85 Years of the Oscar

Book excerpt: This is the only official history of the Academy Awards and an indispensable addition to any movie buff's library. For the film industry, the Academy Awards is the most celebrated and most significant night of the year: everyone longs for the recognition of being nominated to win a little golden statuette. For most of us, however, even a walk down the red carpet is just a dream. This book puts readers into those iconic plush seats for the thrill of the Academy Awards, from the first show in 1928, shortly after the introduction of the talking picture, to this year's eighty-fifth anniversary. With hundreds of photographs and an informative text by Hollywood insider Robert Osborne, this book chronicles the ceremonies themselves, as well as the accomplishments, trends, developments, and events that occurred, both within the Academy and for the film industry as a whole. Osborne comments on each year's most important films and shares the stories behind them.