Hollywood and History

Jem Duducu is a populist historian and historical fiction writer based in London. He spends his time writing, public speaking, and generally messing around with his wife and children.

• It’s All Greek to MeThe Ten Commandments (1923); Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925); Ben Hur (1959); Spartacus (1960); Cleopatra (1963); Gladiator (2000); Troy (2004); Alexander (2004); 300 (2006); Mulan (1998; 2020)Ye Olde Middle AgesMonty Python and the Holy Grail (1975); King Arthur (2004); The Green Knight (2021); The Vikings (1958); The 13th Warrior (1999); The Northman (2022) Thor Ragnarök (2017) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991) Robin Hood (2010) Kingdom of Heaven (2005) El Cid (1961) The LastDuel (2021) Highlander (1986) Braveheart (1995); Rapa Nui (1994)The Bloody TudorsA Man for All Seasons (1966); The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933); The Other Boleyn Girl (2008); The Twisted Tale of Bloody Mary (2008); Tudor Rose (1936); Lady Jane (1986); Mary Queen of Scots (2018); Elizabeth (1998); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)To Bard or not to BardWilliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1953); Cesare Deve Morire (2012); Henry V (1944,1989); Richard III (1955,1995); The Merchant of Venice 2004; Romeo + Juliet 1996; West Side Story (1961,2021); Ran (1985); Macbeth (2015); Macbeth (1971)Eastern PromiseRaja Harischandra (1913); Mother India (1957); The Thugs of Hindostan (2018); Lagaan (2001); Hero (2002); Fearless (2006); The Great Hero Yi Sun-sin (1962); Tae Guk Gi (2004); My Way (2011); Nichien to moko daishurai (1958), Seven Samurai (1954); Rashomon (1950); Yojimbo (1961); Sanjuro (1962); Kagemusha (1980); Ruroni Kenshin (2012); The Last Samurai (2003)Little Wuthering PrejudiceBarry Lyndon (1975); Pride and Prejudice (2005); Sense and Sensibility (1995); Emma (1996) Emma. (2020) Wuthering Heights (1992,2011); Jane Eyre (1943,1996); Little Women (1949,1994,2019); Oliver Twist (1948,2005); Oliver! (1968); A Tale of Two Cities (1958); A Christmas Carol (1938)The not so Civil WarThe Birth of a Nation (1915); Gone with the Wind (1939); 12 Years a Slave (2013); How the West Was Won (1962); Glory (1989); Gettysburg (1993); Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1927); Lincoln (2012)How the West Wasn’t WonThe Great Train Robbery (1903); Stagecoach (1939); The Searchers (1956); Dances with Wolves (1990); The Last of the Mohicans (1992); Pocahontas (1995); Prey (2022); A Fist Full of Dollars (1964); The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966); The Magnificent Seven (1960); Unforgiven (1992); Django Unchained (2012); High Noon (1952); Shane (1953); Blazing Saddles (1974); Calamity Jane (1954); True Grit (1969); The Conqueror (1956); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)Oh! What a Lovely WarU-571 (2000); Lawrence of Arabia (1962); Doctor Zhivago (1965); Journey’s End (2017); Oh! What a Lovely War (1969); The African Queen (1951); Zeppelin (1970); The King’s Man (2021); Wonder Woman (2017); 1917 (2019); All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, 2022); The Guns of Navarone (1961); Where Eagles Dare (1968); The Great Escape (1963); The Great Dictator (1940); The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949); Letters form Iwo Jima (2006); Wind Talkers (2002); Memoirs of a Geisha (2005); Hacksaw Ridge (2016); Battle of Lake Changjin (2021); The English Patient (1996); The Dam Busters (1955); The Longest Day (1962); Saving Private Ryan (1998); Dunkirk (2017); Darkest Hour (2017); Schindler’s List (1993); Life is Beautiful (1997); The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)The Pianist (2002)Badfellas: Pirates, Gangsters, and SpiesTreasure Island (1950); Cutthroat Island (1995); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Captain Philips (2013); Angles With Dirty Faces (1938); Bonnie and Clyde (1967); The Highwaymen (2019); Scarface (1932, 1983); Al Capone (1959); The Untouchables (1987); The Godfather (1972); The Godfather: Part II (1974); The Godfather: Part III (1990); Goodfellas (1990); American Gangster (2007); Dr. No (1962); Goldfinger (1964); You Only Live Twice (1967); The Bourne Identity (2002); Zero Dark Thirty (2012); Bridge of Spies (2015); Red Sparrow (2018)I Have a Dream?Mississippi Burning (1988); Green Book (2018); To Kill a Mocking Bird (1962); A Time to Kill (1996); Malcolm X (1992); BlacKkKlansman (2018); Judas and the Black Messiah (2021); Detroit (2017); One Night in Miami (2020); Hidden Figures (2016); 42 (2013); Selma (2014); The Woman King (2022)‘NAMThe Green Berets (1967); Catch 22 (1970); MASH (1970); Good Morning Vietnam (1987); Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985); Predator (1987); The Deer Hunter (1978); Jacob’s Ladder (1990); Taxi Driver (1976); Platoon (1986); Born on the Fourth of July (1989); Heaven & Earth (1993); Tropic Thunder (2008); Da 5 Bloods (2020); Full Metal Jacket (1987); Apocalypse Now (1979)

Moving beyond synopsis, Duducu provides a scholarly context that considers when and why each film was made, as well as the people, places, and times portrayed by the film ... Hollywood and History is educational in the most accessible of ways and absolutely fun to read.