{"title":"Books by David Thomson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780063041417","title":"The Fatal Alliance","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A marvelous bombshell of a book, by one of our most formidably knowledgeable and insightful writers on film, it is filled with surprises and witty asides. Though Thomson is quick to pounce on the hypocrisies and historical omissions of some of these war movies, there is nothing compromised about his own daredevil judgments. We are in the hands of a master critic\/essayist.”—Phillip Lopate\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom one of the greatest living writers on film, a magisterial look at a century of battle depicted on screen, and a meditation on the twisted relationship between war and the movies.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Fatal Alliance\u003c\/em\u003e the acclaimed film critic David Thomson offers us one of his most provocative books yet—a rich, arresting, and troubling study of that most beloved genre: the war movie. It is not a standard history or survey of war films, although Thomson turns his typically piercing eye to many favorites—from \u003cem\u003eAll Quiet on the Western Front \u003c\/em\u003eto \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge on the River Kwai\u003c\/em\u003e to \u003cem\u003eSaving Private Ryan\u003c\/em\u003e. But \u003cem\u003eThe Fatal Alliance \u003c\/em\u003edoes much more, exploring how war and cinema in the twentieth century became inextricably linked. Movies had only begun to exist by the beginning of World War I, yet in less than a century, had transformed civilian experience of war—and history itself—for millions around the globe. This reality is the moral conundrum at the heart of Thomson’s book. War movies bring both prestige and are so often box office blockbusters; but is there something problematic at how much moviegoers enjoy depictions of violence on a grand scale, such as \u003cem\u003eApocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, \u003c\/em\u003eor even \u003cem\u003eStar Wars\u003c\/em\u003e? And what does this truth say about us, our culture, and our changing sense of warfare and the past?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201398603954,"sku":"9780063041417","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780063041417.jpg?v=1786011615"},{"product_id":"9780857305640","title":"Connecticut","description":"In 1985, with the acclaimed Suspects, and then in 1990 with the exhilarating Silver Light, David Thomson delivered unprecedented fictions in which the characters were figures from film noir and the Western. Now a trilogy is completed with Connecticut. Why Connecticut? Because that lovely, liberal state has been set aside as the resting place for every disturbed person in the nation! At first, this seems like an opportunity for meeting up with the merry ghosts of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, William Powell and Margaret Sullavan. We get glimpses of Bringing Up Baby, My Man Godfrey and The Lady Eve. But then the wild comedy darkens as we realize that Connecticut itself is on the edge of a demented and cruel war that challenges all its inmates to keep seeing the comic side of mishap and madness. The trilogy is revealed not just as a set of dazzling stories. But a commentary on how far we have all been steered towards delightful but dangerous fantasies by the movies. Aren't we all screwball now? Is Connecticut safe to visit?","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204081811634,"sku":"9780857305640","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780857305640_c79c2120-572b-4e65-aea6-98ab23aa7e8e.jpg?v=1786015957"},{"product_id":"9781786892461","title":"The People Of The Sea","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen David Thomson took a journey to the sea coasts of Scotland and Ireland to seek out the legend of the selchies - mythological creatures who transform from seals into humans - a magical world emerged. Men were rescued by seals in stormy seas, took seal-women for their wives and had their children suckled by seal-mothers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTimeless and haunting, \u003ci\u003eThe People of the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e retains its spellbinding charm and brings to life the enchanting stories of these mysterious creatures of Celtic folklore.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205490147506,"sku":"9781786892461","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781786892461.jpg?v=1786025452"},{"product_id":"9780099359913","title":"Woodbrook","description":"\u003cp\u003eWoodbrook is a rare house that gives its name to a small, rural area in Ireland, not far from the old port of Sligo. It has been owned since the seventeenth century by the Anglo-Irish Kirkwoods. In 1932, David Thomson, aged eighteen, went there are a tutor. He stayed for ten years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis memoir, acknowledged as a masterpiece, grew out of two great loves - for Woodbrook and for Phoebe, his pupil. In it he builds up a delicate, lyrical picture of a gentle pre-war society, of Irish history and troubled Anglo-Irish relations, and of a delightful family. Above all, his story reverberates with the enchantment of falling in love and with the desolation of bereavement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56223819727221,"sku":"9780099359913","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099359913_948e7dbe-0479-42d7-a3fc-c004bb1ad608.jpg?v=1786011483"},{"product_id":"9780141020754","title":"'Have You Seen...?'","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Thomson's \u003ci\u003e'Have You Seen?' - A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films\u003c\/i\u003e is a quirky, idiosyncratic and hugely entertaining look at a century of cinema.