David Parkinson Book order

An anecdotal memoir of how and why a new wood was planted in Northumberland

One day Christopher, a keen but unorthodox gardener, finds a living nose raised by slugs in his garden. In their hunt to find Little Big Nose a face, they encounter Doctor Skinner, an eccentric plastic surgeon, who has connections with nose's past and sinister intentions for his future. A surreal, snotty, rip-snorting yarn for all the family.

This inspiring book chronicles the most influential ideas that have shaped film since its inception. Entertaining and intelligent, it is both a concise history and a fascinating resource. Each idea is presented through informed text and arresting visuals paying homage to the medium's great classics. We learn why and how the ideas first evolved and what their impact has been up to the present day.

In this lively, informative and up-to-date new analysis of what has been called the seventh art, David Parkinson traces the evolution of the moving image from the earliest shadow shows to the contemporary cinema. Covering the key elements and players that have contributed to its artistic and technical development, it offers a remarkably concise overview of film throughout the world. Beginning with cinema's scientific origins, the book assesses the achievements of an international body of D.W. Griffith and the pioneers of the classical narrative; silent artists; the directors of Golden Age Hollywood; the Italian Neo-Realists; the auteurs of the French New Wave and those responsible for the directions that cinema has recently taken internationally. Concluding with a preview of film in the future, this is a uniquely comprehensive account of the most modern of art forms.