Star Wars and History [Hardcover]

I eagerly anticipated this book, being both a Star Wars fan and a scholar of politics. I've always felt there was a lot of potential for scholarship about the historical/political influences on Star Wars. Upon reading the book, I find myself coming away with mixed feelings.

THE GOOD

I suspect the book was aimed towards younger audiences or readers with only a passing familiarity with history. In some ways, this book is a great way to encourage wider interest in history. The authors universally convey their passion for history and placing Star Wars side by side with real history shows how exciting reality can be. If George Lucas wants to encourage education, I think this book will go a long way.

One thing I really appreciate about the book is that the authors are clearly fans of the Star Wars movies. The refer to characters, events, and aliens with ease and no hint of a patronizing tone. There's no attempt to explain the basics of Star Wars to readers. Some authors even refer to characters from the EU and the Clone Wars TV series, such as Ashoka Tano. At the least, the book doesn't waste time or space introducing the saga.

The book is organized by topic, not by chronology or Star Wars movies. So authors write about insurgencies, cities, corporations, etc. Organizing the material this way allows for more focused comparisons between Star Wars and history.

THE BAD

Where I felt the book fell short was in analyzing those historical influences and whether and how they influenced Star Wars. There are three strains of analysis that would have made the book more interesting.

First, most of the authors seem satisfied simply showing a correlation between history and Star Wars. In other words, there was an insurgency in Vietnam and an insurgency in the Original Trilogy, this is how insurgencies work, and presto! The authors generally don't take the next step and analyze the differences between how political phenomena are portrayed in Star Wars as opposed to the real world. Does Star Wars get it right? What do those differences mean?

Second, there's relatively little discussion of whether and when history actually influenced Lucas' scripts for Star Wars. Some authors mention the obvious cases, such as Lucas drawing on the model of the Viet Cong for the Ewoks, but by and large the authors don't actually try to make a case that these historical events actually helped shape the Star Wars saga. For that, check out The Secret History of Star Wars.

Finally, I think the authors should have challenged common moralistic or overly simplistic interpretations of history. Fortunately, the history isn't "dumbed down", but in some chapters there is little discussion of alternative interpretations of historical motives. For example, the author writing about insurgencies claims that insurgents fight because they believe in their cause and have moral claims. However, the flies in the face of much of the political science literature. Incorporating a bit of this debate might have thrown an interesting light on the Rebellion for instance.

CHAPTERS

Here is a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book:

1) Rebellions

The chapter draws some neat parallels between the Rebel alliance and resistance movements in history. However, this is the chapter I think would have benefitted most from more discussion of alternative perspectives on Rebellion. A big remaining question I have is whether the Star Wars Rebellion's tactics are realistic. We never see the Rebels attack non-military targets, such as power generators, railroads, etc (even in the EU, the targets are almost always military). Is the Star Wars Rebellion sanitized?

2) Femme Fatales

This is a fun chapter about women in resistance movements. Definitely for fans of Leia or Padme.

3) Monastic Warriors

This chapter provides interesting historical analogues for the Jedi. The comparisons between the Knights Templar and Jedi were eerie. However, there's no indication as to whether Lucas actually modeled the Jedi after the Knights Templar.

4) Civil War

I felt like some of the comparisons in this chapter were a stretch. That's not all the author's fault - the politics behind the Clone Wars are pretty murky. However, it was fun to see Dooku compared to John C. Calhoun.

5) Dictatorship

This is probably the central chapter, just as the rise and fall of the Emperor is central to the Star Wars saga. The chapter does a pretty good job drawing the now familiar connections between the Roman Emperors, Hitler, and Palpatine. Other authors have covered similar ground, but this chapter is great for those unfamiliar with the comparisons.

6) Queens

Padme's role as queen in the movies was pretty short. We see her mostly as a fighter in Episode I and a Senator thereafter. However, this chapter was fun because of the variety of anecdotes about powerful female rulers. I really like to comparison between Cleopatra and Padme as teen queens. No seduction of course, but other than that there are some striking parallels.

7) Tyranny

I like that this chapter tries to asses whether the depiction of tyranny in Star Wars rings true to life. It also notes some political features not present in the Galaxy, such as patriotism.

8) Military Technology

For readers too young to remember Reagan's "Star Wars" program in the 1980s, this chapter will probably be the most shocking. There's a good recap of how Star Wars influenced the terms of the Cold War.

9) Slavery

Of all the chapters, this is the one that problem raises the most moral questions about the Star Wars universe by highlighting not only slavery but also bondage. However, I thought some of the moral arguments (such as Luke Skywalker being in bondage to his uncle in ANH) went a bit far.

10) Corporations

I was wary of this chapter (I feared it might simply be an anti-corporate screed), but it turned out to be my favorite of the entire book. The chapter draws fascinating parallels between the Trade Federation and the Dutch and British East India Companies during the height of colonialism. While many viewers could never accept the idea that Episode I's main villain was a company, this chapter shows exactly how some companies combined military and political might to conquer territories. It actually increased my appreciation for TPM and made me appreciate Lucas' decision all the more. Of course, there's no evidence Lucas actually drew inspiration from this period of history, but the parallels are so striking I'd be he did.

11) Cities

This chapter seemed a bit out of place for a book about the historic parallels to Star Wars. Much of it focused on comparing London and New York with Coruscant as a metropole, but we frankly don't ever learn enough about Coruscant to assess its urban management problems. From the movies at least, we don't really know if Coruscant suffers from pollution, epidemics, etc. In the EU novels there are suggestions of a vast, slimy underworld, but this chapter doesn't go into the EU depictions as much.