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  This is veteran film writer David Thomson's personal, irreverent, hilarious and utterly original take on the 1,000 films he has most loved - and hated - from \u003ci\u003eAbbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein \u003c\/i\u003eto\u003ci\u003e Zabriskie Point\u003c\/i\u003e, from esteemed classics to forgotten curiosities, guilty pleasures to noir treats, horror gems to kitsch disasters. The result is probably the most enjoyable film book you will ever read (and you'll never think about \u003ci\u003eThe Sound of Music\u003c\/i\u003e in the same way again). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Delightful ... it's like having the most film-literate pal you can imagine sitting beside you in a multiplex' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'A joy ... he's incapable of writing a boring sentence' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'This book sets the bar. There isn't a more intelligent, insightful and provocative guide to individual movies in the world' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Every reader's simple instinct will be to plunge into the heart of it' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'A dazzlingly authoritative treat ... crammed with insight and epigram' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Eccentric, brilliant, scholarly, perverse, witty, egocentric and infuriating, sometimes all at once' \u003cbr\u003e  Philip French\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'He enrages, exasperates, but never leaves one indifferent' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e Books of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eDavid Thomson \u003c\/b\u003eis, among many other things, author of \u003ci\u003eThe New Biographical Dictionary of Film\u003c\/i\u003e, now in its fourth edition. His recent books include a biography of Nicole Kidman, \u003ci\u003eFan\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eTan\u003c\/i\u003e (a novel written in collaboration with Marlon Brando) and \u003ci\u003eThe Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224241680757,"sku":"9780141020754","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141020754_d8e35d34-8b74-49c1-8621-0ea9e586b876.jpg?v=1786015704"},{"product_id":"9780141047126","title":"The Big Screen","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this triumphant work David Thomson, one of film's greatest living experts and author of \u003ci\u003eThe New Biographical Dictionary of Film\u003c\/i\u003e, tells the enthralling story of the movies and how they have shaped us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e BOOKS OF THE YEAR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTaking us around the globe, through time and across multiple media, Thomson tracks the ways in which we were initially enchanted by this mesmerizing imitation of life and let movies - the stories, the stars, the look - show us how to live. But at the same time he shows us how movies, offering a seductive escape from the everyday reality and its responsibilities, have made it possible for us to evade life altogether. The entranced audience has become a model for powerless citizens trying to pursue happiness by sitting quietly in a dark room. Does the big screen take us out into the world, or merely mesmerize us? That is Thomson's question in this great adventure of a book. A passionate feat of storytelling that is vital to anyone trying to make sense of the age of screens - the age that, more than ever, we are living in.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224617791861,"sku":"9780141047126","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141047126_1b22571e-9dd5-499b-8737-f42ec81a3801.jpg?v=1786011128"},{"product_id":"9780300246940","title":"Disaster Mon Amour","description":"A deep—and darkly comic—dive into the nature of disasters, and the ways they shape how we think about ourselves in the world  “In this brilliant book, David Thomson tells the story of how we came to make disaster and catastrophe our best friends—how we let terror cocoon and take over our imaginations to avoid seeing the things that really frighten us. Riveting and totally original.”—Adam Curtis, BBC filmmaker and political journalist  “Erudite. . . . Engaging. . . . A cri de coeur about art’s struggle to keep up with reality.”—Kirkus Reviews   Audiences swell with the scale of disaster; humans have always been drawn to the rumors of our own demise. In this searching treatment, noted film historian David Thomson examines iconic disasters, both real and fictional, exposing the slippage between what occurs and what we observe. With reportage, film commentary, speculation, and a liberating sense of humor, Thomson shows how digital culture commodifies disaster and sates our desire to witness chaos while suffering none of its aftereffects.      Ranging from Laurel and Hardy and Battleship Potemkin to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and from the epic San Andreas to the intimate Don’t Look Now, Thomson pulls back the curtain to reveal why we love watching disaster unfold—but only if it happens to others.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232221507957,"sku":"9780300246940","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300246940_d25dc8ed-371d-45bb-9b57-74f0dbac27b6.jpg?v=1786012329"},{"product_id":"9780300244557","title":"Warner Bros – The Making of an American Movie Studio","description":"Behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film studio, where four immigrant brothers transformed themselves into the moguls and masters of American fantasyWarner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early twentieth century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood.      