The History of Cinema

The History of Cinema: A Very Short Introduction is, as its subtitle suggests, a brief guide to film history. In only a hundred pages, it provides concise summaries of cinema technology, the studio system, and international film movements. Author Geoffrey Nowell-Smith previously wrote Making Waves, and edited The Oxford History of World Cinema, a definitive text which remains the gold standard for film-history books. The History of Cinema is a slim volume in comparison, though it has a useful annotated bibliography.