Fires Were Started

Edited by Lester Friedman, this study examines how British cinema reacted to the Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher, both to their policies and to the political ideas behind them. It is presented as a fresh addition to scholarship on British film.

The collection gathers new and updated essays for its second edition from several respected writers on British cinema, among them Thomas Elsaesser, Peter Wollen and Manthia Diawara. Its focus falls on well-known directors including Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman, Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg and Stephen Frears. It also turns to less familiar areas, such as the films of Black British filmmakers, the Leeds Animation Workshop, and Channel 4's Film on Four strand.

Along the way, the essays look closely at particular films, including Distant Voices, Still Lives, My Beautiful Launderette, Chariots of Fire and Drowning by Numbers.