GONE WITH THE GLORY CB
Publication date:
09 October 2006Length of book:
256 pagesISBN-13: 9780742545250
From Birth of a Nation to Cold Mountain hundreds of directors, actors, and screenwriters have used the Civil War to create compelling cinema. However, each generation of moviemakers has resolved the tug of war between entertainment value and historical accuracy differently. Historian Brian Wills takes readers on a journey through the portrayal of the war in film, exploring what Hollywood got right and wrong, how the films influenced each other, and, ultimately, how the movies reflect America's changing understandings of the conflict and of the nation.
Hollywood has had a long and complex relationship with the American Civil War. From The Birth of a Nation through Glory and Cold Mountain, scores of Civil War-related films have revealed at least as much about the eras in which they were made as about the events and characters they depicted. Brian Wills's excellent treatment, which captures the ebb and flow of cinematic themes and interpretations over the past 90 years, will prove invaluable in helping readers choose which films to watch.--Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Confederate War and Lee and His Generals in War and Memory