Oak Park High School

The following titles are of films and books that would be useful either during the summer to help prepare for the class or during the year to help enrich your understanding.  Titles were not necessarily chosen for their historical accuracy.  They were chosen to help you understand costume, period, character, social-cultural conditions, motivations, and to place historical events into a narrative context.  If anything, historical inaccuracies should help you to raise questions and help you understand biases when studying history.  Many of the titles are also excellent books that would make outstanding summer reads.  Some of the titles are rated R.  Check with your parents before viewing.  

*** Highly recommended for European History AP

Film Titles:

Summer Reading: 

Troy, Gladiator***, Spartacus***, Julius Caesar, The Lion in Winter, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Braveheart

The Renaissance, Reformation, and New World Exploration:  

A Man for All Seasons***, The Agony and the Ecstasy***, Luther***, 1492***,Christopher Columbus: Disovery***, The Black Robe***, Dangerous Beauty***, The Six Wives of Henry the VIII***

Elizabethan Period -- The Napoleonic Era:

Ann of a Thousand Days, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth***, Barry Lyndon, The Girl with the Pearl Earring***, Shakespeare in Love***, Dangerous Liaisons, Master and Commander***, The Madness of King George***, Restoration***, Mutiny on the Bounty, Amadeus***, Immortal Beloved***, The Three Musketeers, Rob Roy, Love and Death, The Pride and the Passion

19th Century and the Industrial Revolution:

Great Expectations***, Oliver!, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Emma, Sense and Sensibility***, The Remains of the Day, Zulu***, Zulu Dawn, Lust for Life***, Moulin Rouge (not the musical), I Accuse, How Green was My Valley***, The Great Train Robbery*** (not the silent version), The Man Who Would be King

WWI, WWII, and the Holocaust:

Paths of Glory***, All Quiet on the Western Front, Gallipoli***, A Beautiful Life***, Schindler's List***, The Pianist, Enemy at the Gates***, Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day***, Catch-22, The Memphis Belle, The Big Red One, Patton, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, A Midnight Clear

20th Century

The Last Emperor, Michael Collins***,  The Sand Pebbles, Reds, Fiddler on the Roof***, Tea with Mussolini, Cabaret, Gandhi***, The Bicycle Thief, The Search, The Killing Fields, The Year of Living Dangerously, No Man's Land***, Das Boot,  Motorcycle Diaries, Hotel Rwanda, The Power of One***

Suggested titles for summer reading:

The Prince by Machiavelli

Candide by Voltaire

Emile by Rousseau

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt

Anything by Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, or Victor Hugo

Anything on WWII by Stephen Ambrose 

Good reading and viewing habits to develop:

Subscribe to a weekly news magazine such as Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report. 

Read the newspaper, particularly the opinion section.

Visit as many of the websites on my links page.

Watch the news.  The BBC World Report on PBS is especially educational and enlightening.

Watch for documentaries on the History Channel, The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, and PBS.  Watch travel shows.

Area Museums to Visit:

Summer is a great time to visit area museums.  I highly recommend the following for Euro AP students:

The Getty Center

The Huntington Library in Pasadena

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)