Author Spotlight

Ken Burns


Ken Burns, director and producer of The National Parks, founded his own documentary company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His films include The War, Jazz, Baseball, and The Civil War, which was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television. His work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award nominations. He received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in 2008. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.

Ken Burns
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Author Bookshelf
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On-sale date Title Format Price

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The National Parks
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns

Hardcover | 432 pages | Knopf | History - United States; Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection
978-0-307-26896-9 (0-307-26896-9)

September 8, 2009 | $62.00



The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but...


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The National Parks
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States; Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection
978-0-7393-6632-5 (0-7393-6632-7)

September 8, 2009 | $37.00



The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but...


book cover
The National Parks
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Audiobook Download | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States; Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection
978-0-7393-6633-2 (0-7393-6633-5)

September 8, 2009 | $18.95



The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but...


book cover
The National Parks
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Unabridged Audiobook Download | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States
978-1-4159-6627-3 (1-4159-6627-3)

September 8, 2009 | $29.95



The companion volume to the twelve-hour PBS series from the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Civil War, Baseball, and The War

America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but...


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Lewis & Clark
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns and Adam Arkin

Abridged Audiobook Download | pages | Random House Audio | History
978-0-7393-7646-1 (0-7393-7646-2)

April 1, 2008 | $12.00



The companion volume to Ken Burns's PBS documentary film, with more than 150 illustrations, most in full color.

In the spring of 1804, at the behest of President oThomas Jefferson, a party of explorers called the Corps of oDiscovery crossed the Mississippi River and started up the Missouri, heading west into the...

Also available as an abridged audio CD, hardcover and a trade paperback.

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The War
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns

Hardcover | 480 pages | Knopf | History - Military - World War II; History - United States - 20th Century
978-0-307-26283-7 (0-307-26283-9)

September 11, 2007 | $65.00



The vivid voices that speak from these pages are not those of historians or scholars. They are the voices of ordinary men and women who experienced—and helped to win—the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.

Focusing on the citizens of four towns— Luverne...

Also available as an abridged audio CD and an abridged audiobook download.

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The War
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | History - Military - World War II; History - United States - 20th Century
978-0-7393-5728-6 (0-7393-5728-X)

September 11, 2007 | $44.00



The companion volume to the magnificent seven-part PBS series

The individuals featured in this audiobook are not those of historians or scholars. They are ordinary men and women who experienced–and helped to win–the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.

Focusing on the citizens of...

Also available as an abridged audiobook download and a hardcover.

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The War
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Audiobook Download | pages | Random House Audio | History - Military - World War II; History - United States - 20th Century
978-0-7393-5729-3 (0-7393-5729-8)

September 11, 2007 | $25.00



The companion volume to the magnificent seven-part PBS series

The individuals featured in this audiobook are not those of historians or scholars. They are ordinary men and women who experienced–and helped to win–the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.

Focusing on the citizens of...

Also available as an abridged audio CD and a hardcover.

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The Civil War
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns and Ken Burns
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)
978-0-7393-5733-0 (0-7393-5733-6)

September 4, 2007 | $26.00



The complete text of the bestselling narrative history of the Civil War--based on the celebrated PBS television series. This non-illustrated edition interweaves the author's narrative with the voices of the men and women who lived through that cataclysmic trail of our nationhood, from Abraham Lincoln to ordinary foot soldiers. Includes essays...

Also available as an eBook, hardcover, trade paperback and a trade paperback.

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Jazz
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Read by LeVar Burton

Abridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | Music - Jazz; History - United States
978-0-7393-5732-3 (0-7393-5732-8)

September 4, 2007 | $32.00



The companion volume to the ten-part PBS TV series by the team responsible for
The Civil War and Baseball.

Continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed works, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns vividly bring to life the story of the quintessential American music—jazz. Born in the black community of turn-of-the-century New...


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The Ken Burns Companion Set
Written by Ken Burns

Hardcover | pages | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group | History - United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)
978-0-307-26818-1 (0-307-26818-7)

May 29, 2007 | $466.45



The definitive Ken Burns hardcover selection. Six hardcover classics, including: The Civil War: An Illustrated History, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, Jazz: A History of America's Music, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Baseball: An Illustrated History, and Lewis...

Also available as a trade paperback.

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The Ken Burns Companion Set
Written by Ken Burns

Trade Paperback | pages | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group | History - United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)
978-0-375-71165-7 (0-375-71165-1)

May 22, 2007 | $248.85



The best of the Ken Burns trade paperbacks, including The Civil War: An Illustrated History, Baseball: An Illustrated History, Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Jazz: A History of America's Music and Unforgivable...

Also available as a hardcover.

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Lewis & Clark
Written by Dayton Duncan
Read by Ken Burns

Abridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States - 19th Century
978-0-7393-1251-3 (0-7393-1251-0)

May 4, 2004 | $37.00



The companion volume to Ken Burns's PBS documentary film, with more than 150 illustrations, most in full color.

In the spring of 1804, at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, a party of explorers called the Corps of Discovery crossed the Mississippi River and started up the Missouri, heading west into the...


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Horatio's Drive
Written by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns

Hardcover | 192 pages | Knopf | History - United States - 20th Century; History - United States
978-0-375-41536-4 (0-375-41536-X)

July 8, 2003 | $37.95



The companion volume to the PBS documentary film about the first—and perhaps most astonishing—automobile trip across the United States.

In 1903 there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the entire nation and most people had never seen a “horseless buggy”—but that did not stop Horatio Nelson Jackson, a thirty-one-year-old Vermont...

Also available as an unabridged audio CD and an unabridged audiobook download.

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Horatio's Drive

Unabridged Compact Disc | pages | Random House Audio | History - United States - 20th Century
978-0-7393-0635-2 (0-7393-0635-9)

July 1, 2003 | $37.95



The companion volume to the PBS documentary film about the first—and perhaps most astonishing—automobile trip across the United States.

In 1903 there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the entire nation and most people had never seen a “horseless buggy”—but that did not stop Horatio Nelson Jackson, a thirty-one-year-old Vermont...

Also available as an unabridged audiobook download and a hardcover.

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