This book has set out to challenge the deeply held view of academic historians that audio-visual accounts of the past are ipso facto inferior to conventional written history. It has done this by taking twelve films, most made in the last twenty-five years, about six key moments in the long nineteenth century that in our view are a contribution to the historiography of their subject. Analyses of these films are at the heart of our study. It is hoped that enough has been done to demonstrate their quality as histories to satisfy the doubts of even the most sceptical professional historian. Our chosen films, though, are not the only filmed histories discussed in the book. Each of Chaps. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 covers one of our key moments in chronological order. In each one, two of our selected films are discussed in detail, but this is done in the context of the spectrum of filmed histories that exist on the subject, especially those made most recently. Thereby, the reader can better appreciate what makes our favoured films stand out.