This past October the BBC aired the 4-part mini-series The American Future: A History, taking a fresh look at the USA in modern times, in the run-up to the landmark 2008 election, through the eyes of historian Simon Schama. Now, timed for Inauguration Day, the folks at BBC Video and Warner will release this as a 2-DVD set on January 20th.
Running 240 minutes, the episodes are presented in anamorphic widescreen video, with English Stereo audio and English subtitles. Episodes consist of "American Plenty" (a look at our resources, including oil and water), "American War" (a comparison of Americans and their attitude about war, compared to what the rest of the world perceives it to be), "American Fervour" (the role of faith in American politics) and "What Is An American?" (how immigration, then and now, has affected the country). Cost is $34.98 SRP. Here's a more detailed description from the studio, followed by a look at the packaging (note that the box art could be subject to change):
Historian Simon Schama looks to American history to explain the present-day motivations, expectations and crises of the nation.
As the United Sates built toward its 2008 Presidential elections, the country has undergone an intense self-examination about the trajectory of its history; how it came to find itself in multiple crises - 9/11, Katrina, Enron, Baghdad - and how an America that began as 'the last best hope for mankind' came to be so suspected and vilified around much of the world.
Historian Simon Schama, who has spent half his life in the United States, traces how the superpower has reached the point of questioning its own identity as a nation. Taking the long perspective, Schama looks at four of the critical issues facing the country: war, moral fervor, immigration and the increasingly difficult relationship between expectations of prosperity and the reality of economic and environmental limits.
Turning to fascinating moments in American history to understand the present, connecting legendary presences such as Thomas Jefferson, Henry Ford, Mark Twain and General Lucius Clay with contemporary soldiers, businessmen, truckers, schoolteachers and politicians, this series offers a timely and gripping vision of the United States - past and present - facing its moment of truth.
  
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