This programme explores key moments in the making of modern America by combining iconic American film footage with extracts from Alistair Cooke's radio reports.

More than 20 of Cooke's Letter From America broadcasts from 1945 to 2001 provide analysis of events including the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945; the assassination of President Kennedy; Watergate; the shootings at Columbine High School and 11 September, 2001.