The Century: America's Time

Season

1999

8.4

This comprehensive 15-part retrospective, anchored by Peter Jennings, takes an era-by-era look at America's evolution during the turbulent 20th century.

Episode List

S1 • E1

Seeds of Change

An era of prosperity, optimism & invention rings in the new century as every American becomes aware of electricity, automobiles, motion pictures and even powered air flight.

S1 • E2

1914-1919: Shell Shock

The world was embroiled in the First World War. We document the development of the war and American foreign policy regarding both war and peace.

S1 • E3

1920-1929: Boom to Bust

The 1920s ushered in an era of great social change, general prosperity, Prohibition and what historians refer to as "modernity." We examine these great cultural changes and their effects on the nation.

S1 • E4

1929-1936: Stormy Weather

The Great Depression rocks America.

S1 • E5

1936-1941: Over the Edge

We document the years that led up to the beginning of World War II. From burning books to Kristallnacht, we examines the anti-Semitism that eventually dominated German thinking.

S1 • E6

1941-1945: Civilians at War

World War II was a total global conflict that affected and changed not only the lives of soldiers fighting the war but also those of non-combatants living in war zones.

S1 • E7

Homefront: 1941-1945

The years 1941 through 1945. The human cost of World War II, shows the atrocities of Germany and Japan, firebombing by the Allies, the use of Atomic weapons, ending with the Nuremberg trials.

S1 • E8

Best Years: 1946-1952

We cover some of the major events of the immediate post-war years such as the Korean War, McCarthyism, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift and the adjustment of returning soldiers.

S1 • E9

1953-1960: Happy Days

We examine the "Happy Days" of the 1950s and the major events of those years.

S1 • E10

1960-1964: Poisoned Dreams

Within a few years the optimism of the first years of the decade would vanish, only to be replaced by the uncertainty of a new and unfamiliar world, and the national mourning of a fallen leader.

S1 • E11

1964-1970: Unpinned

The years 1963 through 1968 remain some of the most violent and destructive years of American history. We examine some of the major events of those turbulent years.

S1 • E12

Approaching The Apocalypse

The turbulence of the 1960s paved the way for the election of Richard Nixon.

S1 • E13

1976-1980: Starting Over

We examine the mid and late 1970s and some of the major events of the era such as the energy crisis, racial unrest, the rise of the "Me Generation," unemployment and inflation, and the problems with Iran.