# Best Cinema Book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297 "2003-08-11T01:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/1 "2003-08-11T01:52:40Z")
My question is quite simple. What is the best book on the history of Hollywood and American Cinema, covering early developments, major milestones and major actors/directors/awards/scandals and the general scene until say, the '70’s? All recommendations are welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/2 "2003-08-11T15:40:15Z")
I have a simple recommendation for you. Go to the library. Find the movies section. Pick out several books on the history of movies. Be sure to include at least one written by Roger Ebert. Read a few and determine the author or authors who give you a better feel for the areas you’re most curious about. Look for other works by that author or those authors. Too many good books to narrow it down to one. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/3 "2003-08-11T16:30:37Z")
Try _A History of Narrative Film_ by David Cook (erm, I _think_ it’s Cook). It is a very comprehensive book that is a common staple for film students. It is not _just_ about Hollywood, but all of cinema. You’d need such a broad perspective anyway because so much that has influenced Hollywood has very non-Hollywood sources (e.g. “Spaghetti Westerns” are so-called because some major Itilian film directors re-invented the western genre). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/4 "2003-08-11T16:57:12Z")
I don’t think you’re going to find one book that covers the whole period. There is an excellent series, _History of the American Cinema_, wherein each volume covers a certain period. You can find a lot of them [here](http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=History+of+the+American+Cinema&submit=Begin+Search&new_used=*&binding=*&isbn=&keywords=&minprice=&maxprice=¤cy=USD&mode=advanced&st=sr&ac=qr). The books in that series listed are by Bowser, Musser, Crafton, Koszarski, Prince, Balio, Jowett, and Schatz. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/5 "2003-08-11T17:40:10Z")
Thanks. I didn’t expect one book to really cover it all. The history series is more of what I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/6 "2003-08-11T17:49:05Z")
It’s a terrific series, lotsa photos—delves into all aspects of Hollywood, and may in fact have more than you’ll want to know. Make sure whatever you get is from that History of the American Cinema series: [here](http://www.ucpress.edu/books/HAC.ser.html) is the publisher’s link. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cinema-book/194297/7 "2003-08-11T19:05:53Z")
Martin Scorsese’s book, [A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786863285/qid=1060629089/sr=1-20/ref=sr_1_20/104-7974073-7771169?v=glance&s=books) is a companion to his BFI documentary series. Both are extremely informative and have greatly enhanced my appreciation of American films, as well as films in general.