The British At War: Cinema, State and Propaganda, 1939-1945

by James Chapman

British film propaganda efforts during the Second World War have tended to be presented as a shambles. James Chapman argues that this is not so in this first comprehensive history of wartime film propaganda policy in Britain. He examines the role of the cinema as a vehicle of propaganda, set within its institutional, political and cultural contexts, revealing the complex relationships between the Ministry of Information and the different sectors of the film industry. The author identifies the themes and ideologies presented to audiences through analysis of key wartime films, including Forty-Ninth Parallel, In Which We Serve and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. He also corrects a previous misunderstanding of the role in official propaganda of short films and documentaries, demonstrating how these films were as successful as commercial feature films at carrying propaganda to the nation's cinema-goers.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

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James Chapman is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester. He has written several books on the history of British popular culture, including work on cinema, television and comics.

He attended Wales High School during the 1980s. He took his BA (History) and MA (Film Studies) at the University of East Anglia and then undertook his doctoral research at Lancaster University, completing his thesis on the role of official film propaganda in Britain during the Second World War.

In 1996 he joined The Open University where he taught a broad range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and was principal contributing author to the university’s first dedicated course on Film and Television History. He joined the University of Leicester as its founding Professor of Film Studies in 2005.

Chapman’s research focuses on British popular culture, especially cinema and television in their historical contexts. He has written or edited ten books, including two which he has co-authored with Professor Nicholas J. Cull. His work draws upon the ideas of the film theorist Gilles Deleuze and applies them to understanding the role and nature of popular film and television. His books include studies of the science fiction television series Doctor Who and the James Bond films. SFX magazine described his book Licence To Thrill as "thoughtful, intelligent, ludicrous and a bit snobby - bit like Bond really".

He is a Council member of the International Association for Media and History (IAMHIST) and is editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.

Chapman has also published articles in the following journals: Screen, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Journal of Popular British Cinema, Visual Culture in Britain, Journal of Contemporary History, Contemporary British History, Media History and European Journal of Cultural Studies.