A Century of Film and How it has Shaped Us

In Glorious Technicolor

A personal journey through a glorious century of cinema - from film lover and critic Francine Stock

As a guide to 100 years of cinema, Francine Stock certainly has the credentials... an informative, easy read

There is much to enjoy in this book, and nuggets of information on recent cinematic developments to be mined

Smoothly written...Stock clearly knows her onions

Her passion for the medium is evident...It would be fascinating to see Stock programme her own film season

As a book to stimulate discussion as well as inform on the history of the subject, this lively account passes all the tests

The text is refreshingly free of the jargon that mars much academic film studies, and Stock writes brilliantly on the allure of the movies

Francine Stock has presented radio and television programmes on current affairs and the arts from BBC 2's Newsnight to Radio 4's Front Row. Since 2004, she has presented The Film Programme. She has also published two novels, A Foreign Country and Man-Made Fibre.

Film is a communal dream in which our fears and fantasies are revealed. It has influenced our behaviour, intertwined with our politics, helped to forge national identity, galvanise communities against a wartime enemy or warn of social upheaval. It has burrowed deep into our psyche, changing perceptions of history and memory, and even raised our romantic expectations. 
 
Despite decades of rapid change, we are still hypnotised and seduced by the power of cinema; it remains our most persuasive mass entertainment. In this fascinating, entertaining and illuminating book Francine Stock takes us on a personal journey through a glorious century of cinema, from the Lumiere brothers' flickering train to the 3D excesses of Avatar, showing in vivid detail how film both reflects and remakes our world.

Francine Stock

An exploration of that elusive quality

Francine Stock sets out to explore the elusive quality that is charisma. 
 
Can charisma – variously combining charm, magic and power – ever really be pinned down? 
 
Moving from St Paul’s coining of the word in the first century of the Christian Era right up to the present day, charisma continues to be a powerful influence, not always for the good, in the fields of politics, banking, terrorism, theatre and film. 
 
Along the way, Francine takes in early medieval mystics such as Margery Kempe and Joan of Arc; the Elizabethan belief in the so-called "Royal Touch" and its different manifestations today; the powerful healing claims of Franz Mesmer; and radical charismatic leaders from Garibaldi to Osama Bin Laden. She explores the power and appeal of charisma with stars such as Sarah Bernhardt; self-made businessmen such as W.K.Kellogg, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs; totalitarian leaders including Hitler, and new forms of political extremism such as the so-called Islamic State; civil rights leaders, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama; and the volatile world of contemporary banking. 
 
There is a continuing hunger for charisma; can this gift of grace be turned to a shared advantage? 
 
Produced by Beaty Rubens 
 
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Francine Stock

Books by Francine Stock

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