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Historical accuracy in movies and TV has been a source of fierce debate for decades, with some period dramas getting it surprisingly right while others eschew accuracy at the risk of criticism. In 2023, for example, Napoleon director Ridley Scott clapped back at British historian Dan Snow, after the latter had listed the movie's many historical inaccuracies, telling him to "Get a life" (via The Slate). Of course, historical accuracy is not necessarily the factor that makes any given movie or TV show good, but it can help to add to an atmosphere of authenticity and realism that many audiences look for.

Some period dramas in both movies and television have been extremely successful at impressing audiences with their historical accuracy. Whether that is in the way that a certain historical event is portrayed, or just how the culture of the time is depicted, these productions have been greatly praised for...

The History Channel will air a new Abraham Lincoln documentary over Presidents Day weekend from Feb. 20 starting at 8 p.m. Et/Pt. Abraham Lincoln is based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s best-selling book Leadership: In Turbulent Times.

Across seven and a half hours, viewers will learn about the life of the 16th President of the United States, from his impoverished childhood to his days as a lawyer and politician and his assassination just five days after the end of the Civil War.

The documentary will feature live-action scenes featuring Daytime Emmy nominee Graham Sibley as Lincoln, along with interviews with notable guests including President Barack Obama, Gen. Stan McCrystal, and historians Christy Coleman, Dr. Allen Guelzo, Dr. Edna Greene Medford, Harold Holzer, Dr. Caroline Janney, Dr. Catherine Clinton, among others.

Also airing during Presidents Day weekend on the History Channel:

Black Patriots: Heroes of the Civil War

Premieres on Monday,...

Celebrating the release of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, the New-York Historical Society presents a screening of this monumental film followed by a conversation with screenwriter and playwright Tony Kushner and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. On Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 630 p.m., get ready for an evening commemorating President Lincoln and those who led the courageous fight to pass the 13th amendment.

In her biography, "Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," Doris Kearns Goodwin recounts an anecdote that at first seems impossible to link to a man who never left the United States. In 1908, Leo Tolstoy, by then a famous writer, traveled to what he called a “wild and remote” part of the North Caucasus, a tribal region in Russia between the Caspian and Baltic Seas. On the request of a local chief, Tolstoy told a gathered group there stories of the great men of history. As he wound to a close, the chief demanded that he not forget the “greatest general and greatest ruler of the world,” Abraham Lincoln. Taken aback, Tolstoy obliged, and for his efforts was presented with the gift of an Arabian horse, as well as another request: could he find them a photograph of Lincoln?

“This little incident proves how largely the name of...

While press will supposedly begin seeing Steven Spielberg's Lincoln toward the end of September and into October (I'm told people outside of NY and La will be seeing it on the later end of the spectrum), the film is now confirmed to have its world premiere on November 8 as the Closing Night Gala film at the AFI Fest 2012. Last year Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar was the big pic to play at the AFI Fest and was later named one of the AFI's "Films of the Year" but was subsequently shut-out of the Oscar race receiving zero nominations. Like Lincoln, J. Edgar was played close to the chest by Warner Bros. throughout most of the Oscar season and was instantly judged based on comparisons to Leonardo DiCaprio's performance and makeup as controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Daniel Day-Lewis has prompted similar scorn from many questioning his choice of tone for Lincoln's voice.

The way the first trailer for Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" is structured, it's easy to assume that Daniel Day-Lewis' Lincoln voice belongs to someone else the first time we hear it. When we finally match the voice to the face, it almost seems a little bizarre to not only associate Lincoln with that higher voice, but to hear it come from Daniel "I Drink Your Milkshake" Day-Lewis.

Yahoo! Movies quoted famed Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, who explains that Lincoln's voice was probably much higher than history, his stature, and his facial features would have us believe.

"Lincoln's voice, as far as period descriptions go, was a little shriller, a little higher," Holzer told Smithsonian Magazine.

So for future reference, if you're ever thinking about questioning an acting choice made by Day-Lewis, don't.

According to historians, Abraham Lincoln's voice was not the deep baritone many imagine; it was actually often described as high-pitched.

"Lincoln’s voice, as far as period descriptions go, was a little shriller, a little higher,” Harold Holzer, a Lincoln historian, told The Smithsonian last year.

"He often was so nervous at the beginning, he would almost shift up into a falsetto before he settled himself," Ronald C. White Jr., author of A. Lincoln: A Biography, told the Los Angeles Times in 2009. White later added that the best of the Lincoln impersonators speak "as if they're from rural Indiana, rural Kentucky."

All of which is to say that Daniel Day-Lewis' take on Abraham Lincoln's voice in the new trailer for "Lincoln" seems pretty accurate according to history. Not that movie watchers in 2012 are totally pleased with his attention to detail.

"I still don't like the sound of Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln voice,...

After seeing the first photo of Daniel Day-Lewis perpetually in character as Abraham Lincoln, even the originally selected star Liam Neeson was probably like, "Damn, son!"

His Lincoln-osity levels are off the charts while snapped candidly eating dinner in Richmond, Virginia, by a local PR and Government Affairs worker named Michael Phillips, who Tweeted the pic. Also note the historically precise turtleneck, blue jeans, and sneakers, which our 16th president was known to wear during casual evenings driving around town in his Lexus.

This comes courtesy of Movieline, who also report that even though Steven Spielberg's shooting only recently kicked off in Virginia, Day-Lewis has been using his Lincoln accent since March. Method much?

Those expecting that deep basso Daniel Plainview sound from the actor may be in for a shock, since Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer contends that all historical evidence points to the Gettysburg Address speaker having a shriller,...