Product Description
“How true is it?” is a common refrain of patrons coming out of movie theatres after the latest film on pirates, Vikings, or mummies. While Hollywood usurps the past for its own entertainment purposes, archaeologists and historians know a lot about many of these subjects, digging up stories often more fascinating than the ones projected on screen. This distinguished group of archaeologists select key subjects and genres used by Hollywood and provide the historical and archaeological depth that a movie cannot--what really happened in history. Topics include Egypt, the Wild West, Civil War submarines, Vikings, the Titanic, and others. The book should be of interest to introductory archaeology and American history classes, courses on film and popular culture, and to a general audience. Alternate Selection, History Book Club.
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 For those with a bone to pick about movies ( mrliteral )
Here's a startling fact: most so-called historical films are not 100% historically accurate. Of course, for most people, this is not really startling at all, and for many, it is interesting to see where fact and fiction divide. Just as there are all sorts of science books that explore the physics of comics, Harry Potter and Star Trek, there are also books that look at the historical accuracy of movies. Box Office Archaeology, edited by Julie Schablitsky, focuses on how archaeology shows where certain films may not be very realistic.
For the most part, the authors in this book understand that most films are, first and foremost, stories, and that a historical setting is not meant to be accurate as much as to provide verisimilitude. So this is not a book of spoilsports, but a book that adds depth to your movie watching experience.
Each chapter is by a different author or authors, and as an anthology of essays, the quality is not completely consistent. The early chapters - which focus much more on what most people think of as archaeology - I found more interesting. These topics include mummies, Vikings, pirates and the Titanic. One common thing among these subjects is that there are definite holes in the archaeological record, which does allow speculation (however implausible) on the part of a movie maker.
Later chapters are more erratic. A chapter on the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley is interesting from a historical standpoint, but with only a couple TV production telling its tale, it doesn't seem to really merit inclusion in the book. Other chapters, dealing with the cinematic depiction of blacks, Indians and Chinese, really don't add much to what most readers will already know: that for a long time, minorities were underrepresented in historical movies and when they did appear, they were typically stereotypes. It's a worthwhile point, but I'm not sure how well it really fits in this book.
The nice thing about historical movies is that they introduce, even if not fully factually, viewers to times and worlds beyond their own. It also gives them an opportunity to learn where history and fiction differ; for example, when Braveheart implied William Wallace was the true father of Edward III, I found that would have quite a feat, considering Wallace died three years before the future king's birth (this dramatic license doesn't diminish this great movie, though). Box Office Archaeology may provoke you to ask such questions of the movies you watch as well. It may not be a perfect book, but if it makes you think, it has its merit.
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