History and the Media

History is a gift for television and the cinema, proving as popular as ever, but is this media interest to the detriment or benefit of history? These twelve essays, which originated at a conference held in London 2002, have been written by some of the most familiar names in British broadcasting, cinema and history, including Simon Schama, Jeremy Isaacs, Melvyn Bragg, Tristram Hunt, Max Hastings, Ian Kershaw and David Puttnam. They celebrate the healthy and fruitful relationship between history and the media whilst questioning the liberties that filmmakers feel they have to make to retain the interest of the audience. It is for this reason that the first half of the 20th century is such a popular subject, above and beyond any other century: little is more dramatic and photogenic than a world war. Puttnam, however, assesses the harm that will ensue if we come to rely on history with special effects. These interesting papers do not all agree and a range of perspectives are put forward with eloquence but most accept the fact that filmmakers and historians need one another in the modern age if history is to continue to appeal to and, hopefully, inform the masses.