American culture after the end of World War II has been characterized by an abiding pessimism most clearly manifested in the film noirs of the period. Mike Chopra-Gant challenges this ""noir and Zeitgeist"" reading and proposes that the view of American cinema and society it develops relies on a retrospective re-imagining of the era, based on the erroneous promotion of selected movies. His vigorous revisionist account of the films and culture of the period also challenges traditional approaches to genre, to masculinity and the family, by focusing on key themes in the most popular films in...

This groundbreaking book by one of Britain's leading film historians is the first to take on this major genre in all its complexity. It takes to heart Ken Loach's view that ""the only reason to make films that are a reflection on history is to talk about the present."" With this proposition as his starting point, James Chapman examines the place of historical films in British cinema history and film culture. Through in-depth case studies of fourteen key films, from Henry V and Zulu to Chariots of Fire and Elizabeth, he analyzes the themes they present, including...

Michael Mullett reconsiders, in the light of recent r attlee's* and of altering perceptions of the English past, the events of the crucial years 1678-1688; from the Restoration era through the exclusion crisis, and subsequent reign of James to the Glorious Revolution' of 1688. He focuses on the central role of James, Duke of York, and from 1685-1688, King of England, but locates the growing difficulties of his reign within the wider context of political and religious trends.