Top Rated History Movies on Kanopy - Page 42

Karski & The Lords of Humanity

2015

Karski & The Lords of Humanity

2015
6
The film tells the story of a member of the Polish underground who acted as a courier during World War II and whose most prominent mission was to inform the Allied powers of Nazi crimes against the Jews of Europe in an effort to prevent the Holocaust.
The Fourth Partition

2013

The Fourth Partition

2013
5
Over 4,000,000 Poles immigrated to the United States between 1870 and 1920 in search of a better life form their partitioned country. In Chicago, they worked in some of the most dangerous factories and mills in the United States, and fought to free their homeland. Their story is known as the Fourth Partition.
Going Medieval

2012

Going Medieval

2012
10
In this two-hour H2 special, historian and weapons expert Mike Loades goes medieval diving deep into the world of the Middle Ages. From the 5th to the 15th centuries, Mike battles the realities vs. the myths of this extraordinary time crusading for the core of real life while delivering fun-filled facts. From living, working and fighting to how to keep a knight's armor shiny using a vigorous rub of sand, vinegar and urine, Going Medieval is an expert account of life during medieval times.
Coney Island

1991

Coney Island

1991
6
Before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. By the turn of the century, this tiny piece of New York real estate was internationally famous. On summer Sundays, three great pleasure domes--Steeplechase, Luna Park and Dreamland--competed for the patronage of a half-million people. By day it was the world's most amazing amusement park, by night, an electric "Eden".
Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World

2011

Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World

2011
6
This ninety-minute film takes audiences on an epic journey across nine countries and over 1,400 years of history. It explores themes such as the Word, Space, Ornament, Color and Water and presents the stories behind many great masterworks of Islamic Art and Architecture. Narrated by Academy Award winning performer Susan Sarandon, this dazzling documentary reveals the variety and diversity of Islamic art. It provides a window into Islamic culture and brings broad insights to the enduring themes that have propelled human history and fueled the rise of world civilization over the centuries
Shored Up

2013

Shored Up

2013
7
Shored Up is the story of our coasts where life on the edge of a rising sea has placed our towns and cities on the front lines of climate change. Following frustrated scientists, confused politicians and level-headed surfers, Shored Up follows the conflicts that are erupting from New Jersey to North Carolina as the ocean rises and we challenge nature to an unwinnable duel.
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain

1995

Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain

1995
5
In this documentary, historians, politicians and actors (including Danny Glover and Sissy Spacek) try to illuminate the quixotic nature of founding father Thomas Jefferson, focusing on his views about slavery and rumored affair with his slave Sally Hemmings. Though many consider Jefferson America's most influential political logician, his life was a series of paradoxes. Edward Herrmann is featured as the voice of the conflicted aristocrat. [netflix]
The Tragedy of Richard III

1983

The Tragedy of Richard III

1983
6
Richard Duke of Gloucester, youngest brother of King Edward IV, will stop at nothing to get the crown. He first convinces the ailing King that the Duke of Clarence, his elder brother, is a threat to the lives of Edward's two young sons. Edward has him imprisoned in the Tower of London; killers in Richard's pay then drown Clarence in a barrel of wine. When news of Clarence's death reaches the King, the subsequent grief and remorse bring about his death. Richard is made Lord Protector, with power to rule England while his nephew (now King Edward V) is still a minor. Before the young king's coronation he has his two nephews conveyed to the Tower, ostensibly for their safekeeping. Richard's accomplice, the Duke of Buckingham, then declares the two boys illegitimate and offers Richard the crown, which after a show of reticence he accepts. After Richard's coronation, he and Buckingham have a falling-out over whether or not to assassinate the two children.
Henry VI Part 3

1983

Henry VI Part 3

1983
7
The life of King Henry the Sixth, in three parts.
Henry VI Part 2

1983

Henry VI Part 2

1983
7
The life of King Henry the Sixth, in three parts.
Hiroshima Nagasaki August, 1945

