Description
Book SynopsisThis is a landmark study which examines the film and reading tastes of working-class consumers in 1930s Britain. Drawing on a wealth of original research, Robert James argues that working-class consumers used popular film and fiction to answer a range of cultural and social needs in this tumultuous decade. -- .
Trade Review'This is an excellently nuanced book ...an impressive first book'
Keith Laybourn, History
'An exemplary piece of social and cultural history: meticulously researched, cogently argued, imaginative in its approach. It deserves to be afforded major intellectual currency not just in British film studies but also in the social history of working-class life and practices'
James Chapman, Journal of British Cinema and Television
'Essential reading for anybody interested in 1930s British society',
Daniel Hucker, Gender and History
'James makes a convincing argument for the distinctiveness and complexity of working-class taste in this period. He also offers a compelling view of the importance of working-class consumer preference in shaping the provision of film and literature in working-class communities'
Andrew August, Labour History Review
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Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. ‘The people’s amusement’: the growth in cinema-going and reading habits
2. ‘Fouling civilisation’?: official attitudes towards popular film and literature
3. Trade attitudes towards audience taste
4. Working-class tastes: national trends in film popularity
5. Working-class tastes: national trends in literature popularity
6. Working-class tastes: South Wales Miners’ Institutes
7. Working-class tastes: Derby
8. Working-class tastes: Portsmouth
9. Popular film and literature: textual analyses
Conclusion: ‘giving the public what it wants’
Bibliography
Appendices
Index
