Sensing the Past explores perennial themes in American culture as manifested through the works of six of Hollywood's biggest movies stars: Clint Eastwood, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Jodie Foster.

Reconstructing American Historical Cinema explores Hollywood's pivotal interpretations of national history during the height of the studio system. In a radical departure from traditional studies of film and history, J.E. Smyth looks at rarely discussed production records and scripts from studio archives, arguing that certain classical Hollywood filmmakers were actively engaged in a self-conscious and often critical filmic writing of national history....

This book is a study of the contemporary audiences for 'quality' period films, and their responses to these films, with reference to the critical debate which constructs many of these films as 'heritage films'.