Several episodes have aired since this was written, but you can still watch the last few airing at 8 p.m., until Tuesday.

Well-known documentarian Ken Burns’ newest project “The War” began its weeklong airing on PBS last night, beginning his in-depth 15-hour look at World War II. The series has been broken into two and a half hour episodes which will air nightly at 8 p.m. concluding next Tuesday, Oct. 2.

With Americans currently embroiled over issues involving its own military’s involvement in Iraq, it is interesting to watch Burns’ documentary which pulls no punches detailing both the positive and negative aspects of war and all countries involved.

Last night’s episode (the premiere) focused on 1942 and America being introduced to World War II through the perspective of residents of four U.S. cities (Mobile, AL; Waterbury, CT; Luverne, MN; and CA’s own Sacramento). Burns brutally detailed incidents such as the Bataan Death March with first hand accounts and graphic photo/video montages, while also delving into the pressing political issues like the internment of Japanese-Americans back on the home front.

As is such with most of Burns’ projects this looks to be a meticulously crafted series that will breakdown one of the most significant wars in modern history, much of which parallels issues with our military today. Whether history is a subject of your interest or not, this documentary is well worth a look.

8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. all week until next Tuesday on PBS.