The Secret History of Star Wars

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What is it?

Star Wars is one of the most important cultural phenomena of the Western world. The tale of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker has become modern myth, an epic tragedy of the corruption of a young man in love into darkness, the rise of evil, and the power of good triumphing in the end.

But it didn’t start out that way.

In this thorough account of one of cinema’s most lasting works, Michael Kaminski presents the true history of how Star Wars was written, from its beginnings as a science fiction fairy tale to its development over three decades into the epic we now know, chronicling the methods, techniques, thought processes, and struggles of its creator. For this unauthorized account, he has pored through over four hundred sources, from interviews to original scripts, to track how the most powerful modern epic in the world was created, expanded, and finalized into the tale an entire generation has grown up with.

Updates

SECRET HISTORY OF STAR WARS NOW AVAILABLE IN PRINT

06/28/09: Today's update is a new website feature--a discussion board. I'm not sure how well this will work out, so right now it is sort of experimental. The board can be found here , so feel free to register (though you can also use it if you are not registered). My hope is that the board can be a place to discuss topics relevant to this site, and also as a source of feedback if anyone has any comments and questions concerning the site and/or book itself. Much of the research and speculation relating to this site thrives on discussion, debate, and shared research, and I hope that the board can become a place of intelligent and interesting exchanges to call our own. Check back on this page next week for one of the bigger articles I have ever written.

06/06/09: Better late than never. Work has left me, well, overworked and things have gotten blocked up. But the article I intended to post last week is yours to read, at least. Celebrate ten years of The Phantom Menace by examining how the film, the prequels, and the six-episode epic of the Star Wars Saga is structured, and how the times which produced the films dictated this structure, for both good and bad. Read on to Structuring the Prequels: Sequel Construction in Historical Context .

05/26/09: I found this link while surfing today and thought I'd pass it on, since it's related to the content of this site: a quick--and biting--look at the first draft of Star Wars. I thought it was an interesting take on demonstrating why Lucas kept re-writing it. While on Star Wars anniversary material, I probably should have left a reminder yesterday to take a read if you haven't at Star Wars Memories for a nostalgic, and I think fairly enlightening for those of us who weren't around to appreciate it, trip back in time to 1977.

05/25/09: Star Wars is officially 32 years old, so celebrate and such. My articles I wanted to put up last weekend will have to wait until this weekend, unfortunately. Six-day, 60-hour work weeks tend to suck the life out of one's hobbies. To make up for it I have a random Star Wars video that may puzzle and amuse you. See you in a few days...

05/19/09: Has it really been a decade of prequels? It appears so. Today marks the day when eager anticipation turned into...well, complications, to say the least. Being a Star Wars fan seemed so much simpler back in the pre-prequel days. Strangely, I celebrated the day by seeing the Star Trek prequel-reboot, which, sadly or proudly, outshines just about everything I've seen with the Star Wars name attached to it in the last decade. Hats off to J.J. Abrams for a stellarly-crafted space opera. Yes, Star Wars fans, sue me. But speaking of Episode I, I will indeed be taking another look at it this week, in an article that I hope to have up before Friday. In the meantime, there is a piece I wrote a few months ago examining why Episode I isn't actually rated as badly as its reputation as a cinematic embarrasment may indicate yet still legitimately did not garner good reviews (in contrast to some who apologetically argue that it was well-recieved). The film certainly has a strange dual nature to it. It does to me as well--personally, I find it lousy as the first episode of the Star Wars Saga, yet I have quite a lot of adoration for it as an utterly unique children's fantasy picture, made with high imagination and genuine conviction. But as for its place as a Star Wars film--you'll have to check back in a few days for an interesting analysis of the mechanics of how the film was constructed as a dual-purpose storytelling chapter.

04/25/09: In light of the lack of updates recently, I should tell you that I've been working on three really big articles. One of them will be out in two or three weeks to mark the tenth anniversary of Episode I, so check back. In sort-of related news--how many of you heard that the story meeting transcript for Raiders of the Lost Ark was leaked to the internet? Well, it was, and its a very, very interesting read. You can see how clearly and intelligently Lucas approached the character back then (you can also see how much Crystal Skull deviates from the original approach). I might do a piece on it in the future but this guy already said a lot of the same things (give his article a read--you can even download the transcript from there). Now if only the Empire transcript was leaked instead...

03/10/09: Probably should have mentioned this earlier, but Secret History of Star Wars is now a university textbook. Allan Swords, who teaches at Clemson University in South Carolina, has been using it in his first-year introductory English class there, which began in January. The library at Clemson University recently added me to their author's database, so I suppose this means that Secret History is also available there for anyone at Clemson that wants to check it out.

02/07/09: Couple of updates today. First on the agenda—a really cool new feature at starwars.com called “Star Wars Buzz.” The official site has gone down the tubes ever since that infamous Clone War film came out but here they redeem themselves a bit. This feature takes a look at every printed reference to Star Wars before its 1977 release, and some of the major coverage during its first few months in theaters. Click for part one of three , which begins way back in 1974. Secondly— two new articles. As we head in to 2009, it’s strange to realize that it’s been a decade since Episode I came out; what a different time it seemed back then. This article takes a look at the critical reaction to Episode I to settle the question of just how the film was rated by reviewers during May of 1999. Also available is a look at the prequel's development of Anakin's birth .

01/17/09: Hope all have been enjoying the new year; 2008 was very good to me, I have to say, and I hope it was to everyone else. Secret History of Star Wars has been in print for about two months now, and it's selling better than I had hoped, so I thank everyone that bought a copy. I've never had an advertising campaign for my work, so thanks to all who spread the word. Feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, judging from all those 5-star reviews on amazon.com. In case people are wondering, and some of you aparently are, YES I will continue to write articles for the website; in fact I have a couple on the back-burner that I've been working on for a while. Just because the book is out doesn't mean I won't still be taking a look into Star Wars' past. Meanwhile, someone pointed this out to me the other day--Star Wars told by someone who has never seen the films. Its pretty amusing! Check back here soon for an article or two. I'd like to do some re-design on the site but lack of time and skills is making that a slow and painful process.

11/30/08: I'm pleased to announce that Secret History of Star Wars is now officially released! You can order it online from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. This site will be undergoing some revision in the next few weeks.

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