|
|
National Film Studies
United Kingdom
 London in Cinema: The Cinematic City Since 1945
Charlotte Brunsdon
This illuminating book explores the variety of cinematic 'Londons' that appear in films made since 1945. Charlotte Brunsdon traces the familiar ways that filmmakers establish that a film is set in London, by use of recognisable landmarks and the city's shorthand iconography of red buses and black taxis, as well as the ways in which these icons are avoided. Films examined include Spring in Park Lane, Mona Lisa, Night and the City, The Long Good Friday, and From Hell. Softcover, 248 pp. $31.95.
 British Film Design: A History
Laurie N. Ede
British Film Design is about the things that you see when you close your eyes and think of British cinema. It's about Dr. No's hideaway, the ballet of The Red Shoes, the buffet of Brief Encounter, Vera Drake's parlour, Hogwarts School, and a thousand other visions of British films. Moreover, this book is about the people who have created these visions. But more than anything, British Film Design expresses the joy of looking at films from the inside out; seeing beyond the stars to recognise sets as silent players in the action. Softcover, 248 pp. $36.00.
 The British 'B' Film
Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane
Though never really the main event of a night out at the cinema, the supporting pictures -- or 'B' films -- were the unpretentious and highly entertaining launching pads of many notable actors and directors. Drawing on sources such as the trade papers and fan magazines of the period, this book, the first to provide an in-depth account of British 'B' Films, opens up a fascinating corner of British film history. Softcover, 356 pp. $42.00.
 Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970
James Rose
Critically neglected after the decline of Hammer Studios, the British horror film remains a significant -- and popular -- body of work within a nationally grounded cinema. These 'post-Hammer' films move beyond their predecessor's Gothic traditions by situating their threats within contemporary Britain. Beyond Hammer provides new critical readings of several classic, contemporary, and lesser seen films from this period. Softcover, 173 pp. $33.95.
 Past and Present: National Identity and British Historical Film
James Chapman
In this ground-breaking new study of the genre, James Chapman explores the ways in which the historical film has functioned as a vehicle for the representation of British national identity. Through a series of case studies, Chapman examines the production and reception histories of key films, looking closely at the way they have tackled themes such as class, gender, ethnicity, imperialism, and militarism. Softcover, 400 pp. $35.50.
 Contemporary British Cinema: From Heritage to Horror
James Leggott
This volume offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of British film culture from 1997 to the present. Using a wide range of films from the Blair era and beyond -- from Notting Hill and Billy Elliot to 28 Days Later and The Queen -- it examines the ways in which recent British filmmaking might be regarded as distinctive, relevant, and successful. Softcover, 148 pp. $27.95.
 100 British Documentaries: BFI Screen Guides
Patrick Russell
100 British Documentaries provides an accessible and occasionally provocative introduction to a rich and surprisingly varied tradition, by considering 100 examples from a century's worth of cinema. Patrick Russell's insightful essays on the 100 films place them in context, discuss the ways in which they represent their subject matter, and consider how they portray Britain during a century of great social and political change. Softcover, 270 pp. $26.95.
 British Film Directors: A Critical Guide
Robert Shail
British national cinema has produced an exceptional track record of innovative, creative, and internationally recognized filmmakers, among them Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, and David Lean. This tradition continues today with the work of directors as diverse as Neil Jordan, Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh, and Ken Loach. This concise, authoritative volume analyzes critically the work on one hundred British directors - balancing academic rigor with accessibility, British Film Directors provides an indispensable reference source for filmm students at all levels, as well as for the general film enthusiast. Softcover, 246 pp. $43.95.
 British War Films: 1939-1945
S.P. MacKenzie
The cinema was the most popular form of entertainment during the Second World War. Feature films about the forces, such as Target for Tonight, In Which We Serve and The Way Ahead, shaped the British people's perceptions of the conflict. British War Films: 1939-1945 relates how, with service participation, these pictures came to be made and how they were received. Softcover, 244 pp. $30.95.
 Film Propaganda in Britain and Nazi Germany: World War II Cinema
Jo Fox
In Film Propaganda in Britain and Nazi Germany, Jo Fox compares how each country exploited their national cinema for political purposes. Through an investigation of shorts and feature films, the author looks at how both political propaganda films and escapist cinema were critical in maintaining morale, and how this changed throughout the war. While both countries shared certain similarities in their wartime propaganda films -- a harking back to a glorious historic past, for example -- the thematic differences reveal important distinctions between cultures. This book offers new insight into the shifting pattern of morale during World War II and highlights a key moment in propaganda film history. Softcover, 358 pp. $36.95.
 The
Pocket Essential Great British Movies
Don Shiach
Don Shiach has attempted to encapsulate in this volume the peaks
of the British film achievement from the beginning of the sound era to
the first decade of the 21st century. The giant figures of the 1930s, Alfred
Hitchcock and Alexander Korda, set a standard for the domestic film industry
in its attempt to challenge the domination of the Hollywood film. Great
British Movies makes a fascinating read, a useful reference book
and a must for all fans of British cinema. Softcover, 160 pp. $9.95.
 Directors
in British and Irish Cinema
Robert Murphy
This unique volume presents a comprehensive reference guide to directors who
have worked in the British and Irish film industries between 1895 and 2006. The
book is packed with fascinating facts, critical summaries and invaluable contextualising
details. It will be an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in film-making
in Britain and Ireland. Softcover, 644 pp. $55.95.
