Film, television, radio and performing arts genres

The Story of Film

An updated edition – with completely new chapters – of the most accessible and compelling history of the cinema yet published, and complements Mark Cousins’ fascinating 15-hour film documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey.

Dad Dancing

It’s official: dads were put onto this planet to embarrass the rest of their families. This hilarious book is a spotter’s guide to the innumerable ways Dad can achieve this, whether it’s via ridiculous dancing, experimental facial hair, cringeworthy sportswear or putting his foot in it at funerals.

Nudinits: Bare-bottomed fun from the village of Woolly Bush

Welcome to the cosy village of Woolly Bush, set deep in the heart of the English countryside. It has all the standard features of a typical village – the cake shop, the war memorial, the vegetable show, the vicar – apart from two big differences: it’s all made of wool, and none of the characters have clothes on!

Vintage Hollywood Knits

The chic knitwear worn by a galaxy of Hollywood stars on the silver screen can now be recreated in your own home.

Up Front…

“An entertainer with few equals.” Daily Mail

“Creasingly Funny.” The Times

The Life of Python: Third edition

Monty Python rides again. Those malicious rumours that they were washed up, pooped out, time expired (usually started by them) simply aren’t true.

Cinema's Strangest Moments

How did Leonardo DiCaprio become a hero on The Beach?

Why would the Droids lode control in Star Wars?

What persuaded Mad Max to become Hamlet?

Who made Long John Silver’s parrot dread Treasure Island?

When was there a curse on The Exorcist?

Television's Strangest Moments

Ever since John Logie Baird first publicly demonstrated this now all-pervasive

medium in his small Soho laboratory, the history of television has been littered

with remarkable but true tales of the unexpected.

Ranging from bizarre stories of actors’ shenanigans to strange but true

The Hobbit Companion

Exploring the brilliant web of verbal hocus-pocus that J.R.R. Tolkien delightedly spun in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, master hobbit investigator David Day reveals the myriad crafty puns and riddles, hidden meanings, and mythical associations beneath the saga’s thrilling surface.

Crap Lyrics

Even the greatest songwriters (and Spandau Ballet) have had the odd bad day at the office. Or more likely, a bad few minutes in the studio toilets scribbling the first words they can think of on the back of their tranquiliser prescription shortly before the vocal has to be recorded.

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