62-02-07 (ep04) The Arc of Civilization

Democracy in America is a well-produced dramatization of Alexis de Tocqueville’s book of the same name. These fourteen, thirty-minute episodes follow Tocqueville and his companion, Gustave de Beaumont, from their landing in New York in May of 1831 through their departure nine months later, with the final episode twenty years later. The series is an educational one, produced by the Division of General Education of New York University in conjunction with the Fund for Adult Education.

Although educational the production is far from dry, pedantic lectures. They are high quality programs with music, sound effects, and good acting (even with their rather thick accents). Tocqueville was played by Barry Morse and Beaumont by Alan King. The weekly programs originally aired on NBC and CBC starting in January of 1962. They were under the direction of historian George Probst and produced by Andrew Allan in the studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This collection includes two preview programs that air immediately before the series in which historian Dorothy Gordon hosted panel discussions on topics relating to the series.

The book, "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville was published in two volumes in 1835 and 1840 respectively.