Ahead of his upcoming PBS documentary, The American Revolution, acclaimed film-maker Ken Burns tells BBC special correspondent Katty Kay about his unique approach to chronicling US history, from war and conflict to baseball and jazz.

Titles like Brooklyn Bridge, Prohibition and The Dust Bowl may conjure visions of classroom lessons and by-the-book recitations of facts, but portraying historical events in an approachable – and enthralling – way has become US documentarian Ken Burns's trademark. Since the 1980s, he has brought history and culture to audiences in a way that textbooks simply cannot.

Burns's body of work has earned him two Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Awards and 15 Emmy wins. At his home in Walpole, New Hampshire, US, the acclaimed documentary-maker tells BBC special correspondent Katty Kay that, like most creatives, he has more ideas than he knows what to do with.

"Your head might be filled with 40 or 50 topics, as my head is always filled up, but when one [topic] drops down to your heart, you realise it's firing on all cylinders," Burns tells Kay.

Those topics have ranged from jazz to baseball, and from the granular, such as a chronicle of Leonardo da Vinci's life and work, to the expansive, like 2009's The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

"I don't want to tell you stories about what I know," he says. "I'd rather share with you a process of discovery. So, I dive into things that I don't know enough about." His next area of exploration is the 18th Century: his six-part, 12-hour series, The American Revolution, is due to air on PBS on 16 November. This month marks the 250th anniversary of the start of the American War of Independence, which began in the 13 colonies of British America in 1775, and continued for many years, culminating in the founding of a United States of America.

"The American Revolution is one of the most important events in human history," Burns told PBS ahead of special screenings for students and teachers across the US. "We went from being subjects to inventing a new concept, citizens, and set in motion democratic revolutions around the globe."

On the subject of history, Burns says he does not subscribe to the popular view that it is always doomed to repeat........

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