David Thomson provides fascinating and original interpretations of Warner Brothers pictures from the pioneering talkie The Jazz Singer through black-and-white musicals, gangster movies, and such dramatic romances as Casablanca, East of Eden, and Bonnie and Clyde. He recounts the storied exploits of the studio’s larger-than-life stars, among them Al Jolson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Doris Day, and Bugs Bunny. The Warner brothers’ cultural impact was so profound, Thomson writes, that their studio became “one of the enterprises that helped us see there might be an American dream out there.”","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232994767221,"sku":"9780300244557","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300244557_ea5d7c76-5dc4-40c1-a950-f3e18617982b.jpg?v=1786012300"},{"product_id":"9780349117690","title":"The Whole Equation","description":"A book that sees Hollywood as an idea, a trick, a religion even that swept the world, a book that knows what the bosses did, and why and how, but which also feels the impact on the mass audiences in the dark auditoriums. There isn't a book that explains  - even at a basic level - how the business, the money, of pictures operates. THE WHOLE EQUATION takes the history and describes the grand panorama so that the reader knows how he or she fitted in, along with Bogart, the Marx Brothers and Daryl Zanuck. The business is the neglected aspect of the story, neglected because its truths threaten the alleged magic, the romance of the movies. Yet, the money is the true sexual secret of Hollywood, and David Thomson leaves the reader quite clear, that amid all the hype and pretension, we should always 'follow the money'.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56286339727733,"sku":"9780349117690","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349117690_8f444053-b7ab-444b-91fe-ac9be1ef8873.jpg?v=1786013864"},{"product_id":"9780857305022","title":"Silver Light","description":"From 1865 to 1950, the multi-faceted world of the American West, its rich, colourful characters, and its many faces - historical, mythic, and cinematic - are captured in the story of a reclusive, elderly photographer and her friend, a writer of Western comic books. Silver Light artfully juxtaposes the brimming frontier of legend against a construct of the West as a constricted wilderness of the soul.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295265567093,"sku":"9780857305022","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780857305022_37f97ca5-3fef-449c-bb22-9b6835bfcbf3.jpg?v=1786015942"},{"product_id":"9781509526918","title":"The Returned – They left to wage jihad, now they′re back","description":"Since 2012, hundreds of men and women have left Western countries to join jihadist groups fighting in Syria. Many are still there, many have been killed, but some have chosen to return to their countries of origin. French Journalist David Thomson met some of those who came back. Bilel, Yassin, Zoubeir, Lena, each has a different profile and story. Some have returned disgusted by the violence of the Syrian battlefields, or the terrorist attacks that have struck across Europe; they try to become forgotten, living under extreme surveillance. Others return seriously wounded or psychologically destroyed. Others still are in jail, a breeding ground for broader radicalization. And some have come back to continue to carry out jihad in Europe. In utmost secrecy, David Thomson gathered their testimonies and recounts them in this remarkable and revealing book.  With ISIS losing ground on all fronts, the steady flow of jihadists returning to Europe represents one of the greatest challenges facing countries across the continent. This nuanced analysis of the social, religious, political, familial and psychological factors that push people to violent extremism is more necessary now than ever. It will be essential reading for all those seeking to understand how we might address this threat.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302169719157,"sku":"9781509526918","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781509526918_69c43344-c16d-4216-8119-921c8b2547f3.jpg?v=1786022368"},{"product_id":"9781781250440","title":"How to Watch a Movie","description":"From one of the most admired critics of our time, brilliant insights into the act of watching movies and an enlightening discussion about how to derive more from any film experience.Since first publishing his landmark Biographical Dictionary of Film in 1975 (now in its sixth edition), David Thomson has been one of the most trusted authorities on all things cinema. Now, he offers his most inventive exploration of the medium yet: guiding us through each element of the viewing experience, considering the significance of everything from what we see and hear on screen - actors, shots, cuts, dialogue, music - to the specifics of how, where, and with whom we do the viewing. With customary candour and wit, Thomson delivers keen analyses of a range of films from classics such as Psycho and Citizen Kane to contemporary fare such as 12 Years a Slave and All Is Lost, revealing how to more deeply appreciate both the artistry and manipulation of film, and how watching movies approaches something like watching life itself. Discerning, funny and utterly unique, How to Watch a Movie is a welcome twist on the classic proverb: Give a movie fan a film, she'll be entertained for an hour or two; teach a movie fan to watch, her experience will be enriched forever.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303278162293,"sku":"9781781250440","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781781250440_a5125856-5477-4c1e-bdd2-8afec1006ea6.jpg?v=1786026035"},{"product_id":"9781780228280","title":"A Light in the Dark","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn little more than a century of cinema - \u003ci\u003eBirth of a Nation\u003c\/i\u003e was one hundred years old in 2015 - our sense of what a film director is, or should be, has shifted in fascinating ways. A director was once a functionary; then an important but not decisive part of an industrial process; then accepted as the person who was and should be in charge, because he was an artist and a hero. But the world has changed. In a nutshell, the change takes the form of a question: Who directed \u003ci\u003eThe Sopranos\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eHomeland\u003c\/i\u003e? Hardly anyone knows, because we don't tend to read TV credits and the director has returned to a more subservient and anonymous role. Directors now try to be efficient, the deliverers of profitable films, and are often involved as producers, like Steven Spielberg.