I am currently watching the first big PBS must see of 2006: The War that Made America. They are, of course, covering the French and Indian War. But they are doing it in a rather novel way, relative to most popular tellings of American History, and a manner I have proclaimed for at least the past thirty years: as a specific precursor to the American Revolution.

Indeed, those that fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it. And understanding global power politics on this level, devoid of instant communications and WMD, should be de rigour for every high school student.

Update: So, this series is rife with the same loathsome, vile, bandwidth wasteful “dramatic reenactments” as anything you might see on History Channel. It’s still pretty good. Gotta’ keep the world’s Deltas and Epsilons entertained.