First published in 2004. Through the Second World War and its aftermath, from economic boom to industrial decline, Europeans have faced similar changes in politics and outlook on life, but even on the eve of the formation of a single European Community, their cultural backgrounds are far from unified. In European Cinemas, European Societies 1939- 1990, Pierre Sorlin looks at the way the nations of Europe have expressed their cultural individuality through film. Why do French films, for example, have such a distinctive style, as different from the products of Hollywood as from British, German or Italian film? He also shows how the impact of a common evolution towards federalism can be detected in films.