Best of British

Feature films and the historian; the sun never sets - "Sanders of the River"; the age of consensus - "South Riding"; why we fight - "A Canterbury Tale"; what a difference a war makes - "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp"; lest we forget - "Fame is the Spur"; old school ties -"The Guinea Pig"; the thin blue line - "The Blue Lamp"; cul-de-sac England - "The Ladykillers"; vicious circles - "I'm All Right Jack"; new waves, old waves and the censors - "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"; the revolt of the young - "If..."; remembrance of times past - "Scandal"; resources.

The new, revised and expanded paperback edition of this widely-used textbook for film history brings up to date its authors' demonstration of how a close study of films in their historical and cultural settings can enrich our understanding of both cinema and historical events. It introduces three new chapters, one focusing on _The Blue Lamp_ and changes in cinema's depiction of the police from that key 1949 film up to the 1960s, another on the 'British New Wave' centring on _The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner_, and a third which, starting from _Scandal_ and its recreation of the 1960s Profumo scandal, goes on to examine the 'retro' fashion for covering crimes of the 1940s, '50s and '60s in films of the 1980s like _Let Him Have It, Dance with a Stranger_ and _Chicago Joe and the Showgirl_. This edition has a new, accessible format and provides a valuable Resource Section for teachers, students and scholars.

Jeffrey Richards is Professor of Cultural History at Lancaster University and General Editor of the Cinema and Society series. Anthony Aldgate is Reader in Film and History at the Open University.