This text examines the two-way process of action and reaction by which films shape the identity of a society, its culture and its sense of nationhood; and, in turn, how films are themselves shaped by these forces and matrices. The nation here is America, in which films both effect and reflect changes in the national self-image, the transformation from one kind of nation to another: from an agrarian to an industrial economy; from a nation of producers to one of consumers; from a community of individuals to a mass society.

The bringing together of the Antients and Moderns to form the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813 was a tricky matter. How all this came about is not just an English tale but an Irish and Scots one as well. Complexities concerning 'union' included what to do about other masonic orders, especially the Royal Arch and the Knights Templar. For the first time ever this account provides a birds-eye view of the issues and personalities behind one of the big events of masonic history still affecting us today. "In this pioneering and stimulating book, John Belton tells with verve and enthusiasm the...