Review "Entertaining." -- Literary Review"Thorough... throws new light on the way history was treated by our national cinema between 1933 and 1950." -- Observer Product Description This survey of British historical films of the 1930s and 1940s offers an account of the attitudes of official bodies, film-makers and audiences to the costume film. Archive records unearthed by Sue Harper reveal the extent to which government agencies and institutions attempted to influence the cinematic representation of history. This book goes on to contrast the work of a range of key producers and charts the vagaries of audience response.