Now that his six-part, approximately 12-hour series about the birth of America, “The American Revolution,” has premiered, it seems like a good time to consider Burns’s body of work as a whole. That means ranking (yay!) his 10 best projects. This is one of those lists in which No. 6 could have easily been No. 2, No. 10 could have easily been No. 4, and so forth. If you love baseball, you probably love “Baseball.” If your heart beat for the Roosevelts, then you’re a fan of “The Roosevelts.”

Maybe you even have your favorite Burns narrator: the folksy David McCullough? The rugged Keith David? The crisp Peter Coyote? Or, your favorite behind-the-scenes Burns collaborator: Sara Botstein, Lynn Novick, David P. Schmidt, and Geoffrey C. Ward are among those who have done invaluable work alongside the man in charge, along with a formidable roster of voice actors, and historians who appear on camera to provide expertise and context.

All of the above are represented here. There’s only one rule for this ranking: No one-offs. “The Central Park Five” is a vital documentary, but it’s not a series. The same goes for “The Address.” For our purposes only works of two episodes or more need apply. The best way to watch these series in their entirety is on pbs.org (with a monthly donation) or Prime Video (with a PBS Documentaries subscription).

Now, let’s push the camera in on that photograph, slowly pan, and…

10. “Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery” (1997)

This one, narrated by Hal Holbrook, can almost be seen as a dry run for “The American Revolution”: a slice of early America, carved out without the benefit of footage or photos. It helps that it’s a remarkable story, one that most of us learn about in youth and then promptly file away and forget. “Journey” humanizes the arduous journey and brings it back to life.

9. “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” (2014)

Burns excels at pulling off deceptively complicated tasks. Tying together Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and Eleanor Roosevelt qualifies. The guiding theme, and the common denominator, is a desire to push beyond patrician roots to enact progressive reform. The title of H.W. Brands’s FDR book sums it up provocatively: “Traitor to His Class.”

8. “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” (2004)

A lot to like here, but let’s focus on two things. Expertly edited, scarce footage from the early 20th century creates a vivid portrait of what boxing was like then. More important, Johnson’s story is a perfect platform for Burns’s exploration of a favorite subject: the reduced opportunities for non-white Americans throughout the nation’s history. The larger-than-life Johnson managed to carve out his own prominent place — until it was taken away from him. Burns returned to the sweet science in 2021 with the excellent “Muhammad Ali.”

7. “The American Revolution” (2025)

I was going to leave the latest off the list, but I can already tell it belongs; with a few years of hindsight and perspective it would likely rank even higher. It’s probably the most resourceful work Burns has done, an American epic based in a period before footage or even photos existed. As such, it relies heavily on silent reenactments, and cinematographer Buddy Squires is more than up to the task. A snowy landscape, a tea kettle, an army marching at dawn: “The American Revolution” is loaded with haunting images that always assist the massive, intricate story.

6. “The War” (2007)

Almost half of this list is taken up by war documentaries. The subject has provided Burns with a vast canvas, depicting everything from military strategy to social upheaval at home (and, in the case of “The Civil War” and “The American Revolution,” both at once). “The War” manages to balance Greatest Generation nostalgia with harsh realities, including the ugly racial violence engendered by stateside economic transformation.

5. “Prohibition” (2011)

Building off the research of Daniel Okrent’s stellar 2010 nonfiction book “Last Call,” “Prohibition” finds Burns digging into societal ills with a serious tone that also finds room for a little mischief. “Prohibition” clearly illustrates a classic both-things-can-be-true scenario: Booze was a tenacious destroyer of men and women in the years leading up to Prohibition (still is, actually), and outlawing it was a fantastically horrible idea.

4. “The Vietnam War” (2017)

Burns and co-director Novick make the most of imagery from the first living room war. “Vietnam” makes sense of a sprawling, contentious, painful chapter of recent American history. But what really sticks with me are the firsthand recollections of the veterans, who, in the blink of an eye, are suddenly back in action, reliving what Colonel Kurtz, in “Apocalypse Now,” called “the horror.” The sequence on the Tet Offensive alone is worth the watch.

3. “Jazz” (2001)

I hear the complaints, and even agree with some of them. “Jazz” is too eager to make its subject a part of history, discounting its present vitality. But consider the big picture. This is an approximately nine-hour series about the history of jazz. It is lively and literate. It introduced countless viewers to the magic of Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and so many more. I can turn on any episode at any time and I know I’m not going anywhere for a while. Burns’s eight-episode 2019 “Country Music” is also well worth a look.

2. “The Civil War” (1990)

The one that turned Burns, who had already been making documentaries for a decade, into a national name and brand. It brought heightened awareness to the central conflict of US history, spotlighted how outrageously bloody that conflict was (it claimed between 2 and 2.5 percent of the American population), and refined the visual style Burns uses to this day. It gave voice to fringe historical players. Popular history rarely gets better.

1. “Baseball” (1994)

The perfect melding of Burns, the nostalgist, and Burns, the social critic. Bursting with love for the national pastime, “Baseball” is also a story of racial segregation and the Negro Leagues, labor exploitation and free agency. The topic is both specific and all-encompassing. We get to see Ted Williams talk hitting. It’s a joyful series. It is Burns in a delicious nutshell.

What’s your favorite Ken Burns documentary? Let us know in the comments.

Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.