Burns' War Epic Starts Tomorrow

Records reveal that the smartest of Scottish regiments died on WWII battlefields

(NEWSER) - Soldiers who survived World War II were on average less intelligent than their fallen comrades, a study of British records has revealed. Researchers merged military records with an IQ test given to Scottish schoolchildren in 1932 and found that Scots who died in battle had an average IQ of 100.8, while those who came back alive averaged 97.4, the New Scientist reports. More»

'A Nation of Drunkards' is the best episode: reviewers

(NEWSER) - Ken Burns' latest mega-documentary, Prohibition, starts a three-night run tomorrow on PBS. Reviewers are praising the 5 1/2-hour survey of America's war on booze, but warn that it's a bit slow and may reveal its best stuff in the first episode:

• "It's a great subject with many present-day echoes, as the war on drugs ever more loudly raises questions of legislated morality," writes Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles Times . "The drama might flag or grow diffuse, but there is still a lot here to learn."

10- to 12-hour documentary will air in 2016

(NEWSER) - Ken Burns' next project will wade into the quagmire known as America's "war of lost illusions:" Vietnam. PBS announced the project, already in production, yesterday, reports Time, and expects to air it in 2016. Burns mentioned a Vietnam project in 2007 when promoting The War, but said he wanted to wait until veterans were "at the age where their advancing age will provide them with the kind of perspectives that we've been able to tap into for this film." More»

(NEWSER) - The trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglourious Basterds, is just 100 seconds long, but that's enough. "Perhaps there will prove to be a level of postmodern self-ironising,” Paul MacInnes writes in the Guardian. “Perhaps serving up Kill Bill with the Holocaust as a backdrop will be a fabulously worthwhile endeavor.” More likely, he writes, "This is going to be the worst film ever made!" More»

350 survivors vowed to keep abuses secret

(NEWSER) - After 64 years, the US Army will finally honor 350 American soldiers who were tortured and enslaved during the Holocaust's final months, CNN reports. The Nazis beat, starved and forced the war prisoners to work in a section of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Some 100 of them died, and survivors were ordered by American officials to sign US government secrecy documents pledging never to discuss their captivity. Their story emerged only recently, prompting Congress to demand their recognition. More»