Overview
- Marks the first book to offer a comprehensive history of the British horseracing film
- Addresses the national attitudes towards the horseracing genre and how overseas input problematises the notion of ‘Britishness’
- Uses British horseracing to explore wider issues such as gender and especially class
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About this book
This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of horseracing in British cinema. Through comprehensive contextual histories of film production and reception, together with detailed textual analysis, this book explores the aesthetic and emotive power of the enduringly popular horseracing genre, its ideologically-inflected landscape and the ways in which horse owners and riders, bookmakers and punters have been represented on British screen. The films discussed span from the 1890s to the present day and include silent shorts, quota quickies and big-budget biopics. A work of social and film history, The British Horseracing Film demonstrates how the so-called “sport of kings” functions as an accessible institutional structure through which to explore cinematic discussions about the British nation—but also, and equally, national approaches to British cinema.
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Keywords
Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
This is a book written with real enthusiasm. It is accessible, detailed, consistently insightful and nuanced. It is particularly strong on the ways in which social class representations articulated with racing and local and national levels of British identity, but there is some sensible recognition of the ways in which women were portrayed. The complexities of gambling’s relationship with racing are all brought out well. Enthusiasts of sport, film, media and culture will learn much from this book.” (Mike Huggins, Sport in History, March 18, 2020)
“Comprehensive, well written and nicely illustrated, this book is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on British cinema.” (Jeffrey Richards, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, November 27, 2019)
“Given its avowed approach as genre study, Glynn traces the distinct narrative patterns and continuing iconography of the horseracing film. As he analyses the films, Glynn considers the sport through the lenses of class, gender, crime and national identity […] Comprehensive, well written and nicely illustrated, this book is a valuable addition to the scholarly literature on British cinema.” (Jeffrey Richards, Lancaster University, UK, for Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television)
“This is a book written with real enthusiasm. It is accessible, detailed, consistently insightful and nuanced. It is particularly strong on the ways in which social class representations articulated with racing and local and national levels of British identity, but there is some sensible recognition of the ways in which women were portrayed. The complexities of gambling’s relationship with racing are all brought out well. Enthusiasts of sport, film, media and culture will learn much fromthis book.” (Mike Huggins, University of Cumbria, UK, for Sport in History)“Stephen Glynn has a thoroughbred pedigree in the field of sport in British cinema, and The British Horseracing Film is an odds-on favourite to be another winner. Written with verve and vigour, this gallop through a hitherto unknown subject is also good fun to read. I recommend all film and turf enthusiasts to take a punt.” (James Chapman, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester, UK, and editor of the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Stephen Glynn lectures in Film and Television at De Montfort University, UK. His previous genre studies for Palgrave include The British Football Film (2018) and The British School Film (2016).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The British Horseracing Film
Book Subtitle: Representations of the ‘Sport of Kings’ in British Cinema
Authors: Stephen Glynn
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05180-8
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-05179-2Published: 16 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-05180-8Published: 05 January 2019
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 162
Number of Illustrations: 10 b/w illustrations, 4 illustrations in colour
Topics: British Cinema and TV, British Culture