Much better indeed, DR.
I did watch part 2 - yes, I am that much of a history junkie!

Light, glossy treatment again, only this time rife with celebrities - Martha Stewart, Tom Brokow, Michael Douglas, some bearded wonk who is one of the founders of Wikipedia (WTF?). One of the better lines was Brian Williams (I think) saying in references to the idea of Manifest Destiny - The owner's manual says this is all ours - keep going west!" Good line.
At the risk of repeating myself, WTF do I care what these talking heads - who make their living out of reading what other people have written for them to say - think? Most of them can't, so again, what do I care?
I was listening to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast the other day, and he quoted someone as saying "History is philosophy in action". Interesting perspective, not sure what to do with that tho.