Covering everything from Edison to Avatar, Gomery and Pafort-Overduin have
written the clearest, best organized, and most user-friendly film history
textbook on the market. It masterfully distills the major trends and movements
of film history, so that the subject can be taught in one semester. And each
chapter includes a compelling case study that highlights an important moment
in movie history and, at the same time, subtly introduces a methodological
approach. This book is a pleasure to read and to teach. Peter Decherney,
University of Pennsylvania, USA In addition to providing a comprehensive
overview of the development of film around the world, the book gives us
examples of how to do film history, including organizing the details and
discussing their implications.Hugh McCarney, Western Connecticut State
University, USADouglas Gomery and Clara Pafort-Overduin have created an
outstanding textbook with an impressive breadth of content, covering over 100
years in the evolution of cinema. Movie History: A Survey is an engaging book
that will reward readers with a contemporary perspective of the history of
motion pictures and provide a solid foundation for the study of film. Matthew
Hanson, Eastern Michigan University, USAHow can we understand the history of
film?Historical facts don’t answer the basic questions of film history.
History, as this fascinating book shows, is more than the simple accumulation
of film titles, facts and figures. This is a survey of over 100 years of
cinema history, from its beginnings in 1895, to its current state in the
twenty-first century. An accessible, introductory text, Movie History: A
Survey looks at not only the major films, filmmakers, and cinema institutions
throughout the years, but also extends to the production, distribution,
exhibition, technology and reception of films. The textbook is divided
chronologically into four sections, using the timeline of technological
changes:Section One looks at the era of silent movies from 1895 to 1927;
Section Two starts with the coming of sound and covers 1928 until 1950;
Section Three runs from 1951 to 1975 and deals with the coming and development
of television; and Section Four focuses on the coming of home video and the
transition to digital, from 1975 to 2010. Key pedagogical features
include:timelines in each section help students to situate the films within a
broader historical context case study boxes with close-up analysis of specific
film histories and a particular emphasis on film receptionlavishly illustrated
with over 450 color images to put faces to names, and to connect pictures to
film titlesmargin notes add background information and clarityglossary for
clear understanding of the key terms describedreferences and further reading
at the end of each chapter to enhance further study.A supporting website is
available at with lots of extra
materials, useful for the classroom or independent study, including:additional
case studies – new, in-depth and unique to the websiteinternational case
studies – for the Netherlands in Dutch and Englishtimeline - A movie history
timeline charting key dates in the history of cinema from 1890 to the present
dayrevision flash cards – ideal for getting to grips with key terms in film
studiesrelated resources – on the website you will find every link from the
book for ease of use, plus access to additional online materialstudents are
also invited to submit their own movie history case studies - see website for
details Written by two highly respected film scholars and experienced
teachers, Movie History is the ideal textbook for students studying film
history. Read more Read less