Film: An International History of the Medium

Sklar's book is an excellent overview of the history of world cinema, from its development (at least in prototype form) in the late 19th century until about ten years ago. I assigned it as a text for my "International Cinema" course, and was on the whole quite satisfied with what my students learned from it. While there are a wealth of details, and you could get lost if you didn't have at least some familiarity with films he mentions, the book is fairly accessible to the novice and is certainly readable.

Sklar is an excellent writer, who is able to sum things up in ways that are clear, accurate and precise. Each chapter covers a period in the history of cinema in such a way that even without knowing all the films he mentions you can still get a rough idea of what the trends were, that would form a space for subsequent learning. You'd get even more details, say, in the Oxford History of World Cinema, but what I like about Sklar's book is that it feels a bit more like a coherent and continuous narrative.

He does a great job moving back and forth between various national cinemas and the dominant Hollywood tradition, showing how Hollywood (and American cinema generally) put its stamp on world cinema while at the same time identifying the ways in which national cinemas developed their own identity in distinction from and sometimes in reaction to the influence of Hollywood. There is much to recommend Sklar's approach, and if you want a manageable tome that gives enough detail for a basic grasp without being overwhelming, I can't think of a better text.