World War II on Film

by David Luhrssen

World War II on Film provides a succinct yet well-grounded appraisal of that war as seen through 12 representative films. The book separates fact from fiction, showing where the movies were accurate and where they departed from reality, and places them in the larger context of historical and social events. Each movie chosen represents a particular aspect of the conflict, including the air war over Europe, the condition of prisoners of war, Nazi atrocities, and the British evacuation at Dunkirk. Unlike most histories of Hollywood during World War II or the genre of war movies, World War II on Film examines in depth the relation between the depictions of events, beliefs, attitudes, and ways of life as seen on film with reality as documented by historians or recorded by journalists or eye-witnesses to the war. The volume will appeal to high school and college readers, as well as general interest readers and film buffs.

226 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2020

Reviews

[Cindy Pieszcynski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent balance of history and film review. Luhrssen balances the actual history with the historical accuracy of specific World War II films from 1939 to 2017 breaking down each chosen film and the important history by chapter making it an easy read.