War Walks

As an American and lover of history, I came upon "War Walks" just a year ago. I cannot believe I had never seen it before. Watching it from the very beginning, I was given the great feeling of understanding battles which were key and grew more and more excited about episodes which were already upcoming and the job that Professor Richard Holmes would be doing on further battles not yet done and beyond just those involving England like Verdun, Tannenberg, Austerlitz, Monte Cassino, Gettysburg, Stalingrad, etc.

When I researched Professor Holmes and saw that he had passed away years earlier, I was absolutely devastated. His approach to the battles, on their sites and with his knowledge of them, was unmatched in anything I have ever seen. RIP Mr. Richard Holmes and here is to the hope that someone picks up and carries on with a "War Walks" style of presentation with even half of the skill and quality you brought forth.

Remember that history teacher in high school who was so absorbed in his job that he seemed to be living in another century? Richard Holmes, the narrator of War Walks, is the English version of that person, and in this series he takes you on a hands-on journey through all of the most important battlefields of English history. Holmes does not give a dry narration of the events with stock footage, but rather sees each episode as a "walk" on the field, an attempt to stroll in the footsteps of the fallen and understand their world. As such you see with your own eyes what it might have been like to stare at no-man's land at the Somme or huddle in a tube station in the Blitz.

Holmes must have inspired Dan Snow's more recent Battlefield series, for the premises of the two series are very similar. War Walks is more effective, however, because Holmes has a much more thorough knowledge of the events, and is also much more poetic in his narration of them. He frequently cites letters and other writings of the times to get the events narrated in their own voice. He will often tell his story from the very room that the generals planned the attack, or the exact trench where the crucial attack was stopped. He'll even wade shoulder high in the English Channel to give you an exact sense of how your life would be utterly miserable as you dodged bombs from the streaking Stukas. In the end, he does us a great service, because if we forget these events, we lose what they teach us.

Professor Holmes is an engaging presenter who at times seems to actively participate in the stories he's telling (he dons a suit of armor at one point similar to what the French were using at Agincourt) and really makes the history come to life by actually "taking you there" to look at the terrain and enables one to better perceive the scope of the battle in question.

I also appreciate his presentation of events for being brief and to the point with little dallying and few attempts at social commentary; preferring to let the events and actors speak for themselves. The viewer is thus asked to draw some conclusions of their own. All in all, Professor Holmes is scholarly but never dull; like visiting a battlefield with your favorite history professor from college.

War Walks is currently getting a very, very rare outing on daytime television, and it has lost none of its power to educate and entertain.

That of course is all down to the lamented Professor Holmes, a man of such enthusiasm and charisma he leads you through history effortlessly. His death was a great loss. Those the BBC trusts to deliver their documentary series these days either don't seem very nice people (Dan Snow), don't appear to have a full grasp of their subject (Dan Snow), or are just irritatingly smug. Like, for example, Dan Snow.

For me War Walks is simply one of the finest documentary series the BBC has ever produced, and as we know they are pretty good at them, that is high praise.

It's a great shame it has never received a DVD release. Someone in the know should really think about a commercial release. It won't sell a million, but many of us would be very grateful.

After recently watching "War Walks" by Professor Holmes with my fellow a-level history class I wanted to show my enjoyment on such a gripping documentary. The specific battle we watched was on the "battle of the Boyne" and thanks to Holme's enthusiasm and passion for the subject, I found that I was able to build a detailed picture in my mind on what it was actually like during this battle. To some, Holme's enthusiasm could be portrayed as pompous and egotistical due to the way in which he spoke to the audience in such a dramatical way. However I disagree and believe that Professor Holmes is just a very passionate man who is enthusiastic about history. Which is my opinion that is not a bad thing. Overall in my opinion I think he did an excellent job in replaying the events of the Battle of the Boyne. I would strongly recommend other A-level students to watch this to broaden their historical knowledge.