The story of settling, founding, and shaping of The United States of America has been told in countless ways over the years. Students see movies in school; read about it in books, networks run specials every Fourth of July as we celebrate our nation’s independence, but what History has undertaken is a contemporary look at over 400 years of history on our continent and the major events that shaped the lives we lead today.

History’s America: The Story of Us is an engrossing look at what it takes to build a nation and while it treads familiar territory, it does so with the aid of modern technology like impressive, although not perfect, uses of CGI as it tells the story of our country.

The series starts in the years leading up to the founding of the original thirteen colonies and ends with the shaping of America at the turn of the 21st Century. The only problem with the series is with nearly 400 years to cover, a lot of important events are merely mentioned or glossed over to make room for even bigger ones.

The CGI is one of the most impressive, and disappointing things at the same time. While its nice to get a cinematic take on the battles of Lexington and Concord complete with Matrix-like effects of musket balls flying through the air in bullet-time, at some points it feels overdone, ditto to the use of slow motion in combination with the aforementioned. Nevertheless, this never detracts from the impressive selection of events that are focused upon and for once in a long while, the interviews from real Americans (Michael Douglass, Colin Powell, et. al.) actually provide some powerful insight and are melded into the program rather nicely.

Washington The Warrior, premiering May 29^th on the History Channel, is a militaristic look at the United States most revered and beloved general who lead the country to independence against the British in the 1770’s. The special, fittingly debuting on Memorial Day, dives into the early days of Washington’s military career as a young Major delivering a diplomatic message to the French during the battle of the Ohio Valley all the way to his surrendering of his sword to the Continental Congress after the peace treaty with Britain was signed.

While the Revolutionary War has been examined by previous history programs, it is still very interesting to see Washington through historical eyes looking at the way he commanded his troops, often putting himself in the trenches and harms way in order to keep them together. The focus on his early life also provides a powerful perspective into the man whose early military life was filled with disrespect and overtly aggressive behavior that may, or may not, have lead to the death of French diplomatic company.

Also revealing is Washington’s motives for entering the side of the revolutionaries which mainly had to do with his purchase of sub-par goods from England. His keen business sense, passionate views, and great sense of responsibility and leadership helped this country be born.

The screener copy provided by The History Channel was missing some portions of the visual FX and CGI but the elements that were in place looked excellent with realistic weather effects and the fleshing out of the British and American armies to massive proportions. The battles and story elements, told via reenactments, look true to the style of the times, and the battleground effects such as blood squibs and simulated explosions look realistic as well.

Most importantly, the two hour program is interesting and filled with information and anecdotes about Washington included the aforementioned early days of his career which have almost become a footnote in American History. While we tend to focus on the man as a founding father of our country, the experiences he used to gauge his decisions harkened back to his humble beginnings and extended through his entire preceding life.

Washington The Warrior premieres Memorial Day, May 29^th, on the History Channel. Check you local listings for starting time and channel.