Skip to main content

Shopping Cart

You're getting the VIP treatment!

Item(s) unavailable for purchase
Please review your cart. You can remove the unavailable item(s) now or we'll automatically remove it at Checkout.
itemsitem
itemsitem

Recommended For You

Loading...

History & Criticism eBooks

If you like History & Criticism eBooks, then you'll love these top picks.
Showing 1 - 24 of 1167 Results
Skip side bar filters
  • Live From New York

    The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests

    James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales's definitive oral history of Saturday Night Live, hailed as "incredible" (Vulture) and "required reading" (People).When first published to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Live, Live from New York was immediately proclaimed the best book ever produced on the landmark and legendary late-night show. In their own words, unfiltered and uncensored, a ... Read more

    $13.99 USD

  • Letterman

    The Last Giant of Late Night

    by Jason Zinoman ...
    New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman delivers the definitive story of the life and artistic legacy of David Letterman, the greatest television talk show host of all time and the signature comedic voice of a generation.In a career spanning more than thirty years, David Letterman redefined the modern talk show with an ironic comic style that transcended traditional television. While he remains ... Read more

    $19.49 USD

  • The War for Late Night

    When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy

    by Bill Carter ...
    Bill Carter, executive producer of CNN’s docuseries The Story of Late Night and host of the Behind the Desk: Story of Late Night podcast, details the chaotic transition of The Tonight Show from host Jay Leno to Conan O’Brien—and back again.In 2010, NBC’s CEO Jeff Zucker, had it all worked out when he moved Jay Leno from behind the desk at The Tonight Show, and handed the reins over to Conan O ... Read more

    $14.99 USD $11.99 USD

  • Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

    by Michael Palin ...
    Series series Michael Palin Diaries
    The amazingly insightful, funny and brilliant record of Michael Palin's prime years as a member of the famed comedic group, Monty Python.Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s. This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face ... Read more

    $11.99 USD

  • Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon

    Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series

    by James Hibberd ...
    The perfect read and perfect gift for Game of Thrones fansThe official, definitive oral history of the blockbuster show from Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd, endorsed by George R. R. Martin himself (who calls it “an amazing read”), reveals the one Game of Thrones tale that has yet to be told: the thirteen-year behind-the-scenes struggle to make the show.Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon shares the ... Read more

    $14.99 USD

  • Her Stories

    Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History

    by Elana Levine ...
    Series series Console-ing Passions
    Since the debut of These Are My Children in 1949, the daytime television soap opera has been foundational to the history of the medium as an economic, creative, technological, social, and cultural institution. In Her Stories, Elana Levine draws on archival research and her experience as a longtime soap fan to provide an in-depth history of the daytime television soap opera as a uniquely gendered ... Read more

    $22.99 USD

  • Primetime Blues

    African Americans on Network Television

    by Donald Bogle ...
    A landmark study by the leading critic of African American film and televisionPrimetime Blues is the first comprehensive history of African Americans on network television. Donald Bogle examines the stereotypes, which too often continue to march across the screen today, but also shows the ways in which television has been invigorated by extraordinary black performers, whose presence on the screen ... Read more

    $12.99 USD

  • Kindness and Wonder

    Why Mister Rogers Matters Now More Than Ever

    by Gavin Edwards ...
    A pop culture celebration of Fred Rogers and the enduring legacy of his beloved, award-winning PBS show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that offers essential wisdom to help us in our troubled times.Won’t you be my neighbor?For more than thirty years, Fred Rogers was a beloved fixture in American homes. Warm and welcoming, he spoke directly to children—and their parents—about the marvels of the world, ... Read more

    $18.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

  • Andy and Don

    The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American

    A lively and revealing biography of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, this “humorous, informative, and poignant book” celebrates the powerful real-life friendship behind one of America’s most iconic television programs and “shows how the magic was created” (Library Journal).Andy Griffith and Don Knotts first met on Broadway in the 1950s. When Andy moved to Hollywood to film a TV pilot for a comedy ... Read more

    $13.99 USD

  • The Lie About the Truck

    Survivor, Reality TV, and the Endless Gaze

    The author of the acclaimed Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) brings “her singular sensibility, her genius for language, her love of our deeply imperfect world” (Karen Karbo, author of In Praise of Difficult Women) to this insightful exploration of reality TV and the shifting definitions of truth in America.What is the truth?In a world of fake news and rampant conspiracy theories ... Read more

    $12.99 USD

  • Phasers on Stun!

