I watched part of The War but honestly can't recall anything about it. The thing about The Civil War is that it's really hard for me to separate out everything it did with it being saccharine. So you have this as the huge, hallmark change in documentary style--when this premiered on PBS here, it was an instantaneous hit. And that's not something that ever really happens on public broadcasting! I believe it remains the highest-rated thing, or certanly the highest-rated documentary PBS has ever had. And it really caused such a huge shift to the use of archival photos, voiceovers, etc. Interest in the Civil War, which has never really waned here, certainly kicked up a lot. On the other hand, it made a new star out of Shelby Foote, not without some controversy: he's super-Southern and fairly apologetic for the Confederacy. There are also complaints that African Americans weren't represented as much as they could have been, both in terms of archival material and in terms of talking heads. But for what it did to really renew interest in the war and in archival materials, I'll always have a soft spot for it.

There is a pretty hilarious--but also disturbing, in terms of what historic materials it uncovers--mockumentary called C.S.A. that I'd recommend for you. It's a dead-on parody of Burns's style and also a kind of fun protest against that Southern sympathy...