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid Thomson's brilliant \u003ci\u003eA Light in the Dark \u003c\/i\u003epersonalises each chapter through an individual: Jean Renoir, Howard Hawks, Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Bunuel, Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, Jane Campion, Stephen Frears and Quentin Tarantino.  Through these characters (and other directors not mentioned here), David Thomson relates an imaginative new history of a medium that has changed the world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303749464437,"sku":"9781780228280","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780228280_eab87bc9-0cbe-4825-89ad-23d6e91f2497.jpg?v=1786024299"},{"product_id":"9781839021596","title":"The Big Sleep","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Big Sleep\u003c\/i\u003e: Marlowe and Vivian practising kissing; General Sternwood shivering in a hothouse full of orchids; a screenplay, co-written by Faulkner, famously mysterious and difficult to solve. Released in 1946, Howard Hawks' adaptation of Raymond Chandler reunited Bogart and Bacall and gave them two of their most famous roles.  The mercurial but ever-manipulative Hawks dredged humour and happiness out of film noir.  'Give him a story about more murders than anyone can keep up with, or explain,' David Thomson writes in his compelling study of the film, 'and somehow he made a paradise.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen it was first shown to a military audience \u003ci\u003eThe Big Sleep \u003c\/i\u003ewas coldly received. So, as Thomson reveals, Hawks shot extra scenes, 'fun' scenes, to replace one in which the film's murders had been explained, and in so doing left the plot unresolved. Thomson argues that, if this was accidental, it also signalled a change in the nature of Hollywood cinema: '\u003ci\u003eThe Big Sleep \u003c\/i\u003einaugurates a post-modern, camp, satirical view of movies being about other movies that extends to the New Wave and \u003ci\u003ePulp Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e.'\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56313019367797,"sku":"9781839021596","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781839021596_23f6cf9e-57a8-4c9e-8c8b-da12174258d0.jpg?v=1786028740"},{"product_id":"nairn-in-darkness-and-light","title":"Nairn in Darkness and Light","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet in the 1920s, this marvellously sensitive autobiography recreates the varied community of Nairn, with its fishermen and townsfolk, its crofters and its prosperous upper-middle-classes. Nairn has witnessed many of the triumphs and tragedies of Scottish history, and these are recalled with intuitive understanding. But it is also the scene of David Thomson's formative years when he suffered an eye injury which nearly blinded him and shaped his whole future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the McVitie's Prize and the first NCR Book Award For Non-Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466608877941,"sku":"9780099599906","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780099599906.jpg?v=1785654667"},{"product_id":"europe-since-napoleon","title":"Europe Since Napoleon","description":"A history of Europe since Napoleon, covering all of the main topics of that period.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466745586037,"sku":"9780140135619","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780140135619.jpg?v=1785654807"},{"product_id":"a-sudden-flicker-of-light","title":"A Sudden Flicker of Light","description":"From cinema’s most distinguished and ‘The best writer on film in our time’ (Michael Ondaatje) comes a masterful assessment of the whole sweep of movie history‘The movies traded on the liberation of secret desires—drive that car as fast as you can; turn your humble abode into a palace; conquer all the mean spirits in the world; be as free and winsome as the Tramp yet as rich as Charlie … Every lowlife can be a Corleone.’Every flicker of light has its shadow. In this masterful reassessment of the whole arc of movie history, David Thomson, film’s wisest and most penetrating critic, shows us how cinema has entranced and transported us, but also profoundly changed us.   From the earliest days of the first picture shows to the screens of today, Thomson glories in the great movies. Sharp, arresting readings of films from Metropolis to Rear Window, The Godfather to Anora can be found in these pages. Yet there is unease, too, at how cinema suckered us into a fantasy neverland that only looks like life. Hungry for spectacle and happy endings, submitting to voyeurism and villainy, we have let films change the way we experience reality; a habit of passivity that may have even betrayed our culture and our politics.   As Thomson says, ‘This is our history, and our show.’ The result of a lifetime of immersion and reflection, this book is a reckoning and a testament from a writer who sees like no other.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57697036435829,"sku":"9781837315116","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57466764296565,"sku":"9780241843345","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241843345_8859ea89-f298-4143-9685-ad23cd74bc3f.jpg?v=1793083523"},{"product_id":"the-hereford-gospels","title":"The Hereford Gospels","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490184175989,"sku":"9781910839881","price":7.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"the-new-biographical-dictionary-of-film","title":"THE NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FILM","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57499183153525,"sku":"9780349000176","price":15.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-david-thomson.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}