History on Film/ Film on History

History films have often been criticized by academics and journalists as inaccurate depictions of the past. Yet there is no escaping the fact that blockbuster history films, documentaries and docudramas are increasingly influential in shaping our understanding of historical people and events. The very controversies that erupt over so many historical films are testament to the central role that films play in making history accessible.
Robert A. Rosenstone argues that to leave history films out of the discussion of the meaning of the past is to ignore a major factor in our understanding of past events. He champions the dramatic feature as a legitimate way of doing history, even though it is largely fictional. He examines what history films convey about the past and how they convey it, demonstrating the need to learn how to read and understand this new visual world. Rosenstone integrates detailed analysis of individual history films, including Glory, Reds, October, and Schindler's List.

Robert A. Rosenstone is Professor of History at the California Institute of Technology.

Professor Robert A Rosenstone of the California Institute of Technology is currently the leading scholar in the world in the controversial and growing field of history and film. He was the historical consultant on Warren Beatty's Academy Award winning film Reds.

Rosenstone is the Founding Editor of Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practiceand his other publications include Crusade of the Left: The Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War (1969), Mirror in the Shrine: American Encounters with Meiji Japan(1988), King of Odessa (2003), and The Man Who Swam Into History (2005). He also wrote the award winning Romantic Revolutionary (1975) upon which the film Reds was based.