Film Nation: Hollywood Looks at U.S. History, Revised Edition

(Paperback)

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In this revised and expanded edition of Film Nation, Robert Burgoyne analyzes films that give shape to the counternarrative that has emerged since 9/11one that challenges the traditional myths of the American nation-state. The films examined here, Burgoyne argues, reveal the hidden underlayers of nation, from the first interaction between Europeans and Native Americans (The New World), to the clash of ethnic groups in nineteenth-century New York (Gangs of New York), to the haunting persistence of war in the national imagination (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima) and the impact of the events of 9/11 on American identity (United 93 and World Trade Center).

Reviews

"Film Nation is distinguished by Robert Burgoynes critical acuity, his on-the-money remarks about the subjects he interrogates, as well as the singularity of his focus on American Cinema and the ways by which film suggests much about American national identity." Cineaste

"In Film Nation Robert Burgoyne argues that popular film plays a crucial role in formulating the imagined community of the nation state. A rewarding read." Film and History

"Film Nation rewards the reader with a continuous flow of stimulating ideas about how to discuss the content of recent history films." Journal of American History

"Any historian who is interested in investigating film as history should forget about disciplinary turf wars and read Robert Burgoynes Film Nation: Hollywood Looks at U.S. History. A theoretically sophisticated but clearly and elegantly written work." Rethinking History