Story of British Propaganda Film

Scott Anthony is Deputy Head of Research at the UK Science Museum Group. His books include Night Mail (BFI Film Classics, 2007), Public Relations and the Making of Modern Britain (Manchester University Press, 2012) and the co-edited volume The Projection of Britain: A History of the GPO Film Unit (BFI, 2012). His novel Changi was published by Penguin and he has written for the BBC, The Guardian, The Times, The Critic, Tribune, and the LRB Blog among many others.

Deeply researched, smartly written, and admirably capacious, this engaging book spans a century without losing site of the fascinating people, films, and ideas that have shaped Britain’s view of itself and its place on the world stage. Scott Anthony brings both deep knowledge and a keen storyteller’s eye to this vital story of film’s enduring power to persuade. Let yourself be convinced that the history of British propaganda film is also an important history of Britain itself.

• Editors’ IntroductionIntroduction: The Three Ages of the Propaganda Film1: Propaganda Film and the Interwar Avant-Garde - Close-up: So This is Britain2: Propaganda Film and the Second World War3: Propaganda Film and Colonial Development- Close-up: British Council Films4: Propaganda Film and Postwar Propaganda- Close-up: The Information Research Department- Montage: Biographies of a New Britain - Close-up: London Line 5: Propaganda Film at the World Exhibitions - Close-up: Propaganda for the Audiovisual World6: Propaganda Film and the Monarchy- Close-up: Education and the Propaganda Film 7: Propaganda Film and the Contemporary State - Montage: Economic Propaganda8: British Cinema in the Era of Total Propaganda - Close-up: James Bond and the Secret Intelligence Film 9: The Propaganda Film and Humanitarian WarConclusion Recommended ReadingA Propaganda Playlist