 Cinema
and Northern Ireland
John Hill
John Hill's groundbreaking study is the first book to focus solely
on the cinema from and about Northern Ireland. Hill carefully examines
the relationship between films and the political tensions within
Northern Ireland, identifying the ways in which films have both reinforced
and challenged social divisions. He considers the moral and religious
controversies that have surrounded cinema in the North and describes
the political censorship of films held to be seditious such as Ourselves
Alone and The Plough and the Stars. He assesses
the role of film-making in Northern Ireland during and after World
War II, and considers how Northern Ireland's relationship with Britain
and the rest of Ireland figured in feature films such as Odd Man
Out as
well as in government propaganda films and informational shorts.
Both original and authoritative, Cinema and Northern Ireland is
destined to become the standard work on the subject. Softcover, 262 pp.
$31.95.
 British
Cinema and the Cold War: The State, Propaganda and Consensus
Tony Shaw
Cinema was one of the Cold War's most powerful instruments of propaganda.
Movies blended with literary, theatrical, musical and broadcast representations
of the conflict to produce a richly textured Cold War culture. Now
in paperback, this timely book fills a significant gap in the international
story by uncovering British cinema's contribution to Cold War propaganda
and to the development of a popular consensus on Cold War issues.
Softcover, 280 pp. $36.95.
 Tears
of Laughter: Comedy-drama in 1990s British Cinema
Nigel Mather
British cinema underwent a number of exciting transformations during the
1990s and Tears of Laughter identifies the interactions of comedy
and drama that were a fundamental feature of many of the films that
were produced
during that decade. Nigel Mather explores three specific strands:
comedies engaging with issues of class, culture and community in
modern Britain;
'ethnic' comedy-dramas exploring complex issues of identity and allegiance
in British society; and romantic comedies.
Softcover, 211 pp $32.95.
 Shepperton
Studios: A Visual Celebration
Morris Bright
Shepperton has been the home for maverick and independent film production
for nearly seventy-five years. Owned by a succession of famous brothers,
the Kordas, the Boultings, the Lees, and the Scotts, some of the
most successful films ever produced have been made at the studios.
With over 300 stunning
images (many previously unpublished) and contributions from directors,
actors, producers and those behind the scenes, this fully authorised
book represents the first comprehensive illustrated account of Shepperton
Studios. Hardcover, 384 pp. $99.00.
 Visions
of England: Class and Culture in Contemporary Cinema
Paul Dave
Visions of England is a provocative and original exploration of Englishness,
in particular English class, in contemporary cinema. Class has been
a central part, whether consciously or not, of much of English social
analysis and
artistic production for over a century. But as a way of interpreting
society, class has found itself sidelined in a postmodern world.
By looking at a
diverse cross-section of films, Visions of England presents a detailed
analysis of the changing landscape of English class and culture.
Softcover, 205 pp. $39.95.
 Icons
in the Fire
Alexander Walker
Veteran film critic Alexander Walker gives the inside story of the British
film industry from 1984 to the end of the century, and tackles such questions
as why a nation that produces actors of the calibre of Kenneth Branagh, Daniel
Day-Lewis, and Emma Thompson as well as directors such as Anthony Minghella,
Sam Mendes and Stephen Frears, cannot sustain a native film industry. In this
final volume of the series which began with Hollywood England and National
Heroes, Walker relates the extraordinary events of the last twenty
years with judgements based on a lifetime watching films and writing about
the people that made them. Softcover, 328 pp. $24.95.
 National
Heroes: British Cinema in the Seventies and Eighties
Alexander Walker
Following on from Hollywood England, Alexander Walker's much-praised
account of British cinema in the Sixties, National Heroes has
social change as well as mass entertainment as its focus. From the so-called
'hangover years' of the early Seventies to the 'renaissance era' of the mid-Eighties,
it shows the immense variety of human motives and talents underpinning the
search for profit and power. Informed by the author's unparalleled knowledge
of films and the film industry, this book is an outstanding work, and essential
reading for anyone interested in Britain's film history. Softcover, 296 pp.
$24.95.
 Hollywood
England
Alexander Walker
Hollywood England is a book of an era as much as of the cinema,
with the screen often reflecting the mood of the 'swinging sixties'. Alexander
Walker reveals how, for the first time, British cinema achieved a truly national
character, with films such as Billy Liar, Kes,
the Beatles musicals and the James Bond films, and talents such as Ken Russell,
Bryan Forbes, Michael Caine, and Julie Christie. There was a wealth of new
writers, photographers and designers - and yet, ironically, by the end of the
decade Hollywood sustained ninety-five per cent of British filmmaking. Including
sharp appraisals on the vast variety of American and British film people who
make up this new era, Hollywood England is a remarkable work
on an extraordinary period in British cinema. Softcover, 493 pp. $24.95.
Back to top
|
|
British
Cinema: A Critical History 
Shepperton
Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema
The
Lost World of Mitchell & Kenyon
Keeping
it Real: Irish Film and Television
British Film
British Film Editors
Irish National Cinema
Story and Character: Interviews with British Screenwriters
Reframing British Cinema 1918-1928: Between Restraint and Passion
Contemporary Irish Cinema
Typical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema
The Encyclopedia of British Film
British Social Realism
