The American Future: A History, by Simon Schama Episode Guide

Episode Guide

• Season 1 Episode 4: What Is An American?

  The historian investigates race, discovering how a determinedly white Protestant nation became the multi-ethnic United States of today. Despite the image of identikit Americans, the annexation of parts of Mexico in 1848, and mass immigration from China and eastern Europe have ruined these historic claims - which face their final defeat in the potential election of Barack Obama as the country's first black president. Last in the series

• Season 1 Episode 3: American Fervour

  An exploration of how religion has shaped the United States from its early days. To foreign eyes, faith has seemed a largely conservative force in America, but the historian finds it has always been at the forefront of establishing fundamental freedoms - first for white protestants and then in the abolition of slavery during the 19th century and in the civil rights movement of the 1960s

• Season 1 Episode 2: American War

  With American forces continuing to fight the 'war on terror' on several fronts, the historian explores the United States' ongoing internal debate over the country's military strategy. Going back to the founding fathers, who disagreed over whether to have a professional army at all, America has been split over its assumed role as an overseer of global affairs, and the divide remains as pronounced as ever

• Season 1 Episode 1: American Plenty

  Investigating modern America's political and social identity against the backdrop of the current presidential campaign, beginning with an exploration into declining optimism about the prospects of its land and resources. The programme speculates about the consequences of the nine-year drought presently affecting the American West, and the Hoover Dam, which is no longer capable of supplying enough water for farming in the country's South West as well as the city of Las Vegas