Summer Reading Suggestions 2015: DVDs Non-fiction

This powerful documentary exposes the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today. From the territorial expansionist policies that decimated the young economies of Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba, to the covert operations that imposed oppressive military regimes in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, Harvest of Empire looks at the origins of the growing Latino presence in the United States.

This documentary chronicles the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, to his assassination in Memphis in 1968. Originally screened in theaters for only a single night in 1970, the film features Paul Newman, James Earl Jones, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Walter Matthau & Marlon Brando, with newsreel and archival footage to create a comprehensive record of Dr. King's legacy and the American Civil Rights movement.

Ken Burns profiles Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor as the most prominent members of the most important family in history. Through their stories, PBS chronicles the history they helped to shape, from the Square Deal to the New Deal, San Juan Hill to the Western Front, to the founding of the United Nations.