"A timely and richly provocative book that provides public historians much food for thought in an age when movies are rapidly becoming the dominant medium by which we talk to ourselves about our present and our past."—Public Historian
"A balanced analysis of what is both deceptive and provocative in Hollywood-made history."—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"Toplin’s fresh take on an often derided or dismissed genre makes a compelling case for the importance and influence of historical films."—American Studies
"This is not another book by an academic lashing out at Hollywood for its chronic inability to get it right when dealing with the historical record. The author, a film-savvy history professor who moonlights as a commentator on the History Channel, understands the drawbacks in dealing with factual material inherent in any dramatic form. In addition to adding some common sense to discussions of historical films, Toplin acts as a mediator between historians and film scholars."—Washington Post Book World
"Writing in a jargon-free and very accessible style, Toplin argues that Hollywood productions, particularly in the last thirty years, have been able to bring richly detailed impressions of past eras to a much wider public than have conventional history books. This will interest historians, film critics, and readers who enjoy catching Hollywood out." —Library Journal
"Toplin points out that Hollywood’s treatment of the past has been a favorite target of popular punditry: ‘Why can’t moviemakers portray the truth?’ goes the familiar wail. In addition, such complaints have often been mired in the warring camps of film studies and traditional history—both of which Toplin views as myopic, pinched, and riven by ideology. Toplin argues for a more balanced approach in which ‘cinematic’ history is seen as a medium that can communicate important ideas about the past in ways traditional text-driven methods cannot. . . . With luck, this ground-breaking work will find a receptive academic audience, but it is clearly aimed at a movie-loving public as well."—History: Reviews of New Books
"Without question most Americans today learn, or mislearn, history by watching movies. Toplin brilliantly grapples with the advantages and dilemmas brought about by this stark fact in a well-written, sober-minded analysis of the enduring power of cinematic history."—Douglas Brinkley, author of American Heritage History of the United States
“Toplin’s good common sense promotes a salutary (and long overdue) demystification of Hollywood-made history.”—Mark C. Carnes, editor of Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies
“A new and major contribution to the study of film and history.”—Peter C. Rollins, editor-in-chief of Film & History
“An excellent, well-written, clearly argued, and important book.”—Jeanine Basinger, author of American Cinema: One Hundred Years of Filmmaking
