America: A Personal History of the United States

A Radio Times publicity image featuring Alistair Cooke for his series America: A Personal History of the United States. The programmes were promoted extensively, such was the significance of the series.

Alistair Cooke’s personal history of the United States was first broadcast on Sunday 12th November 1972 at 19:25 on BBC Two. Commissioned by the BBC and made in partnership with Time-Life Films, the 13 part colour series was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA. Out of all his work, Cooke said this series was the one which made him most proud.

Publicity material sought to show how far-reaching the programmes would be, telling readers that the United States would be examined in all its complexity, as it was not “just one country, one climate, one people.”

Beautifully written and narrated by Cooke himself, the series began by looking back over the discoveries he made when he first crossed the Atlantic in 1932 at the age of 23.

By 1972 Cooke had been writing and reporting about America for 40 years, and throughout the series he explored many of the memorable people and places that underpinned a life-long attachment to the USA.

Topics included a tribute to the French and Spanish adventurers who were the first Europeans to explore North America, a look at the life and times of Benjamin Franklin, and an analysis of the character of George Washington at his home in Mount Vernon.