Synopses & Reviews
The World at War is the most successful history series ever produced by British television. TV producer and writer Taylor Downing explores the style, ethos, television context and impact of the program, in a study that includes interviews with the producer, Jeremy Isaacs, and original research gathered from archives.
Review
'Taylor Downing has constructed a fascinating story...The World at War was and remains a landmark, the significance of which we can better appreciate through this clear, incisive and readable book.' -David Reynolds, The Guardian
"An illuminating and informative companion piece." - Media Education Journal
About the Author
TAYLOR DOWNING is a television producer and writer. As managing director of Flashback Television he has produced more than 200 documentaries including many award winning history programs. In 2008 he won the Grierson Award for Best Historical Documentary for 1983 - The Brink of Apocalypse (Channel 4 and Discovery US co-pro). He won the first ever BFI Award for Archival Achievement in 1985. Taylor is author of Churchill's War Lab (Little, Brown 2010) and Spies in the Sky (Little, Brown 2011), Cold War (1996, with Jeremy Isaacs) and Olympia (a BFI Film Classic). He regularly writes on Television History for History Today magazine and has lectured on Television History at the universities of Cambridge, Lincoln and Queen's, Belfast in the last two years. Taylor began his career at the Imperial War Museum in 1976 soon after the making of The World at War and then at Thames Television in the history unit that was set up following the huge success of The World at War.
Table of Contents
Preface
1 The Time
2 History on Television
3 ITV
4 The Decision
5 Announcement
6 The Treatment
7 Format
8 The Team
9 Music and Words
10 Production
11 Content
12 The Holocaust
13 Conclusions
14 Aftermath
Notes
Credits
Bibliography
Index