    How the Making (and Remaking) of Star Trek Changed the World

    by Ryan Britt ...
    **An Esquire Best Book of 2022!Written with inside access, comprehensive research, and a down-to-earth perspective, Phasers on Stun! chronicles the entire history of Star Trek, revealing that its enduring place in pop culture is all thanks to innovative pivots and radical change.**For over five decades, the heart of Star Trek’s pro-science, anti-racist, and inclusive messaging has been its ... Read more

    $13.99 USD $10.99 USD

  • The New Female Antihero

    The Disruptive Women of Twenty-First-Century US Television

    The New Female Antihero examines the hard-edged spies, ruthless queens, and entitled slackers of twenty-first-century television.The last ten years have seen a shift in television storytelling toward increasingly complex storylines and characters. In this study, Sarah Hagelin and Gillian Silverman zoom in on a key figure in this transformation: the archetype of the female antihero. Far from the ... Read more

    $18.99 USD

  • The Complete Inspector Morse (Updated and Expanded Edition)

    From the Original Novel to the TV Series

    by David Bishop ...
    A companion to the PBS Mystery! hit Inspector Morse TV series, covering all 33 episodes of the show, as well as the original novels that inspired the series and other related media such as the radio plays.Also includes a critique of each episode, along with useful facts, details of the soundtracks and key character beats. It also includes a brief discussion of the hugely successful spin-off series ... Read more

    $7.99 USD

  • The Colorblind Screen

    Television in Post-Racial America

    The election of President Barack Obama signaled for many the realization of a post-racial America, a nation in which racism was no longer a defining social, cultural, and political issue. While many Americans espouse a “colorblind” racial ideology and publicly endorse the broad goals of integration and equal treatment without regard to race, in actuality this attitude serves to reify and ... Read more

    $21.99 USD

  • Los Angeles Documentary and the Production of Public History, 1958-1977

    by Joshua Glick ...
    Los Angeles Documentary and the Production of Public History, 1958–1977 explores how documentarians working between the election of John F. Kennedy and the Bicentennial created conflicting visions of the recent and more distant American past. Drawing on a wide range of primary documents, Joshua Glick analyzes the films of Hollywood documentarians such as David Wolper and Mel Stuart, along with ... Read more

    $28.99 USD

  • This Time Together

    Laughter and Reflection

    by Carol Burnett ...
    This touching and hilarious memoir is 100 percent Carol Burnett—funny, irreverent, and irresistible.Carol Burnett is one of the most beloved and revered actresses and performers in America. The Carol Burnett Show was seen each week by millions of adoring fans and won twenty-five Emmys in its remarkable eleven-year run. Now, in This Time Together, Carol really lets her hair down and tells one funny ... Read more

    $9.99 USD

  • Amusing Ourselves to Death

    Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

    by Neil Postman ...
    What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever."It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNNOriginally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic ... Read more

    $9.99 USD

  • Audition

    #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An inspiring and riveting memoir from the most important woman in the history of television journalism.“A delightful tale of the golden age of television.... Juicy behind-the scenes details of the celebrities she’s interviewed, mixed in with stories of her own trials and tribulations.” —The Washington PostAfter more than fifty years of interviewing heads of state, world ... Read more

    $12.99 USD

  • Robin

    by Dave Itzkoff ...
    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICEA SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEARA VULTURE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"A generous, appreciative biography of Robin Williams by a New York Times culture reporter. The author, who had access to Williams and members of the comedian’s family, is an unabashed f... ... Read more

    $12.99 USD

  • The Andy Cohen Diaries

    A Deep Look at a Shallow Year

    by Andy Cohen ...
    A New York Times bestseller, The Andy Cohen Diaries chronicles a year in the whirlwind life of the beloved pop icon, in his own cheeky, candid, and irreverent words.As a TV Producer and host of the smash late night show Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen has a front row seat to an exciting world not many get to see. In this dishy, detailed diary of one year in his life, Andy goes out on the town, ... Read more

    $11.99 USD

  • Dangerously Funny

    The Uncensored Story of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"

    An unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour -- the provocative, politically charged program that shocked the censors, outraged the White House, and forever changed the face of television.Decades before The Daily Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour proved there was a place on television for no-holds-barred political comedy with a decidedly ... Read more

    $14.99 USD

  • Always On Sunday: An Inside View of Ed Sullivan, the Beatles, Elvis, Sinatra & Ed's Other Guests

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!How The Beatles Came To AmericaFamous television Master of Ceremonies, Ed Sullivan first learns I have written a book about him and his show when I hand him a finished manuscript. Naively, I imagine he'll be flattered, but when he reads it, he's furious. I am revealing more about him, more backstage gossip and more details about the inner workings of the show than he ... Read more

    $7.99 USD

  • Burn It Down

    Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood

    by Maureen Ryan ...
    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLERAn NPR Best Book of the YearIn this spectacular, newsmaking exposé that has the entertainment industry abuzz and on its heels, Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan blows the lid off patterns of harassment and bias in Hollywood, the grassroots reforms under way, and the labor and activist revolutions that recent scandals have ignited.It... ... Read more

    $13.99 USD

  • The Daily Show (The Book)

    An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests

    by Chris Smith ...
    The complete, uncensored history of the award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as told by its correspondents, writers, and host.For almost seventeen years, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brilliantly redefined the borders between television comedy, political satire, and opinionated news coverage. It launched the careers of some of today's most significant comedians, highlighted the ... Read more

    $13.99 USD