While it didn't go as far as I'd have liked, this book has a lot to offer Star Wars fans who are also interested in history. I could even see this being used as a high school textbook in basic historical/political concepts. As such, I'm glad to see a book about Star Wars and history come out. Fortunately, I also think there's so much more potential for richer analysis - meaning one day I can write my own book about Star Wars and politics!

Star Wars and History is an interesting departure from the typical literary works in the Star Wars franchise. Rather than being another guide book, or a piece of fiction, this work is a collection of essays illustrating the parallels between history and Star Wars. The book covers a large chunk of history, as wells as a large chunk of the Star Wars franchise. But the real question is whether it's worth buying?

First off, let's take a look at the scope of the book. The 332 page hardcover book includes eleven essays written primarily by professors and teachers. Those essays cover a diversity of topics including comparisons between the Jedi and samurai, female French resistance operatives and Padmé Amidala, and dictators in the real world and in Star Wars. There are essays that explore how resistance groups and rebellions have worked historically, and how Star Wars has mirrored those aspects. The book also includes a few direct examples that were used by George Lucas. For instance, they reveal that George had the Viet Cong in mind when developing the Ewoks.

Outside of the historical scope, the essays cover a decent amount of ground in the Star Wars franchise. Various elements from all of the movies are explored, as might be expected. However the essays also draw upon The Clone Wars television show and characters like Asajj Ventress and Ahsoka Tano. Duchess Satine and the bounty hunter Sugi are both held in comparison to different French resistance operatives. Even Zam Wesell is mentioned in regards to the famous French assassin Charlotte Corday. On balance, though, there is more historical content than Star Wars content in the book.

While the essays do cover a lot of interesting characters and subjects, they weren't the most entertaining reads. All of the essays read...well, like college essays. They each cover a broad topic, like the essay entitled "Why Rebels Triumph" which covers how insignificant rebellions can change history. The thirty page essay is broken down into smaller parts which examine various aspects of rebellions. In this case it looks at the causes for rebel success, the phases of a rebellion, why empires lose, the rebel cause and evil leaders, and a closing look at the United States' involvement in Iran and Afghanistan. There are comparisons to the American Revolution, the Vietnam War, Mao Zedong, Nixon and other relevant examples. But when reading the essay, it quickly becomes apparent that the format of the book's content is severely flawed. The problem is that essays are not very entertaining.

As a Star Wars fan and a history buff, the book had two different ways it could satisfy a reader like myself. On one hand, there's the entertainment value of illustrating how history formed the Star Wars films and the television show. We know George Lucas had a lot of influences in crafting the story. Yet the book barely points out any hard facts. Rather than providing all kinds of cool trivia from George on what he drew upon and what he didn't, the book simply looks at the familiar themes of Star Wars and how they could connect with history. If you would like to know how much George drew upon the Roman Empire for Star Wars, then you'll be left in the dark. The book does point out similarities, but it never definitively says "Yes, George loved this idea and ran with it!" or "George liked this, but tweaked it like so." There is also never any mention of anyone else involved with the Star Wars films or television series and how they might have been influenced. I realize George is a busy person and might not have had time to share with the writers, but it would have been nice if they could have supplemented some of George's feedback with opinions from other members of the cast or the wide ranger of set designers and prop makers.

The other side of the coin is the history element. History can be a very fascinating subject and the book certainly has no shortage of topics. But once again, the essay format proved a hindrance. A typical book can take it's time to fully explore historical subjects, making sure to cover all it's intriguing angles and peculiarities in various chapters. In an essay, the author doesn't have enough room to properly dive into any particular subject. This is especially apparent in this book. All of the essays briefly mention interesting details, but they quickly move on to cover other items. It feels like the sort of essay a typical college student would write. As a student, you're more concerned about covering the important arguments and getting your point across for a good grade than fully exploring a topic to truly enlighten people. Each essay managed to perk my interest in different things, but none of them ever covered a subject in any kind of depth. It was like reading one teaser paragraph after another, "hey, look at this cool person from history. They did this. Wouldn't you like to know more about them? Too, bad, we're moving on." Honestly, that's what it felt like.

In the end, the book fails to appeal to the Star Wars fan in me, and it also fails to appeal to my history buff side. It points out parallels between Star Wars and history, but it does not reveal much in the way of direct insights. Nor does it explain how those historical elements influenced George Lucas and the films. The essay format lightly treads upon a lot of historical ground, but never obtains any depth. Fun topics and characters are brought up, but none are explored thoroughly. Instead the book tries to explore both history and Star Wars in a limited fashion and satisfies neither the history lover or the Star Wars fan.

That said, the book actually does a good job of drawing a lot of comparisons between history and Star Wars. It would make a great resource for students or bloggers who are looking for ideas to expand upon. While that may be a pretty narrow audience, it is the best use I can think of for the book. If you love history and Star Wars and you're looking for an enjoyable book to read, you're going to want to look elsewhere. If, however, you happen to be looking for a book full of ideas pertaining to Star Wars and history that are just waiting to be explored and expanded upon (with extra research), then this is the book you're looking for. Since it's not a complete loss, I give it a two out of five.

I bought this gift for my boyfriend for Christmas! He saw it at Barnes and Nobles with me and said he'd really like to read it. SO, i went straight to Amazon. Cheaper! Much cheaper. He opened the gift and instantly was surprised, he loves Star wars. Great gift idea for the Star Wars lover in your life! Quality hard back book!