An epic tale spanning 200 years, from Kunta Kinti's enslavement to his descendants' liberation, Roots is a dramatisation of author Alex Haley's family line. When originally aired back in the late 1970s Roots was one of the most watched and critically lauded television dramatisations of the decade, in part because it provided its largely white audience with a palatable history lesson that many had been hitherto reluctant to learn. To watch the series now it seems a little bit over dramatised and filled with a defiant hope that you suspect few African slaves had the opportunity to indulge. A seminal and gripping work nonetheless.