This volume investigates the multifaceted relationship between historical inquiry and the academic study of screen media. Editors Annette Kuhn and Jackie Stacey, both established scholars at Lancaster University, curate a selection of influential essays originally published in the journal Screen. The book provides a rigorous framework for understanding how history functions as both a methodology and a subject within the analysis of film and television institutions, technologies, and audience reception.

Scholars and students of media studies frequently identify this collection as a foundational resource for understanding the evolution of film historiography. Experts note that the text provides a dense, comprehensive overview of the critical debates that have shaped the field of screen studies.