Whether they prefer blockbusters, historical dramas, or documentaries, people learn much of what they know about history from the movies. In American History Goes to the Movies, W. Bryan Rommel-Ruiz shows how popular representations of historic events shape the way audiences understand the history of the United States, including American representations of race and gender, and stories of immigration, especially the familiar narrative of the American Dream. Using films from many different genres, American History Goes to the Movies draws together movies that depict the Civil War, the Wild West, the assassination of JFK, and the events of 9/11, from The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind to The Exorcist and United 93, to show how viewers use movies to make sense of the past, addressing not only how we render history for popular enjoyment, but also how Hollywood’s renderings of America influence the way Americans see themselves and how they make sense of the world.

Whether they prefer blockbusters, historical dramas, or documentaries, people learn much of what they know about history from the movies. In American History Goes to the Movies, W. Bryan Rommel-Ruiz shows how popular representations of historic events shape the way audiences understand the history of the United States, including American representations of race and gender, and stories of immigration, especially the familiar narrative of the American Dream. Using films from many different genres, American History Goes to the Movies draws together movies that depict the Civil War, the Wild West, the assassination of JFK, and the events of 9/11, from The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind to The Exorcist and United 93, to show how viewers use movies to make sense of the past, addressing not only how we render history for popular enjoyment, but also how Hollywood’s renderings of America influence the way Americans see themselves and how they make sense of the world.

Latin American History Goes to the Movies combines the study of the rich history of Latin America with the medium of feature film. In this concise and accessible book, author Stewart Brewer helps readers understand key themes and issues in Latin American history, from pre-Columbian times to the present, by examining how they have been treated in a variety of films. Moving chronologically across Latin American history, and pairing historical background with explorations of selected films, the chapters cover vital topics including the Spanish conquest and colonialism, revolution, religion, women, U.S.-Latin American relations, and more. Through films such as City of God, Frida, and Che, Brewer shows how history is retold, and what that retelling means for public memory. From Apocalypto to Selena, and from Christopher Columbus to the slave trade, Latin American History Goes to the Movies sets the record straight between the realities of history and cinematic depictions, and gives readers a solid foundation for using film to understand the complexities of Latin America’s rich and vibrant history.

This provocative three-volume encyclopedia is a valuable resource for readers seeking an understanding of how movies have both reflected and helped engender America's political, economic, and social history. Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia is a reference text focused on the relationship between American society and movies and filmmaking in the United States from the late 19th century through the present. Beyond discussing many important American films ranging from Birth of a Nation to Star Wars to the Harry Potter film series, the essays included in the volumes explore sensitive issues in cinema related to race, class, and gender, authored by international scholars who provide unique perspectives on American cinema and history. Written by a diverse group of distinguished scholars with backgrounds in history, film studies, culture studies, science, religion, and politics, this reference guide will appeal to readers new to cinema studies as well as film experts. Each encyclopedic entry provides data about the film, an explanation of the film's cultural significance and influence, information about significant individuals involved with that work, and resources for further study.

Cinematic depictions of real U.S. presidents from Abraham Lincoln to George W. Bush explore how Hollywood movies represent American history and politics on screen. Morgan and his contributors show how films blend myth and reality to present a positive message about presidents as the epitome of America's values and idealism until unpopular foreign wars in Vietnam and Iraq led to a darker portrayal of the imperial presidency, operated by Richard Nixon and Bush 43. This exciting new collection further considers how Hollywood has continually reinterpreted historically significant presidents, notably Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, to fit the times in which movies about them were made.

More than 70 scholars examine how filmmakers have presented and interpreted the most important events, topics, eras and figures in the American past, often comparing the film versions of events with the interpretations of the best historians who have explored the topic.

Combining history with discussions of dramatic cinema, Based on a True Story: Latin American History at the Movies examines how film has portrayed Latin America from the late fifteenth century to the present. The book opens with an introduction on the visual presentation of the past in the movies, while the rest of the book consists of essays that explore the best feature films on Latin America from the professional historian's perspective.

"For the first time, a distinguished American breaks the "code of silence" as a male incest survivor. In Come Here, Dr. Richard Berendzen courageously speaks out on his childhood sexual abuse, the effects of which, decades later, returned to drive him over the edge." "Richard Berendzen was only eight years old the afternoon his mother called, "Come here," from her bedroom. That innocuous, two-syllable summons marked the beginning of a waking nightmare. During the next three years, Richard became the passion and prey of a woman whose violent mental instability took the form of repeated incestuous assaults on a child who was powerless to resist. Still, when the abuse stopped, Richard found the strength to put it all behind him and get on with his life - or so he thought...." "Not until Dr. Berendzen was in his early fifties did the secret he had so long repressed return to haunt him. An eminent astronomer and academician who had transformed American University in Washington, D.C., from a party school into a first-rate university, he was a devoted husband and family man whose only notable "vice" was workaholism. When his father died and Berendzen returned to his parents' East Dallas house, to the very room where he had been abused, something snapped. The shattering events that ensued are recounted with remarkable candor in Come Here." "Overwhelmed by a flood of forbidden memories and unanswered questions, Dr. Berendzen began making bizarrely suggestive phone calls, which were traced to his office. Forced to resign his post, he entered the renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and commenced a slow and tortuous recovery process." "Writing with collaborator Laura Palmer, co-author of Elizabeth Glaser's In the Absence of Angels, Richard Berendzen has given us the beautifully composed, personal story of a man of science whom only the restorative power of faith could make whole. For Come Here is, ultimately, a chronicle of hope and renewal, and of the human spirit's boundless ability to heal itself."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In A History of American Movies: A Film-by-Film Look at the Art, Craft and Business of Cinema, Paul Monaco provides a survey of the narrative feature film from the 1920s to the present. The book focuses on 170 of the most highly regarded and recognized feature films selected by the Hollywood establishment: each Oscar winner for Best Picture, as well as those voted the greatest by members of the American Film Institute. By focusing on a select group of films that represent the epitome of these collaborations, Monaco provides an essential history of one of the modern world's most complex and successful cultural institutions: Hollywood. Divided into three sections, "Classic Hollywood, 1927-1948," "Hollywood In Transition, 1949-1974," and "The New Hollywood, 1975 To The Present," Monaco examines some of the most memorable works in cinematic history, including The General, Wings, Bringing Up Baby, Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, The Searchers, Psycho, West Side Story, The Godfat

The challenge of making the great American historical film has attracted some of our finest talents: D. W. Griffith, John Ford, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee. From the earliest flickering images of The Spirit of 76 (1905) through Nixon, America on Film subtly and entertainingly examines Hollywood's filming of American history, including biographies. Among the many films considered, some omissions seem surprising: The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind, for example, since they are based on fiction. But The Iron Horse, The Beginning or the End?, the Jackie Robinson Story, Patton, Quiz Show, Lenny, Malcolm, X, Apollo 13, and literally hundreds of others are all here. Through these many movies, we see the interrelationships between image and substance, illusion and reality, racism and democracy, and cynicism and idealism, which form America's unique national identity.