Book cover of This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories

Book description

In this one-of-a-kind Hollywood history, the creator of Instagram's celebrated @ThisWasHollywood reveals the forgotten past of the film world in a dazzling visual package modeled on the classic fan magazines of yesteryear.

From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked This Was Hollywood as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I normally read fantasy books, but I love old Hollywood: the movies, the actors, the clothes, and the stories, so I was excited to pick up this book.

Valderrama does an excellent job of telling stories from the Golden Age of Hollywood that haven’t been told before, from lesser-known actresses like Vera Allen, who made a huge mark on the industry, to the history of Pickfair, the mansion that was once owned by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

Well-researched and filled with spicy anecdotes, this book was a wonderful romp through a time gone by but not forgotten.

I stumbled across this beautiful non-fiction hardback while I was searching for books that would immerse me fully into Honey Black’s world, when I first started writing my novel.

This is an excellent book recounting the scandals of Old Hollywood – Clark Gable and Errol Flynn included – complete with an impressive amount of authentic photographs that bring every story to bright, technicolour life. A lot of the scandals referred to in my novel were discovered through reading this book!

From Lisa's list on for fans of Old Hollywood.

If you love This Was Hollywood...

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These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

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