this DVD. I plan to buy another copy for a distinguished Indian friend in Delhi. So often documentaries on India can be superficial and indeed slightly sneering and when one has the mis fortune to have seen Jeremy Clarkson fooling about at taxpayers' expense it makes the blood boil. Michael Wood brings wisdom, affection and moderation to this great tale and he also is critical of the British and the hurried and expedient way we left India...that was when I was born there to generations who had served, worked and lived and died there. We globally are paying the price of that irresponsible behaviour by a cash strapped Labour Government on the verge of bankruptcy here in the UK here in 1947whose PM loathed India it became apparent...though I don't think he ever actually had visited; the nest of vipers in the adjacent country continues to hurt all those around and further afield. The Story of India is excellent. [...]

After watching 'The Story Of India' on DVD I have to say that it was time well spent. Historian Michael Wood is a stellar choice for presenting this series. His innate passion for history and energetic style fits seamlessly with the colourful and vibrant subject matter that is India. This is backed up by engaging visuals and music, as expected from the BBC. The series also does well to go back as far as it does, starting off in the South and working its way around other areas of the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan) and even visiting neighbouring regions (Central Asia).This series has the following 6 episodes on 2-discs.1. Beginnings - Ancient rituals in South India and the Indus Valley Civilisation (3000BC) are explored2. The Power of Ideas - covers the emergence of Buddhism around 500BC and the first Indian Empire led by the Maurya rulers.3. Spice Routes and Silk Roads - India as a trading partner of Ancient Rome and Greece.4. Ages of Gold - The Gupta and Chola Empires which marked the Golden Age of Indian history around 300-600AD.5. The Meeting of Two Oceans - Covers the period of Mughal rule including Akbar the Great around 1600AD.6. Freedom - covering British rule and the struggle for independence.It is a great advert for India and it's rich history, placing it on a par with other civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Romans and Chinese. There are aspects (Aryan Migration Theory and Indus Valley Civilisation) that some Indian historians will be very unhappy about (as Wood mentions briefly) but until some-one makes a comparable series with evidence to support alternative ideas, this is the best documentary out there. The reason I gave it only 4 stars was because I felt it could have had more content - possibly by having at least 2 more episodes. I personally would have liked more coverage of certain eras (such as 1000BC to 200AD) but I still recommend it highly.

I enjoyed Michael Wood's series about the history the Indian subcontinent. Wood's enthusiasm for the subject matter and his own natural personal sympathy make this a pleasant virtual journey for the viewer. The programs are divided into specific historical periods (pre-history, mauryean dynasty, kushan empire, the golden age, muslim incursions and the british raj) and are well focused, maintaining a good balance between transmitting factual information and illustrating local attitudes through personal interviews. I checked the information given in these programs using online encylopedias and found the material to be generally well researched, presenting the salient points of a vast and rich history (Wood says that he would need a 1,000 films to show it all)! Just a small demur - although widely accepted, the theory of the Aryan invasions of northwest India has been brought into doubt by recent scientific research showing that there there has been no significant change in the genetic composition of the people of South Asia for at least the last 10,000 years. It would have been nice if Wood could have presented the alternative explanation of the development of an indigenous Indo-Aryan culture. Other than that - well done Beeb!

I previously watched the series "The Story of China" also with Michael Wood and found it so enjoyable and well-produced that I decided to order this series also and, just like the other one, it was beautifully produced with the perfect balance of history and wonderful images and all condensed into a highly educative, but at the same time very accessible to all types of audience, production. From all the historical documentaries that I have watched from the BBC these ones by Michael Wood are just the best of them all and he presents all the themes with so much enthusiasm and open-mindedness that is extremely rare from a British perspective. It is impossible to watch it without feeling strong emotions throughout it. Furthermore, the background music is enchanting and it is obvious that so much hard work has gone into the making of this series. This DVD I purchased to cherish permanently in my small collection of DVDs.