1970

Hiroshima Nagasaki August, 1945

1970
6
This documentary is a compilation of silent black-and-white film footage shot by the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortly after the atomic bomb blasts in early August 1945. English-language voice-over narration has been added, along with a few scenes from American sources. The film shows the destruction and injury caused by the atomic bombs in graphic detail.
Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica

2008

Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica

2008
4
The Douglas Mawson Antarctic Expedition of 1912 is considered one of the most amazing feats of endurance of all time. Although his two companions perished, Douglas Mawson survived, but how? In a bold historical experiment, scientist and adventurer Tim Jarvis is retracing the gruelling experience, with the same meagre rations, primitive clothing and equipment to uncover what happened to Mawson physically — and mentally — as a man hanging on the precipice of life and death.
Top Secret Rosies: The Female 'Computers' of WWII

2010

Top Secret Rosies: The Female 'Computers' of WWII

2010
8
In 1942, when computers were human and women were underestimated, a group of female mathematicians helped win a war and usher in the modern computer age. Sixty-five years later their story has finally been told.
Crystal City

2019

Crystal City

2019
The story of a burgeoning young love between a German American girl and a young Japanese American boy in a US WWII internment camp who may soon see themselves shipped out of the only country they've ever known and forever kept apart.
Hard Hat Riot

2025

Hard Hat Riot

2025
On May 8, 1970, construction workers violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War in lower Manhattan. The workmen, who came to be known as “hardhats,” were at the cutting edge of a new kind of class war. With the war in Vietnam raging on, it was the sons of the working class who were doing most of the fighting. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed. Hard Hat Riot tells the story of a struggling metropolis, a flailing president, a divided people, and a bloody juncture when the nation violently diverged ― culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.
Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls

2010

Writing the Dead Sea Scrolls

2010
The Dead Sea Scrolls are widely considered to be one of the greatest archaeological finds in modern history. More than a half century after their discovery, scientists are still trying to solve the mystery of who wrote them. With special access to the scrolls, National Geographic goes beyond the enclosed glass case to examine the actual texts up close and explores the caves where they were found. Witness as a new clue to the identity of the scrolls' writers is deciphered-a 2,000-year-old cup inscribed with a strange text. Could analysis of this finding unravel the mystery?
Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of One Apache Family

2008

Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of One Apache Family

2008
In decades past, Native American artists who wanted to sell to mainstream collectors had little choice but to create predictable, Hollywood-style western scenes. Then came a generation of painters and sculptors led by Allan Houser (or Haozous), a Chiricahua Apache artist with no interest in stereotyped imagery and a belief that his own rich heritage was compatible with modernist ideas and techniques. Narrated by actor Val Kilmer and originally commissioned as part of an exhibit of Houser’s work at the Oklahoma History Center, this program depicts the artist’s tribal ancestry, his rise to regional and national acclaim, and the continuing success of his sons as they expand upon and depart from their father’s achievements. Key works are documented, as is Houser’s tenure at the Santa Fe–based Institute of American Indian Arts.
World War II: The Fall of France

2001

World War II: The Fall of France

2001
Hitler attacks west invading Belgium and Holland, Operation Dynamo and the attempt to evacuate the British expeditionary force at Dunkirk culminating in the fall of France.
Histories Of The Holocaust: Dachau - Liberation And Retribution

2011

Histories Of The Holocaust: Dachau - Liberation And Retribution

2011
The inhuman brutality and bloodshed that was endemic at Dachau - Nazi Germany's first concentration camp - did not come to an end with its 1945 liberation, for this dread place proved capable of triggering a spate of vengeful retaliation not only by its half-crazed prisoners, but their rescuers. Chapels of various faiths, memorials and sculptures now mark the camp's sites of execution and torture.
The VP Choice: Vance vs. Walz

2024

The VP Choice: Vance vs. Walz

2024
FRONTLINE investigates the lives and views of Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz as they run for vice president. Drawing on interviews with those who know Vance and Walz well — friends, advisors, journalists and political insiders — the documentary traces how these two men from the middle of America found their opposing political voices and explores the ideas and influences they would bring to the White House.