“A page of history is worth a pound of logic.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

As announced earlier, at long last Ken Burn’s Civil War will be coming to DVD. Now Warner has presented the details on the set which should be a treat for history buffs and admirers of Ken Burns.

Tracing the course of the U.S. Civil War from the abolitionist movement, through the major battles, to the death of President Lincoln and the beginnings of Reconstruction, this highly acclaimed 11-hour mini-series captured the attention of viewers across the country during its initial broadcast in 1990. Hailed as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling, Ken Burns’s epic documentary brings to life America’s most destructive — and defining — conflict. The glories and horrors of this unforgettable event are recounted in the words of the participants themselves, through diary entries, letters, still photographs and illustrations of the time, with a soundtrack comprised of war-era tunes played on period instruments. Ken Burns’s The Civil War is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one.

The new set will come on five DVDs containing the entire 11 hour series with completely restored video in the original fullscreen and a newly mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix. The set will also include some hard-core features including the documentary Behind the Scenes: The Civil War Reconstruction, five hours of commentary from Ken Burns providing viewers with insight from the filmmaker on each of the nine episodes, additional interviews with filmmaker Ken Burns, writers George Will, Shelby Foote and Stanley Crouch and musicians Jay Unger and Molly Mason, biography cards that showcase the most integral figures of the Civil War, interactive battlefield maps, The Civil War Challenge trivia game and two featurettes with Ken Burns that give viewers a close-up look at the filmmaker at work, (that’s right, a Ken Burns documentary on a Ken Burns documentary).

The jammed five disc set will arrive on September 17th, just in time for the PBS rebroadcast of the series the following week. The set will be priced at $129.95.